Tenner: Ten Years Playing Tenor Banjo

It was almost ten years ago to this day - Memorial Day Weekend 2006 - that I began playing tenor banjo.  Even though I had never played an instrument before, I decided out of the blue at age 32 that I was going to begin playing 4-string tenor banjo.

Ever since I received that first banjo and had it set up left-handed with new tuners in the "Irish" GDAE tuning, I have rarely wavered in thinking that the tenor banjo is the instrument for me.  What I have struggled with is finding the right music to play on it.  My favorite music to listen to at that time - John Prine, Neil Young, Ween, Phish, Grateful Dead - either wasn't fun to play or was too advanced harmonically to translate into single-note tenor banjo plucking.

I soon learned that I wanted to play instrumental melodies -- not strum and sing.  Irish music made the most sense: an endless repertoire of tunes - no chording required - in a style of music where the instrument I held in my hands was commonly used.  Delving in to Irish and old-time fiddle tunes forced me to learn about tenor banjo "flatpicking" and also a little bit about music theory due to my curiosity about the modes and scales.

Fast forward to now...it's taken me about ten years but I finally think I've cobbled together a personal repertoire of tunes that I endlessly enjoy playing.  I like to think of it as an "East/West" repertoire.  East being music with an Eastern European sound, and West being music with origins in the West Indies and therefore a more Caribbean sound.

The core of the "Western" repertoire is the music from an album called Bonne Humeur by The Etcetera String Band.  Around 1990, this ragtime string band from Kansas City recorded an album of early Caribbean music - dance tunes and other melodies from the 19th and 20th centuries.  The lead instrument is a banjo-mandolin.  My favorites from this CD include:  Aurore Bradaire, Bad Woman, Carnaval En Margarita, Dessan Mouillage, La Douceur, Lisette, and many more.  The majority of the 18 tracks, actually.

The core of the "Eastern" repertoire are the faux ethnic original tunes recorded by the band Camper Van Beethoven, primarily those from their 1985 debut album Telephone Free Landslide Victory.  My favorites are Balalaika Gap, Border Ska, Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China, Payed Vacation: Greece, Skinhead Stomp, Tina and Yanqui Go Home.

  

Add in a few other East or West type tunes from these and other sources and there are well over 40 tunes I'm trying to keep up with!

Mandolin Tab for Ten Early Caribbean Dance Tunes - Paseos, Meringues and more

In honor of an upcoming trip to the Spanish Virgin Island of Culebra in Puerto Rico, I've assembled ten Afro-Caribbean string band tunes from the recordings of the now defunct Etcetera String Band (Bonne Humeur) and Kansas City based The Rhythmia to work on while there.  Both bands have a knack for uncovering obscure tunes from Haiti, Trinidad, Louisiana, the Virgin Islands, Martinique and Venezuela.

Many of these tunes date back to the 1800's and share similarities to common fiddle tunes and rags, while still retaining a distinctly "island" feel that helps tag them as being from the Caribbean.  Guitarist Kevin Sanders - a member of both the Etcetera String Band and The Rhythmia - helped me obtain a copy of the out of print Bonne Humeur CD last year which is definitely worth seeking out if you're interested in this type of music.  All transcriptions shown below were done by Nick DiSebastian.  Here's a YouTube playlist where some of these tunes can be heard.

Aurore Bradaire is a Creole song named after a woman.  You can play it with a polka rhythm.  It comes from Slave Songs of the United States, the first authentic collection of slave songs ever published, where its transcription comes from a woman who heard it being sung in a time before the Civil War on the Good Hope Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

Aurore Bradaire – Coonjaille (Louisiana)

Bad Woman was written by Lionel Belasco, the pianist, composer and bandleader from Trinidad known as the Scott Joplin of calypso.  Belasco composed West Indian music from folk sources, which he found on his many travels throughout the islands, and was the first person to popularize calypso outside of Trinidad.

Bad Woman – Paseo

Blanche Toucatou/Can-Can (Creole Song) is medley of two Creole pieces from Louisiana originally recorded by the jazz trombonist Kid Ory. 

Blanche Toucatou/Can-Can (Creole Song)

Calinda is also known as Michie Preval.  A Calinda is a dance.  This tune is from Slave Songs of the United States.

Calinda – Louisiana

Carnaval En Margarita is a paseo by Lionel Belasco.  Margarita is an island off the Venezuelan coast which Belasco visited.  Belasco was classically trained, but preferred playing indigenous music.

Carnaval En Margarita – Paseo

Chai Bai comes from Cape Verde, an island group off the northwestern coast of Africa, with an African-Portuguese culture.  This tune was included in John Philip Sousa’s book National Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Lands (1890), published by H. Coleman in Philadelphia.

Chai Bai – Cape Verde

Dodo Li Pitite is a fun little Haitian folk tune, good for playing at a country ball.  It was found in Jean Price-Mars' book So Spoke the Uncle, a work on Haitian culture published in 1928.

Dodo Li Petite – Haiti

La Douceur is a hypnotic Meringue Hatienne written by Arthur L. Duroseau.  The music is featured in Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston.  More recently, it was recorded by BeauSoleil on the album From Bamako to Carencro.

La Douceur – Meringue (Haiti)

Lisette was composed by Ludovic Lamothe, the "Black Chopin" of Haiti.  He composed several meringues and other dance and concert tunes based on local folklore.  He recorded 10 of his pieces on an album called Fleurs d'Haiti.

Lisette – Meringue (Haiti)

Souvenir d'Haiti was written by Othello Bayard and is considered to be his masterpiece.  It is one of the best known and loved meringues in Haiti.  Selden Rodman wrote about this tune in his book Haiti: The Black Republic.

Souvenir d’Haiti – Meringue Popular (Haiti)

Belle Layotte by the Etcetera String Band - mandolin tab and transcription

Here’s another transcription and audio posting of a tune off of the Etcetera String Band’s out-of-print Bonne Humeur album, which contained arrangements of early Caribbean dance/string band tunes.  The tune is called Belle Layotte and it’s a coonjaille from the book Slave Songs of the United States by William Allen, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison.  Belle Layotte was among seven Creole songs collected by a lady who heard them being sung before the Civil War on the Good Hope Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.  The coonjaille dance is described as a sort of minuet. 

transcription by Nick DiSebastian

Belle Layotte a cool little tune in the key of F.  Very addictive.  You have to listen to it to really get the feel.  Note the call and response nature of the melody.  The blind mandolinist Kenny Hall said different keys make him think of different climates and F makes him think of ocean climates with the sun shining.  After playing Belle Layotte I kind of see what he means.  At first I thought I might want to transcribe it from F to G, but it’s actually a lot of fun to play in F.  I don’t have many tunes in this key but this is one that I’ve enjoyed learning.  Take a listen to it below and try to play along with it.  I’ve included a mandolin tab and sheet music transcription by Nick DiSebastian.

I hope you enjoy this tune as much as I do!

Sheet Music, Chords, Audio and Mandolin Tab for Caribbean Tune "Bonne Humeur" by The Etcetera String Band

I've received permission from Kevin Sanders (formerly of The Etcetera String Band) and music transcriber Nick DiSebastian to upload some audio and sheet music notation/mandolin tab for the out of print Etcetera String Band album Bonne Humeur.  This tune is the first one on the album and is also called "Bonne Humeur" -- a Haitian Meringue written by Arthur Duroseau.  Below are images containing the sheet music and a YouTube video with the audio.

Music transcription by Nick DiSebastian

Music transcription by Nick DiSebastian

I hope you enjoy learning to play this tune.  Check back soon for more uploads of audio and mandolin tab for tracks off the Bonne Humeur album.