Does Anyone Here Play the 5-String Banjo?

xvigauge

I am an enthusiastic 5-string banjo player. I'm no Earl Scruggs, but I'm not bad either. I teach banjo at a music store in Plant City, Florida and play often at various clubs and coffee houses in the Tampa area. Steve Martin once said, "You can never be depressed while playing the banjo." He is right.
xvigauge

skicat

Steve Martin never listened to me practicing rolls.

Rocky Raab

The five-string banjo is the only instrument I ever tried to learn. I soon discovered that the only musical instrument I can actually play is a radio.

NeoBlackdog

I had one for a while about 30 years ago. I wound up trading it for a 1960 Gibson ES330. Much happier with a guitar than a banjo...

v35

Always wanted to play one, got one for birthday and found I don't have the talent so the "new" banjo has been resting in a closet for 5 years.
I'm limited to the harmonica but not a Harmonicat or a Jerry Adler.
By the way, Steve Martin is my hero and can quit his day job any time and survive as one of the best in my opinion.

cbxjeff

I tried back in the '60's but switched to a Martin D-18. I do have a 4 string "banjo-uke", as my mom called it. It was hers from the 1920's.

pulsarnc

my greatest desire is to be able to play guitar or somehow make music ,unfortunatley I was born with no ability whatsoever ,heck i cannot even play a radio without getting static.

Oakie

I can't even play with myself right[:0][B)][:D][:D][:D] I come out that way once a year. I would love to hear you play at a gig. I come there around Christmas/new year. That would be awesome. Donna and I love all types of music. Post where you will be playing around that time.Oakie

MG1890

I seen this movie, with a kid on a porch playin' a banjo, and these strangers came along, and they played banjos for awhile, then they put their canoes in the river.

It was a really weird movie, some guy squeelin' like a pig, then somebody got stuck with an arrow.

Now banjo music scares me.

Sperry

I find eight strings more interesting. A friend just lent me his Collings MT-2.

bigcitybill

I'm like Rocky, but agree with the OP.
There is something mildly uplifting about
the sound of a well-tuned
banjo in the hands of a skilled operator.

Stringbean with Lester and Earl:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8uOy3WdT3mY

Earl and friends:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AJOIqmlI65Y

evileye fleagal

nope not a lick, but i do own one, for later in life

Ditch-Runner

my grandfather could play along with many others in the family of that generation I have been told . My dad told me he tried when younger just could never get it so gave up early on [:(]
its something I have always wanted to learn and on my bucket list , not sure why but just the old bluegrass hits my sole

kannoneer

I can pick a one-string banjo, but my repertoire is somewhat limited.

woodshed87

I'm Really Sorry John But I Did Have to laugh At this One[;)]quote:Originally posted by Oakie
I can't even play with myself right[:0][B)][:D][:D][:D] I come out that way once a year. I would love to hear you play at a gig. I come there around Christmas/new year. That would be awesome. Donna and I love all types of music. Post where you will be playing around that time.Oakie

gearheaddad

quote:Originally posted by MG1890
I seen this movie, with a kid on a porch playin' a banjo, and these strangers came along, and they played banjos for awhile, then they put their canoes in the river.

It was a really weird movie, some guy squeelin' like a pig, then somebody got stuck with an arrow.

Now banjo music scares me.

With good reason![;)][:D][:D]
From IMBD:
Trivia (3)
When director John Boorman was having trouble finding a talented actor who was also toothless for a key role in Deliverance (1972), co-star Burt Reynolds remembered Coward from having worked with him in a Wild West show in Maggie Valley, NC. Coward -- who was not an actor and was toothless and illiterate -- arrived for his audition looking so perfect for the part of a rural mountain man that Boorman first thought Reynolds had prompted him on how to dress.
When director John Boorman explained to Coward that one of the things his character was going to do was to rape a man, Coward replied, "I've done worse."

Tech141

I used to play the 5-string. Took lessons for 3 years back in Jr High school. I still have my original $125 generic, and will bring it out of the storage room every now and again to dust it off. I was decent a few decades ago. Now I mostly scare dogs and small children with it.
There was a bee-yutiful Gibson 5-string in a store approx. 3 miles from my house that I would walk to every two weeks or so to play. The folks at the store (Bethany Music) warned me to be very careful with it as it cost $5000 (that was 35-ish years ago). Was the best sounding banjo I have ever heard, weighed about 25 lbs too.
I would love to get a seriously high-quality banjo some day, but they are a tad out of my price range....

http://www.deeringbanjos.com/collections/private-collection


$32,000


$67,000

p3skyking

I don't know much about 5 string banjos, but there's a bunch of folks here that are one string banjos.[:p]

Sperry

When I was 14 I bought a used Morris Standard, which was a Japanese copy of a Gibson Mastertone. It cost $200, which was the same as ten "loops" as a caddy.

So then I practiced all day for two weeks, until I was timing myself at 22 notes per second.

Melodic banjo was the next step, but I didn't have the discipline. eventually got tired of people asking for "Beverly Hillbilly's" and such.

These days I play keyboards a few times a year in a band. For fun I pick acoustic bass, mandolin, and guitar with a summertime informal gathering.