Power of Music
April 5, 2014 9:51 PM
More fretless minstrel banjo, with tambourine and marginally played bones. This one is from Phil Rice's 1858 Method for Banjo With or Without A Master.
posted by usonian (3 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
posted by usonian (3 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
God I love this stuff. Ye olde (OLDE) Americana right here. Fretless banjo sounds so damn good, too, I love the mellowness of it. Well done, usonian!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:55 AM on April 7, 2014
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:55 AM on April 7, 2014
Thanks folks! This early banjo stuff is a lot of fun to play... the old tutor books have a mix of popular minstrel tunes of the day, banjo arrangements of fiddle melodies, and one-off original tunes and exercises (which I think this was.) I don't know if the title is a nod to William Sidney Mount's Painting or if the phrase "The Power of Music" had some wider cultural currency in the mid-19th century. The rhythms and timings are so different from the straightforward driving playing styles people usually associate with banjo nowadays.
posted by usonian at 2:48 PM on April 7, 2014
posted by usonian at 2:48 PM on April 7, 2014
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"Marginally played bones. Cliché, I know."
Cool sound, well played, and I love that short bass note! It's got real character to it.
posted by edlundart at 12:03 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]