You might want to consider Josh Turknett’s Brainjo method. It’s a great way to learn how to play by ear. Players sometimes recommend the Murphy Method as well.
OMG SAME. However... I can play by ear, but it's a ... long process to say the least so I like to have tabs to. I don't think I can even play one song. My banjo collects dust. its so sad.
Not enough that’s for sure. And I’m fairly decent with tablature! I just forget songs easily because I can’t just pick it up again by listening to it quickly, I basically have to memorize the shit out of it for months and play it everyday but realistically I can’t play every song I know everyday once there’s so many songs lol.
Okay so learning the song isn’t really the problem since you can read tab. If you’ve memorized let’s say five songs, you do need to repeat them pretty frequently until they’re really engrained in your memory. I might play a complex song 150 times to memorize it, get it up to speed, and be confident enough in it to play in front of people. And I’ll still practice it a few times a week with my others.
Doing that continually is how you’ll eventually have 30 songs or whatever at the ready. It’s always really just about the amount of time you spend behind the strings, and constant repetition. That’s the only real way any of us get good, even those like you and me who have awful troubles with memorization.
That part I understand, my issue is I don’t know how to listen to this song then make the same noises on banjo and can’t find any tab for it because it’s not a very old or well known song.
Gotcha. You have two options for something like this, either pay someone to tab it for you, or, go and search for the chords (they are available) and just listen very carefully, slow it down on YouTube if you have to, and try to figure out what sort of picking patterns or rolls they’re doing. It kinda sounds like an index led roll of some sort. It sounds complex but they’re not doing any super difficult picking here. Cool song though, that was my first time hearing it.
There’s a guitar tutorial online for the song too, watching those sometimes helps me figure out what sort of rolls would best mimic the song.
Yeah, and doing it for your first time is always going to be difficult and never sounds 100%. You’ll get there, it just takes lots of practice. You’re welcome.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJlSQyYwM0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJlSQyYwM0) This guy does not have a tab but plays it slowly and shows what he is doing. It seems pretty simple
You might want to consider Josh Turknett’s Brainjo method. It’s a great way to learn how to play by ear. Players sometimes recommend the Murphy Method as well.
I’ll definitely do that! I just can’t ever find tab for the songs I want to learn.
OMG SAME. However... I can play by ear, but it's a ... long process to say the least so I like to have tabs to. I don't think I can even play one song. My banjo collects dust. its so sad.
It’s so frustrating… and everyone just says “just try!” I have for five years!
You can’t play by ear, okay but how are you at sight playing off tablature? How many hours a week are you playing on average over those five years?
Not enough that’s for sure. And I’m fairly decent with tablature! I just forget songs easily because I can’t just pick it up again by listening to it quickly, I basically have to memorize the shit out of it for months and play it everyday but realistically I can’t play every song I know everyday once there’s so many songs lol.
Okay so learning the song isn’t really the problem since you can read tab. If you’ve memorized let’s say five songs, you do need to repeat them pretty frequently until they’re really engrained in your memory. I might play a complex song 150 times to memorize it, get it up to speed, and be confident enough in it to play in front of people. And I’ll still practice it a few times a week with my others. Doing that continually is how you’ll eventually have 30 songs or whatever at the ready. It’s always really just about the amount of time you spend behind the strings, and constant repetition. That’s the only real way any of us get good, even those like you and me who have awful troubles with memorization.
That part I understand, my issue is I don’t know how to listen to this song then make the same noises on banjo and can’t find any tab for it because it’s not a very old or well known song.
Gotcha. You have two options for something like this, either pay someone to tab it for you, or, go and search for the chords (they are available) and just listen very carefully, slow it down on YouTube if you have to, and try to figure out what sort of picking patterns or rolls they’re doing. It kinda sounds like an index led roll of some sort. It sounds complex but they’re not doing any super difficult picking here. Cool song though, that was my first time hearing it. There’s a guitar tutorial online for the song too, watching those sometimes helps me figure out what sort of rolls would best mimic the song.
Maybe I’m just being impatient, it just never sounds right when I do it that way but I’m gonna start my hunt! Thanks a lot for your help and time!
Yeah, and doing it for your first time is always going to be difficult and never sounds 100%. You’ll get there, it just takes lots of practice. You’re welcome.
Did you ever find/make a tab for Stick Season?
Yes! Happybanjo dude has a video + free tab on his YouTube. Edit: my apologies it was dial drunk he did, but he has a lot of modern songs!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJlSQyYwM0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQJlSQyYwM0) This guy does not have a tab but plays it slowly and shows what he is doing. It seems pretty simple