Actually, before that Papa rented me a guitar and I took a few lessons. That was a strange axe; it had a fiberglass body in the form of an electric guitar and a Dobro style resonator.The Banjo I chose, however, and started playing at the age of 18. That was in 1967. I learned with the Pete seeger book and took a few lessons from a Bluegrass player. Frailing is what I ended up with. I have an interesting story about that Pete Seger book, How to Play the 5-String Banjo
. I had not seen any teachers as yet, this was in Orange County, California, and I was not acquainted with the Nitty Gritty Dirt band or Steve Martin. So, Pete's description of the basic bum-diddy-bum stroke was not clear to me; rather than beginning with an up-pick, then strum and thumb, I started with the strum, resulting in a steady three pops instead of the off beat typic banjo rythm. I do play Corrina using this method still. I like the way that ended up, but it is entirely idiosyncratic, and due to my misunderstanding of Pete Seeger's instructions.
I started with an acoustic guitar shortly after that. My current banjo's are a civil war era fretless, a Deering Goodtime and a Wildwood; all are frailing machines. I have three Taylor guitars: an Orchestra size in blond which I bought new in 1985, a baby with a pickup, and a Big Baby which is in Haiti in care of Richard Morse. Banjo Clubhouse has some nice early banjo resources. I just discovered this site from a posting at the Banjo Hangout.
