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Tenor Banjo Chord Encyclopedia
by: Mel Bay

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by Michael J. Keyes, MD

One of the perpetual questions, not the one about triplets, is "How can I play faster?" The answer is simple: better technique, more practice, and talent. It's hard to play the tenor banjo at Warp 9 if you want to include all the ornaments and nuances that make the banjo sound Irish. Most people can't do it.

The problem, of course, is sessions. Unless you are in a "Slow Session" (which means a beginner's session), the likelihood of the group playing at a moderate pace is slim. Granted there are places where slower more tasteful renditions of tunes are prized, but finding one is hard. Sessions are not bands, there is no internal discipline most of the time so the tendency is to either get faster or slower and most people have a need for speed.

This leaves the intermediate level banjo player in a quandary. Playing the tunes fast is not that hard, but playing them the way you practiced them is. You can either force the group to slow down or go with the flow. The first option might draw some ire and the second might be unsatisfactory. But there is a way out, play a hornpipe set.

Hornpipes are one of the redheaded stepchildren of Irish traditional music. They come from the music used in an English folk dance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornpipe) and are in 4/4 time although they are played as dotted notes most of the time. They tend to be played slower than reels and are often mistaken for reels. Of course it is much more complex than that, there are endless arguments on TheSession.org, but the bottom line is that you can play hornpipes slower with ornamentation and not be accused of wimping out. They are not to be confused with American hornpipes which are usually played as reels or with the 3/2, 9/8, 5/2, or 3/4 versions also called hornpipes (I told you it was complex.)

In addition, hornpipes are a lot of fun. One of the metric differences from reels is that the emphasis in on on the first beat of the four beat bar. When you hear a group of good players play hornpipes, you will hear their feet go THUMP-beat-beat-beat, THUMP-beat-beat-beat, etc. as the tune goes on. (Reels emphasize two beats per bar.) One of the psychological advantages of this is that a hornpipe sounds slower even if it is not.

Here are two hornpipes that are fun to play, The Plains of Boyle (D) and Stack of Wheat (G). They can be used as a set, but they go along with a number of other hornpipes.

Movie - Plains of Boyle Regular
Download the Movie: PlainsofBoyleRegular.mov

Movie - Plains of Boyle Slow
Download the Movie: PlainsofBoyleSlow.mov

MP3 - Plains of Boyle Regular
Download the mp3: PlainsofBoyleRegular.mp3

MP3 - Plains of Boyle Slow
Download the mp3: PlainsofBoyleSlow.mp3

Plains of Boyle has that neat C natural in the fourth bar and a typical musical triplet every so often. These are found in most hornpipes and are part of the tune although the musical triplet can be optional. The musical triplet is not the same thing as the ornament called a triplet (I like "treble" better for this ornament) because it is not there to emphasize the rhythm the way a treble is. Mostly I play this tune the way it is written above.

Movie - Stack of Wheat
Download the Movie: StackofWheat.mov

MP3 - Stack of Wheat
Download the mp3: StackofWheat.mp3

Stack of Wheat is not as well known as Plains of Boyle, but is a nice tune with variable musical triplets. You will notice that I am playing the second part differently from the notes as written. Not to worry, you can do it either way and if you play it as a solo, alternating is a good variation.

References

Good sources for hornpipes are TheSession.org where you look at "Tunes" and put in hornpipe in the type of tunes box (there are 527 at the time of this writing) and JC's ABC Tune Match which is a wonderful search engine just for tunes and has access to tens of thousands of tunes.

Examples of hornpipes from banjo players otherwise noted for speed include Brian Kelly playing Cuckoo's Nest/Japanese Hornpipe, http://celticgrooves.homestead.com/CG_Scahill_Enda.html playing the Soporific Hornpipe and Gerry O'Connor and David McNevin playing several hornpipes on this instructional CD.Go to my web site (www.mikekeyes.com) for more hornpipes.

About the Author
Mike Keyes, a native of Franklin, Tennessee, has played tenor banjo since 1957 and over the years has learned to play five string banjo, mandolin, and guitar. He earned his way through college and medical school playing in bluegrass and dixieland bands and currently plays in the Irish band "Good Luck." He is an expert in sports performance and has written and book and over 200 articles on the subject.

His interest in Irish music started a number of years ago when effort to learn more about his musical roots led him to the discovery of session playing. Since then he has been to Ireland to learn more about the music and has taken classes and interviewed such banjo greats as John Carty, Charlie Piggot, and Gerry O'Connor.

His medical practice is in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where he practices Psychiatry. You can email him at mikeyes@charter.net if you wish to discuss some aspect of the Irish tenor banjo.

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