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WARNING – COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!by Diane Jones
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"What happened to the rest of your banjo"? "How many strings does that banjo have"? "How do you get all that sound out of that banjo"? These are just a few of the questions that come along with the curious stares from people watching me play. My stock answer is, "I washed it and put it in the dryer without reading the instructions on the label". Then I stand up in my full, less than fivefoot height and show them arm and finger length more likely to be seen on a nine or ten year old child. "Short banjos for short people – saved my life". That may sound a little exaggerated, but life would hardly be worth living without being able to play the banjo. My first experience with real, debilitating pain, was a when I got a frozen left shoulder. It was the direct result of playing a rather standard length scale banjo of twenty-six or so inches for about eight or ten hours a day at a banjo camp for five days. (I have had joint problems since childhood.) After having the adhesions broken under anesthesia, and three more months of physical therapy, I started to carefully play again. (I was pretty determined!) Two more frozen shoulders (left and right) and, recurring tendonitis in both arms and wrists and many more hours of PT, made me realize that I had to modify what I was doing on the banjo. At about this time I noticed that it was easier to play in A with a capo on the second fret. I purchased a wonderful little twenty-one and a half inch scale, ten and a half inch head S. S. Stewart banjo. At last – comfort! It was so much easier on my left arm and shoulder, and it was possible to get around the finger board without having to move my hand and arm so much – sort of like most players did. At the time I had a little wormy chestnut mountain banjo made for me by Leonard Glenn. It had a "normal" length scale. I continued on next page All Photos by Betty Vornbrock decided to take it back to Leonard and ask him to make me a new, shorter neck like the Stewart. After a year I had both of them back and knew that the scale length was perfect for me, especially on the fretless. Because I was forced to play the longer length scale banjo while I was waiting, I decided to tune it down and put a capo on at the second fret to get to a G tuning. That worked but it did kill some of the sound. Life is just one big compromise, after all, and I was able to play. When I wanted to play in A or D I put on a second capo. Takes a pretty good banjo to handle that! It also takes a while to get used to the fret markers. It did confuse more than a few people when they sat down to jam at a festival or party.
When I joined the old-time string band, The Reed Island Rounders, it was time for another banjo. I had played several banjos made by Lo Gordon, including one that I borrowed for almost a year. I needed a banjo with that warmth and clarity for performing and recording. Lo made my first fully custom made banjo and Kevin Enoch did the inlay and engraving from my pumpkin design. It is my most favorite banjo in the world. It has a rosewood tone ring, eleven-inch renaissance head, and a twenty-one and a half inch scale. I keep this banjo tuned in an open G tuning (gDGBD) and tune from there to get to G modal and double C. About this time I had a recurrence of tendonitis in both my wrists. Carpel Tunnel was pretty much ruled out. "Stop playing the banjo or change your physical motion", quoted the Doctor. He doesn't know me very well. I took a really hard look at my playing. I have always been very intense and played hard. The big challenge – relax that left arm, wrist and hand. Not easy! I had to think about it a lot, and I still do. To help this process I put very light gauge strings on my banjos and practiced playing easier. When the tendonitis got much better I put medium gauge strings (.011, .013, .016, .026W, .011) on the banjos again. My playing style has changed. It is more relaxed and cleaner and I'm very comfortable. Playing dances and performances requires changing banjo tunings a lot. The best way to expedite the tuning is for me to have two banjos. So it was back to the old capo trick for my second banjo. In order to get the tone quality that I wanted, I decided to have another Lo Gordon banjo made. This one has the same size and type pot and head as the pumpkin banjo with an even shorter neck and a seventeen and a half inch scale. I keep this banjo tuned in an open A tuning (aEAC#E) and tune it from there to get to A modal and double D. Remember the "Life is one big compromise" statement? True enough. The A banjo, although it has the same tonal quality, is a little quieter, probably because the strings are tighter. The biggest compromise is in tuning. The shorter the scale, the more critical the tuning becomes. I'm seriously thinking about putting fine tuners on the little banjo and giving them a try.
I have several students with shoulder problems that I've advised to go to a shorter scale. I've also seen too many young people trying to play the banjo with an instrument that is simply too big for them. I'm afraid that they will become frustrated and discouraged, or even hurt themselves. Please, parents, please don't let this happen. I'm seeing many smaller size guitars being played by old-time musicians now. Let's face it, they are easier to play and they sound great. I think we will see more short scale banjos as people start to realize how comfortable they are and how good they sound. Now…..If I can just remember to keep loose, don't let the muscle tension creep back into my playing, sit back, relax and play and sing my heart out! DIANE JONES
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