New doings

I have 3 blogs  that I haven't updated in about a year or more, do I really want to try this again? Alright, maybe just maybe this time will work....well in my latest endeavor I have decided to take up the banjo. I love how loud it  can get, the sound, and well why not give a shot. I have never taken real music lessons so this is most definitely a first for me. I'm in a 7 week class at the Old Town School of Folk Music and I hope to have an enriching experience  if nothing else at all (in case I don't end up being the next Bela Fleck). I had my first class last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Our class consists of 10 pretty diverse people. I love that the age range in there is from 17ish? (Can't tell how old the youngsters are these days) to about 50's. The instructor had us go around and tell our why the banjo story. I loved that I heard from "I've been wanting to play for the last 30 years" to "my mom bought it on eBay and signed me up for it". Someone else bought one randomly because they were attracted to the look of it. Another guy said his musician friend was moving and the banjo didn't cut the keep box so he took it off her hands. For me, the original attraction started with the band Mumford & Sons. I just loved how its sound just overpowered everything else in their songs. Well I'll admit I didn't say that for my story.  It felt a little cheesy, so I chose to leave those particular details out. For homework, the awesome Jonas Friddle told us to practice some basic chords and attempt the happy birthday song.  I have learned it and now I have taken it upon myself to learn some other kid's songs. Heck why not amuse my children.

My banjo is a Gold Tone CC-100. It has a resonator that can be taken off to make it an open back so it's pretty nifty. Since I don't know how far my endeavor will take me I chose to rent this baby for the duration of my class at the Old Town music store.