DVD-The Banjo According To John Hartford #2
by Happy Traum
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: John HartfordDirector: Happy Traum
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 60 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Homespun Tapes
Movie Reviews of DVD-The Banjo According To John Hartford #2
Movie Review: A chance to get in John Hartford's head
Summary: 5 Stars
John Hartford is the only banjo player who has a style so unique as to make his playing instantly recognizable to me. So, when I picked up a banjo again after a 25 year distraction, I was curious to know what he had to say about his playing.
These two DVDs are a sort of master class for five-string banjo players. You might think you are going to learn some cool licks and how to play some of his songs - and you can - but the real value of these DVDs is the chance to get inside John Hartford's head and begin to understand how he thinks about music.
He starts out pretty basic - on a level even the greenest beginner can relate to and progresses to more and more advanced concepts, yet nothing out of reach. There is enough substance here that, unless you are a very advanced player, you will have enough to keep you challenged for quite a while. Tablature is included. (I hate tabs - music is so much easier and more understandable.) The tabs are not entirely reliable, so if you don't think it sounds right, it's probably the tab and not you. However, enterprising banjo players will not be trying to copy John Hartford's playing. Enterprising players will be looking for ways to incorporate John's ideas into their own playing.
I was particularly interested to learn about his "slide whistle" lick. It is a defining characteristic of his playing. He uses it effortlessly and is surprisingly self deprecating about it. I tend to think that it is neither as "phony" nor as easy as he claims. Great players make the difficult sound easy.
The production and sound are good quality. The editing perhaps could have been a little tighter, but it was obviously loosely scripted, as a master class would be. Chris Sharp looks bored.
Don't be tempted to buy only half of the set.
Summary of DVD-The Banjo According To John Hartford #2
On this second part of his unique banjo lesson series, John Hartford once again imparts numerous ideas and a myriad of techniques for the learning player. He explains chromatic scales and teaches his famous "slide whistle" lick, which allows you to play ear-catching runs that will enhance any tune. You'll also learn to add color and excitement to your banjo solos with John's trademark "fiddle style" melodic licks, which you will learn to play anywhere on the fingerboard. Sally Goodin and Old Time River Man provide the perfect examples for this dynamic technique.John provides words of advice for everything from using a metronome and a tape recorder for your practice sessions to detailed instruction on dancing while playing the banjo (complete with his "footlature" notation system. Among other topics he covers are licks based on diminished and augmented chords, banjo back up licks, pushing the beat, how to create "accidental counterpoint," and how John writes his original breakdowns for banjo.
Some of the other instrumentals John and Chris demonstrate include "Leather Britches" (backup), "Goin Back to Dixie," " Cackling Hen," "Annual Waltz," "Your Tax Dollars at Work," "Lorena," "Boogie" and "Foggy Mountain Landscape."
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