This is why I should not goof around at church band rehearsal

[Brian Krashpad]

For tomorrow's 11 a.m. service the band, First Things First, for a change, is playing basically ALL the music.

So we just learned a dozen or more songs in a couple hours. Of course we have lead sheets, so it's not like we're playing from memory.

But, during rehearsal I started goofing playing a melody on banjo, my tertiary instrument (oh wait, if I count bass, banjo is actually my FOURTH instrument, but I don't even know the right adjective for that), and our bandleader goes "Ooh do that tomorrow, we'll have you play THE WHOLE SONG BY YOURSELF as the intro." So I just came home and had to actually LEARN what I was goofing around with.

Which, for the record, is a song called "In Christ Alone." It sounds very much like a traditional folk hymn (thus the banjo), but sfaik it's actually a modern composition.

Lesson learned?

Probably not.

:thwap

 

[Katastrophe]

How did this turn out?

 

[Brian Krashpad]

How did this turn out?

Not terrible but could've been better. I had the keys play the intro with me, which was probably a mistake in retrospect. Two of the lines have an odd stutter-meter to them, and without the vocal to cue me it was hard to keep from getting either ahead or behind the keys on those two lines. Once the vox kicked in (along with bass and drums) I was fine.

Oh, and I thought it sounded thin so right before the service I figured out a sorta plucking-2-strings-at-a-time thing instead.

I'd give it a 7/10 at best.

 

[Katastrophe]

Cool... 7/10 is passing in my book. Win!

And banjo is your quarternary instrument? I'm still trying to wrap my brain around bass and 6 string!

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Cool... 7/10 is passing in my book. Win!

And banjo is your quarternary instrument? I'm still trying to wrap my brain around bass and 6 string!

Yeah, definite fourth behind guitar, bass, and mando. I know maybe 3 different chord shapes, and would be hard-pressed to tell you what the open notes are, other than that it's a G chord with nothing fretted (in the G tuning I use, the other common tuning is called C). The cool thing with G tuning is if you have any major chord, you just find the appropriate fret and barre across.

In fact banjo's arguably 5th behind ukelele. My deal with uke is I can play lots of chords, because the fingering is the same as the top 4 strings on a guitar.

But it's in a different key, and I don't know how to transpose.

:thwap

 

[duhvoodooman]

...banjo is actually my FOURTH instrument, but I don't even know the right adjective for that...

Quaternary, for future reference.

I've played acoustic guitar accompaniment for my daughter on that tune in our church's contemporary service. I know exactly what you mean about the odd cadence in a couple of spots.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Quaternary, for future reference.

I've played acoustic guitar accompaniment for my daughter on that tune in our church's contemporary service. I know exactly what you mean about the odd cadence in a couple of spots.

Glad it's not just me!