The first person to ever really *tune* a banjo …
October 24, 2015 3:22 PM Subscribe
Bill Keith, creator of melodic bluegrass and the mechanical wonders that are Keith Banjo D-Tuners (used here), has left us.
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If you're also having trouble figuring out what D-Tuners do, this video shows their use pretty clearly.
posted by DGStieber at 3:55 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're also having trouble figuring out what D-Tuners do, this video shows their use pretty clearly.
posted by DGStieber at 3:55 PM on October 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
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I took banjo lessons a couple of years ago and when I started I don't think I could have named a banjo player aside from Kermit the Frog. Of course my teacher, a great player and Luthier named Glen Nelson, turned me on to some of the greats and Bill Keith was a name that came up again and again. He suggested I pick up a copy of Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, which I did.
posted by bondcliff at 5:10 PM on October 24, 2015
I took banjo lessons a couple of years ago and when I started I don't think I could have named a banjo player aside from Kermit the Frog. Of course my teacher, a great player and Luthier named Glen Nelson, turned me on to some of the greats and Bill Keith was a name that came up again and again. He suggested I pick up a copy of Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, which I did.
posted by bondcliff at 5:10 PM on October 24, 2015
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posted by hydropsyche at 7:51 AM on October 25, 2015
posted by hydropsyche at 7:51 AM on October 25, 2015
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Bela Fleck, Bill Keith, Scott Vestal workshop Winterhawk (Grey Fox) Bluegrass Festival 99'
There's a nice bit starting at 38:30 where he talks about how he picked up the banjo (says he started playing originally on a tenor, then made the switch to 5-string in 1957), and the three of them jamming (melodic style, natch) on Shenandoah Valley Breakdown at 52:25.
For something a little different, here he is with Muleskinner doing Opus 57 in G Minor.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:08 AM on October 25, 2015
Bela Fleck, Bill Keith, Scott Vestal workshop Winterhawk (Grey Fox) Bluegrass Festival 99'
There's a nice bit starting at 38:30 where he talks about how he picked up the banjo (says he started playing originally on a tenor, then made the switch to 5-string in 1957), and the three of them jamming (melodic style, natch) on Shenandoah Valley Breakdown at 52:25.
For something a little different, here he is with Muleskinner doing Opus 57 in G Minor.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:08 AM on October 25, 2015
And a member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band at its most glorious. This is sad news indeed.
posted by y2karl at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2015
posted by y2karl at 9:28 AM on October 25, 2015
> This is sad news indeed.
It is, but neither Bill nor the rest of us have to fall back on "I'll see you again in the next life" for comfort. Make a large contribution (or even a small one) to the great river of music and what you gave will live, if not forever or past the heat death of the universe, at least a lot longer than you. Any kid who hears some melodic-style banjo and goes OMFG GET ME TO A TEACHER, I GOTTA LEARN TO DO THAT has touched and been touched by Bill.
posted by jfuller at 11:31 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
It is, but neither Bill nor the rest of us have to fall back on "I'll see you again in the next life" for comfort. Make a large contribution (or even a small one) to the great river of music and what you gave will live, if not forever or past the heat death of the universe, at least a lot longer than you. Any kid who hears some melodic-style banjo and goes OMFG GET ME TO A TEACHER, I GOTTA LEARN TO DO THAT has touched and been touched by Bill.
posted by jfuller at 11:31 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
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I've seen Adrian Legg in concert a few times playing this guitar that uses Keith Banjo tuners. Sometimes he would re-tune during a song, or even a note. Amazing.
posted by beowulf573 at 3:42 PM on October 24, 2015