Cool Website - Lark In The Morning

For cheap (and not so cheap) instruments of all kinds (strummed, blown, hit etc.) from all over the world check out....

Lark In The Morning

This is where I got my Egyptian oud, for about $300.

It's a fun site to peruse. Many have sound examples so you can use it as a educational reference.

Banjo Claw

Tracking banjo today...

Saw somewhere, probably on Youtube, a trick to lesson the scraping sound when playing banjo, use a pair of pliers to slighty twist the tip of the picks to make them strike the string more straight on and less along the edge.

Goodtime Banjo

Banjo Picks

Say "Yes!". Sometimes.

When I was still a very young guitarist and still living in Indiana, someone higher up the "food chain" advised me to never say "no" when asked if I could play something.  Instrument or style.  That advice got me into trouble almost right away when I agree to play banjo on a bluegrass gig.  I played neither.  Fortunately for everyone's sake I mustered up the courage to bail early.  I think I even told them the truth, always a good thing, that I was foolishly taking some advice when I agreed to do something I wasn't qualified to do.

Flash forward about ten years and a composer I really wanted to work for asked me if I played mandolin.  To get the gig I said I did and asked, "when is the session?"  Thinking I could get one, practice, maybe take a couple lessons, etc.

"The day after tomorrow."

The day after tomorrow!  Immediately I went into panic mode.  I bought a no name mandolin from a friend for $50.  Found a beginner book about mandolin at the library (this was before youtube and the internet).  And started mapping out chords and scales on the tiny neck like I was cyphering reentry calculations to save my life.

I learned more in that 48 hour period then I had in any other prior.  When I showed up to that session nervous and sweating, I learned I was way over-qualified.  Yes, way over-qualified. Now was this because I had obtained sick David Grisman-type skills through pure tenacity or through the sale of my soul?  Neither.  All the composer wanted me to do was a couple of lines of tremolo.

Done.  $50.  I'd broken even and worked on music that would appear on television all over the world with a composer that I would now work for for years to come. And I got started on a instrument that I would utilize on many occasions.

The lesson?  Have a qualified yes handy.  Ask a couple of questions.  Make sure you aren't going to burn a bridge if you say "yes" and blow it big time.  A while ago a composer I work for quite a bit asked me if I played oud.  I told him "no".  I barely even knew what one was. Then he asked if I could get one and learn it in a couple of months. That I could do.  I did.  And now I've got another weapon in my arsenal that I've used at least a dozen times and will pull out every now and again just cause it's a flippin' crazy fun instrument to play!

Cheap instruments to have around for fun and the occasional session...
Egyptian Deluxe Oud w/ Soft Case & CD & Oud Pick
Oscar Schmidt OB5 5-String Banjo
Fender FM-53S Mandolin, Sunburst

One a Year

For a period of about ten years I bought one new instrument each year.  Not a new guitar.  A completely new instrument.  And as a rule I would learn it in it's native tuning.  Much easier to think and sound idiomatically that way.

I think it started with a mandolin.  Not a guitar.  Not even close.  A guitar is largely tuned in fourths.  A mandolin is 4 pairs of strings tuned in fifths. Like this one... Fender FM-52E Mandolin, Sunburst

And so it was on.  Here are some other stringed instruments I've picked up. Not in this order.

A Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar - Fender FS-52 Lap Steel

Then I got a five-string banjo.  It's tuned like... oh, never mind, let's not go there right now.  Not as nice as this one... Deering Goodtime 5-String Banjo

Then a baritone electric. Tuned down a fourth from standard tuning

An auto harp - kind of like this one... Oscar Schmidt 21 Chord Autoharp

Then a uke. - Mine's the flea.
        Here's a nice one...  OXK Ukulele

An oud. - Similar to...  Egyptian Deluxe Oud w/ Soft Case & CD & Oud Pick

A bajo sexto.  It's a mexican instrument that is kind of a cross between a baritone and a 12-string.  Something like this one... Oscar Schmidt OH52SE Acoustic Electric Guitar, Bajo Sexto

An electric sitar.  This Jerry Jones one.

Just added this Gretsch round neck resonator guitar to the collection.

Check out Lark in the Morning for a great source of cheap instruments you might only use once a year.