Are Online Banjo Communities a Sham?
Added 2018-11-09 13:25:29 +0000 UTCJacob posted this over in our Community forum and I felt it warranted some closer attention. I generally agree with everything said below:
"Hey ya'll, wondering what everyone's thoughts are on learning the banjo through the web/alone, versus from others with direct interaction. I believe Clif has mentioned just getting started from a book, but he then had mentors to help him along. For some of us, there is no mentor other than this pleasant guy in our computer screen-- Is that a big deal?
"I think there's a definite disadvantage to learning though this weird parasocial online world, but it does seem like it's a really good way to spread the craft of the banjo. I know that without discovering Clifton I wouldn't be nearly as interested in the banjo as I am.
"But, I can't help but wonder what I'm missing. If living the music is important, which I think it is, does that make this process of learning a little bit of a sham? Instead of learning the banjo from a neighbour or old moonshiner, I am sitting infront of the computer screen strumming along to a video. And I can't help but think that's very anti-thetical to the culture and experience of the banjo.
"I suppose the answer is that this is an excellent way to get started, but getting involved in the local scene is important for the 'authentic' experience.
"Apologies for getting a bit long and rambly, was thinking about this the past few days and wondered if anyone had anything to add. In Solidarity--Jacob"
Comments
This is such a refreshing and pragmatic take on what it means to engage with a tradition. I appreciate the take that we're well past the point of preserving this banjo tradition, and that we're making our own traditions now. I grew up in Wilkes County, NC, where mountain music was very much a part of common discussions you might have with your friends or older folks in the community -- people learning the guitar would study Jimi Hendrix and Doc Watson both. But when you got down to it, the only music musicians in this culture were playing was bluegrass. Nothing against it, I'm not trying to talk some kinda bluegrass vs. old-time purity stuff, it's just that the tradition these Appalachian musicians were working with was very specific and not nearly as diverse or tolerant as the one that's growing up around communities like these. There certainly were old-time bands around, but they were largely in the Round Peak tradition. And everybody, the old-timers and the bluegrass folks, had an ear out for whatever Ricky Skaggs and other country-bluegrass musicians with a little industry success was doing. It felt like a pretty hidebound tradition in the '90s. The Internet has really opened things up. Two-finger up-picking? Who'd a thought it! That was a dead tradition around Wilkes County when I was growing up, and now it's a pretty damn lively one. People are pushing that tradition forward now, actually using it to make music, not just preserving it like something fragile; something that can't bear much use without breaking.
Wes Freeman
2021-04-19 16:22:20 +0000 UTCIf it weren't for accidentally coming across Clifton on YouTube I wouldn't even be trying to learn this.
David Steel
2020-02-29 14:59:03 +0000 UTCI have no vehicle and there's nothing in walking by distance from my home.
David Steel
2020-02-29 14:53:20 +0000 UTCI'm so glad we have an internet teacher like Clif.
David Steel
2020-02-29 14:52:29 +0000 UTCWell, for me as a swede, the internet communities are the only way i have to get some knowledge and insight of this music tradition at all. There ARE no old moonshiners to learn from here, you can hardly even get a banjo where i live. So for us american folk music lovers whos not american is this our only chance to be a part of it an learn. Im so very grateful for that. Keep up the good work!
Idun Øye
2019-01-07 13:22:50 +0000 UTC"Neoliberal corporate fascist hellscape”, spot on, man.
Idun Øye
2019-01-07 12:57:05 +0000 UTCIs busking legal in a town near you?
Clifton Hicks
2018-11-27 15:44:52 +0000 UTCI am interested in thoughts on how we can make our local folk/old-time/bluegrass/jam communities less lame and more "authentic". As of late I have avoided the local scene due to lameness but I need more of this music in my life. I cant move to NC, Kentucky, or other anytime soon. If I could just find a fiddle player I think I could move the needle towards the stuff that feels to me more real.
Cory Kelley
2018-11-25 04:57:02 +0000 UTCI also up'd my Patreon pledge to you because I believe your banjo lessons and knowledge are priceless. I encourage others to do the same. Thanks again.
John Welborn
2018-11-11 05:05:11 +0000 UTCThe definition of sham is: 1. anything that is not what it purports or appears to be 2. something false, fake, or fictitious that purports to be genuine 3. a person who pretends to be something other than he is I live in the small town of Ojai which is in the hills above Ventura County in California. I can count the number of banjo players in my area on one hand. Clifton Hicks and other internet Banjo teachers have been a Godsend to me and not a sham at all. My life has been enriched by the stories and tales of many online banjo teachers. I depend on my online family and community to live, love and learn. Anything negative has never crossed my mind. I wish I had someone to teach me in my area. I do play in a acoustic band which plays old timey traditional tunes, bluegrass standards and some more modern artists like Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead. People like Clifton Hicks and my online friends at banjo hangout have brought the world of banjo and traditional music to my doorstep. Because of Clifton, he has turned my on to banjo history and players I never would have heard of or listened to. All I can say is thank you to Clifton and to all my other Internet mentors and teachers. To me, you are friends and part of my music family. I don't want to tarnish what you or all my other on line banjo teachers do by negativity. Thank you Clifton.
John Welborn
2018-11-11 04:59:40 +0000 UTCI've learned a lot from online banjo communities, including history, techniques, songs, artists, and so much more. Nothing beats playing music with people, and i've also learned a lot about banjo by playing music with people who don't play banjo, but this is the milieu we live in, and technology is part of it. So use it! I've hooked up with many great banjo players through YouTube and various forums. I love it. I'll take whatever i can get from campfire jam sessions and the matrix.
Dwayne Strohm
2018-11-10 07:37:44 +0000 UTC"Neoliberal corporate fascist hellscape!" Brilliant, now go read some work by the late Mark Fisher (if you haven't already). He hit the nail on the head again and again. "When the present has given up on the future, we must listen for the relics of the future in the unactivated potentials of the past." This is one of the most interesting conversations I've seen on here, as it tries to grapple with the very real social and cultural and technological revolution that we are all experiencing in real time. I will have to ruminate for a good while before I can say more though. Great stuff!
Micheál Mac Labhrás
2018-11-10 00:57:13 +0000 UTC
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