The fingers are the answer for they feel the vibration of resonance. The striking of the strings is as the throwing of a rock in a pond. The attraction is one of sympathy for that which moves in the same field. The search for tone is the search for greater clarity. The hand must be one with the spirit of a note — a vibration in a similar sense. Close the eyes and concentrate on the silence. The liquid of tone is a brush that collects the least that will ride on a wave of sound.
Tone is the voice quality. This voice color is also referred to as timbre. This timbre is dependent on what overtones are present and their respective amplitudes. These terms are interchangeable but I generally think of tone as an individual musician’s sound and timbre as the unique sound of the instrument. Note: I’ll leave the many issues of tone relating to banjo set-up to the experts.
Everything vibrates at a given frequency and when this frequency is reproduced, a sympathetic vibration will occur. This root note or pitch is referred to as the fundamental tone. This note by itself or pure tone as a pure sine wave does not exist in nature, although it is easily reproduced on a synthesizer keyboard. This pure tone is very dry and dull. In nature the overtones, also called harmonics, vibrate at different intervals above the fundamental. Another part of the sound wave that defines the instrument is the attack, also called the transient. This introduces the sound because it is the first thing we hear, thus making a cello sound like a cello and an oboe sound like an oboe. To save memory, early synthesizer keyboards were designed to only sample the transient and used oscillators to generate multiple sine waves creating the rest of the wave.
Tone may seem like an odd place to start from when learning banjo but your voice quality starts from the very first time you pick the strings. Think of it like this: If you can play one note perfect--just one note--you are as great as any musician that ever existed on that one note. I believe everyone can play one note perfectly. I’m not talking about being a perfectionist. That puts up a wall up that keeps you from learning. I’m saying raise your consciousness to a higher level.
The singing voice does not begin in the mouth or lips but much lower from the belly. Musicians that play instruments that reproduce sound from the mouth make this connection. If the musician thinks of the source as starting at the lips it will be weak and small. Banjo players that use only the hands to reproduce the tone will also have a weak thin tone. I believe to achieve a round tone we most imagine the sound reproduced as your voice and coming from the belly. There is a consciousness that is in your belly. Scientist have found actual brain cells in the stomach. So that gut feeling you have is real knowing.
Below this your sexual energy is the creative and regenerative center of creativity.
The pinch is an act of faith because once you strike the strings you must let them go. You must surrender. There is no use wasting energy on what you can’t control. When an open or unfretted string is plucked you only have control of the attack. When someone first starts learning banjo it is common for a beginner to play something and then out of doubt or insecurity they mute or deaden the strings by stopping the vibration with their hands. I call this gag reflex number one. Let it ring! This will help build strength, confidence and authority. The most work with the least energy is the most efficient way of doing anything--even if you make a mistake. Make it big and with authority. Most of the time people will think you meant to do it.
When you do a pinch keep your ring and pinky fingers planted on the banjo head. The natural tendency is to pull the hand away from the head after you strike the strings. This is gag reflex number two. Remember for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The downward pressure of the hand on the ring finger and pinky will oppose the action of the picking fingers. Eventually you will reach a relaxed place of equilibrium.
When you pick a string it is similar to swinging a bat. There is the forward momentum before contact, the contact and the follow-through. The stroke of the finger does not stop at contact with the string. The follow-through is important so you don’t pull the string. Visualize playing through the string. There are two main picking hand positions referred to as X and Y. The X position is closer to the bridge where there is more surface tension and the strings will feel stiffer. This increase in surface tension will create a brighter tone. The Y position is right before where the head and neck of the banjo are joined. The tone here will be warmer, accenting the lower frequency of the harmonics. These are the two main positions, however you may want to try all places in between.
As you go up the neck with the fretting hand the fretted notes will become brighter. To compensate for this, the picking hand can be in the Y position. When fretting before the fifth fret you will be using mostly the X position. As you move up and down the neck with the left hand the right will move down and up in the opposing direction.
