Whiskey Before Breakfast

[@wendykemp8983]

If you are looking for the best lesson and tab for this song in Clawhammer Banjo this is the one! Thank you for posting such a great video.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Thanks for your wonderfully kind words, Wendy! Glad you're lovin' the lesson.

[@emilyott1877]

This is such a beautiful rendition! Oh my heart is so happy!

[@williamhofmann]

I've meet a few people in my day, but you air are a true badass, remember banjo players get free fishing trips on my boat, keep up the videos

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Thanks! I'm about due for a fishin' trip...

[@johnmaisonneuve9057]

Super good!

[@aBluegrassPicker]

Well Done!

[@woelneberg]

6:32 B part Great lesson, Maestro!

[@ryanspearman2620]

Thank you, sir!

[@thomasdean321]

great class

[@robertcasteel7039]

sounds so good! thanks for sharing

[@ryanspearman]

+Robert Casteel Thanks!

[@MrJbaker7]

So good Ryan...Jack

[@byrne369able]

these lessons rock!

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Glad your diggin' 'em, Josh! I'll be posting a bunch more sometime in Feb...

[@byrne369able]

Play Better Banjo awesome, i look forward to it :)

[@ryan7148]

Literally the best version I've seen, it's so fucking cool :)

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Thanks!

[@johnmaisonneuve9057]

Stop using swear words, marks you out as a degenerate.

[@song_the_farmer]

Hi Ryan. Thanks so much for this lesson. I really want to learn this tune but I'm having trouble getting the tuning set up on my banjo. Have you tuned up/down any of the other strings in addition to the capo? Thanks so much for your time and thanks again for the lesson! Peter.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Yep. I may not have mentioned it in the video but I'm tuned to "Double C" Tuning. From 5th to 1st string that looks like this: gCGCD Then you slap the capo on the second fret and tune the fifth string up to an A note and you should be good to go.

[@fingerpickinman]

Thanks!

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Michael Medlock You're welcome!

[@ifrancus9623]

Nice lesson, Ryan. Very clear instructions. Do you know where a tab of the banjo outro for the Buffalo Springfield's Bluebird could be found? thanks

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the lesson. Sorry, I do not know of any banjo tabs for Buffalo Springfield's Bluebird. Your best bet might be to inquire on the banjo hangout forums...

[@butler9086]

Such a great tune - I learnt False Hearted Lover Blues a couple of days ago on your channel which is very cool (great channel!). Have you any advice for the 4th string drop thumb you use in the first part of this tune by any chance? I can play drop thump on the higher strings, as a kind of fill, though incorporating it into a melody is proving a little more tricky and I'm having a bit of trouble getting my hand/brain to cooperate when trying to play the 4th string drop thumb in the opening section of this tune...

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

yeah, for some reason, most folks have a pretty tough time training their mind/body to execute a 4th string drop thumb with precision. My advice will not be groundbreaking but perhaps it can help: 1. Isolate the challenging drop thumb section of the tune and practice it SLOWLY and RHYTHMICALLY. 2. Rinse and repeat. 3. While practicing the isolated musical passage in question (SLOWLY) consider some of the details of your technique. Experiment a bit with the angle at which your right hand is striking the strings. Experiment with the amount of tension in your right arm/hand (assuming you're playing right-handed)...what happens when you relax your hand/arm a little bit? What happens when you relax it a lot? What about the opposite? How does intentionally adding tension to your striking arm/hand affect your drop thumb execution? Trust yourself and trust the feedback your body returns while doing these experiments and adjust accordingly. 4. Smile. You're getting every time you pick up your banjo and play with intention so ... enjoy the process, my friend!

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Oh, also, you can try my drop thumb exercises every once in a while to get you used to the various positions your striking hand is likely to come across while playing these types of melodic clawhammer tunes: coachtestprep.s3.amazonaws.com/direct-uploads/user-30435/28888ea7-271e-4473-8195-480a9a2a2f1f/Drop-Thumb-Exercises.pdf

[@butler9086]

thank you very much for your reply and for the advice! I'm sure I could play the tune without the drop thumb but it's something I need to learn to get where I want to be. I do like to jump into things a bit, so I will TRY to discipline myself and play through the section slowly until I'm getting somewhere... and I'll have a play around with arm/hand tension and see what happens - it's an interesting point which I haven't really thought too much on yet with my banjo playing... thanks again. @@PlayBetterBanjo

[@butler9086]

and thanks for the link! I've just been going through this really emphasising the thumb notes which is allowing me to add a few hammer-ons, so I think this will be very useful for syncing up the timing with my brain/hand/sound. Amazing, cheers!@@PlayBetterBanjo

[@butler9086]

Got it! I've actually got it. Opens up a whole new level of banjo playing for me dude, thanks for the help

[@Erik-qu4xc]

What kind of banjo is that? I love the mello tone :) Wonderful playing!

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

+Erik Lechtenberg Thanks for the kind words! It's a Brooks Banjo made by Brooks Masten in Portland, OR. (BrooksBanjos.com).

[@tommcdougall5395]

Hi Ryan. This is a great tune played often in jam sessions I attend. Problem with a jam is there is little time between songs to slip into another tuning with the banjo. Can you help with a tab played out of the normal G tuning, played in the key of D? I'm determined to learn how to take a banjo break with this song, without retuning from G. Your lessons are so good, thought you might be able to help. Any suggestions? Thanks. Tom.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

Hmmm...I'll mess around with the idea but I'm thinking it might be more tedious to play the tune in the key of D out of open G tuning than it would be to tune back and forth between tunes...I'll give it a go though and let you know if I come up with anything useful.

[@tommcdougall5395]

+Tom McDougall Thanks Ryan.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

+Tom McDougall Alright, Tom. I went ahead and worked out an arrangement in the same key but out of standard, open G tuning. Here's the link to the tab: bit.ly/1SnOHvh No time right now to record a performance and/or an instructional vid but let me know if that helps you out at all.

[@tommcdougall5395]

+Play Better This works well, Ryan. Might tinker with it a bit, but exactly what I need. Many thanks.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

+Tom McDougall Glad you could use it. Have fun customizing it to your own inclinations. Actually got me thinking that maybe I should look into trying more tunes in alternate keys while tuned to open G.

[@tylerlane5348]

Hi, what are you doing for that little bit of intro? I just can't quite figure out anything that sounds real good. Thanks!

[@ryanspearman]

+Tyler Lane Howdy Tyler, That's my emulation of the classic fiddle style intro to a tune...often called 'taters' or 'potatoes'. :) I've got a article that includes a few free instructional videos explaining how to play various intros that should help you out. Here's the link: playbetterbanjo.com/intros-outros/ Let me know if that helps!

[@malcocreative]

What tuning are you using on this?

[@MattyVicious1]

So for clawhammer you still use a finger pick? I think I see one on your finger.

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

You can use a finger pick for clawhammer. In order to do so, you need to turn it 'upside down' so the picking surface is over the nail and not over the fingertip. I am using a finger pick in this video (and a lot of my early banjo vids) for the sake of volume and articulation. It is certainly doable although not at all necessary. Worth experimenting with.

[@alanwann9318]

I use a pro pick brass with the nail side very flat protruding, (works for projection)

[@erich1394]

@@PlayBetterBanjo sure nice for when you break your banjo nail!

[@23m232]

looks like an old john grey fivestring?

[@PlayBetterBanjo]

It's actually a Brooks Banjo made a couple of years ago by Brooks Masten in Portaland, OR.