Banjo lesson — "Grape Vine Twist" from Phil Rice's Method for the Banjo (1858)

Описание: "Grape Vine Twist" played as written in Phil Rice's Method for the Banjo (1858) first at tempo, then slow. According to Frank Converse's "Banjo Reminiscences," a banjoist named Fred Mather learned this tune from Joel Walker Sweeney, "father of the five string banjo." Converse quotes Mather as saying, “I knew ‘Old Joe’ Sweeney about or between 1846 and 1848, when I was a boy of thirteen to fifteen. He came North with a circus twice in different years. He taught me how to ‘bring down my thumb and play ‘Grape Vine Twist.’” Mather's phrase "bring down my thumb" presumably describes the "drop thumb" technique featured in Phil Rice's version of "Grave Vine Twist." In all likelihood, Rice's version is more or less the tune Sweeney taught Mather.

The fact that this tune is played on only four strings may indicate that it originated on a four-string gourd banjo of the sort Sweeney would have heard African American musicians playing during his youth in rural Buckingham County, Virginia. It is entirely possible that Sweeney learned "Grape Vine Twist" from these black banjo players whose names have been lost to history. Grape Vine Twist is the name of a traditional square dance figure and dance step.

"First gent take his lady by the wrist,
And through that couple with a grapevine twist"

This deceptively simple banjo tune stands out from other pieces in the early banjo methods for its resemblance to "clawhammer" banjo as we know it today, especially the B part with its loping "bum-ditty" rhythm. While this makes it tempting to take fast, it pays to take it slow in order to ensure your drop thumbs are clear and on the beat. To hear it sped up, see my short of this same tune.

Banjo is tuned dADF# A (Briggs' tuning, 432 hz) and played in the key of D. The banjo is one of my own builds. To see more of my work or inquire about having one made please visit my business page for The Upcountry Banjo Company on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?....