Today I got to play - a Strumstick.
I'd never heard of one before. And just like that, I played it.
Literally, just took a hold of it and strummed a couple of times, put my fingers in a few spots on one of the three strings, and a tune came out.
And it's tiny. And it makes a big, likeable sound.
Wow.
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solstice letter
2 days ago
11 comments:
If I didn't know better I would say it was a banjo. But the more you listen the more you hear unique sounds that are unbanjo like too.
Banjo strings. A bit of a ukulele sound here and there, too, perhaps because of the size?
I think you should do "Hope Chest" on it. Sounds like a lot of fun Laura.
"Hope Chest"? On a Strumstick??! But-but-but-splutter - that tune's supposed to be spooky!
Say, Hal, do you stock Strumsticks at Sled Dog? Ruth wants to spend her babysitting money on one. I'd probably borrow it some, too. I just started teaching some beginner guitar lessons, and I'm curious about their suggestion of using the Strumstick as a pre-guitar beginner instrument.
No we don't stock them but I'm sure you can find someone who does. As for Hope Chest being spooky. The strum stick is tuned G D G. All you have to do is find the Bb on the octave G (i.e. G D Bb) and you're playing the Gm chord instead of a major. That would be pretty spooky sounding.
Spooky with a sense of humour - the tone would still be so cheery banjo-uke-ish! I was messing around with that tune on the electric guitar I got for James, and starting to like that sound. Maybe I'm just too literal. Wait - me literal? Maybe when it comes to music. In my writing, I seem to lose people by being so circumspect. Hmm.
Oh wait, there isn't a Bb on the G string, is there? I think that would be one of the frets that's omitted to protect you from wrong notes. Ease versus power.
Well that is possible, in which case you could bend a B note up to Bb. As for the strum stick sounding banjo-ish, there are some pretty spooky sounding banjo tunes. Think deliverance.
I just checked the strum stick site and you're right there isn't a Bb, but there is an Em, Am and Bm chord so you could do the song in that key instead. Minor keys rule!
Deliverance ... okay, here I display my lack of ... culture or years or something. I assume you're not talking about the Christian metal band. The movie? I was a teensy bit young for that, but I did some hunting for the soundtrack, and came up with a great-sounding Weissberg album. No spooky sounds in the samples, though.
Ah, now here's some spooky banjo. Robin and Linda Williams, Deeper Waters, "I'll Remember You Love in My Prayers".
Hal, you could be onto something.
Trouble is, that's one of my "I-want-to-hear-somebody-else-
sing-this" tunes.
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