and The Development of Fingerstyle Banjo Technique in the 19th Century
by
Rob MacKillop
The following mp3 files are from a book currently under consideration by Mel Bay for future publication.
The scores are written in standard notation and TAB and could be played on any 5-string banjo in Drop C tuning: gCGBD.
The publication will include a CD of higher-quality wav files.
There is an introductory essay tracing the development of the fingerstyle technique.
You are free to download and listen to all the mp3 files on this page.
They were recorded with this Luke Mercier gut-strung banjo 'influenced by early A.C. Fairbanks models',
and tuned to the period-appropriate low tuning of eAEG#B.
from
from James Buckley's New Banjo Book - James Buckley (1860)
from The Banjoist's Budget - Albert Baur (1883)
from The Analytical Banjo Method - Frank B. Converse (1887)
Recording Equipment
Rode NT4 Stero Mic
Fostex FR2-LE Recorder
WaveLab Essential 6 editing software
Mastered by Peter Haigh at Pier House Studios, Edinburgh
Recorded in the MacKillop Parlor Studios, Edinburgh, between Christmas 2009 and New Years day, 2010