Читать книгу Banjo For Dummies - Bill Evans - Страница 45

You've probably already discovered that banjos can be heavy. Even if you have a more lightweight, open-back banjo, the distribution of weight on your banjo may very well be uneven, with much of the mass at the peghead concentrated where the four tuning pegs are located. (Where's the peghead, you ask? Flip back to Chapter 1 to check out banjo parts.)

Take a moment and sit in a chair with your banjo in a playing position, with the pot of the banjo resting on your legs and the neck extending to your left at about a 45-degree angle. Hold the pot of the banjo against your body, with just a slight angle so you can more easily see the banjo fingerboard and head. If you remove your left hand as a support, does the neck move downward? If so, start using a strap even when sitting. You need the left hand free to fret chords, not to support the weight of the banjo neck.

Find a real banjo strap — not a guitar strap — to use on your instrument. Both kinds of straps look pretty much the same except for what's at either end. Most banjo straps have hooks, ties, or screws at both ends that you use to attach the strap to the banjo pot. A guitar strap more often has just holes punched into the leather or plastic at either end and nothing else, providing no way to easily attach it to the banjo.

Getting used to holding the banjo and working with the strap is a bit like breaking in a brand new pair of shoes — it takes a bit of time, but soon enough everything fits like a glove. The following sections provide all you need to know to fit the strap on the banjo and the banjo on you.