Month: March 2018

https://youtu.be/JoQa4RfIg3g Roy Smeck (1900-94) was one of the great vaudeville artists, a master of many instruments, especially ukulele, banjo and both standard and Hawaiian-steel guitar. I was given the following hard-to-find 1928 publication, "Blues For Plectrum Guitar", by someone who studied with Roy. It contains four items, and I present the first two, which I… Continue reading Roy Smeck – Wizard Of The Strings →

I purchased the score for Louis Gallo's beautiful tribute to Eddie Lang on eBay, in a collection of "various guitar scores". Most of the pile I got was utter rubbish, but this gem was included, so my money wasn't wasted! I recorded it this morning (Sunday, 11 March, 2018) and after uploading it did a… Continue reading Louis Gallo – Tribute to Eddie Lang →

I first came across Arthur Black when I found his Practical Plectrum Banjo Method of 1919. Here is a video of a dance from this method, played on a plectrum banjo - hopefully the video will start 2'30" in... https://youtu.be/IUYrCvYtm5Y?t=2m3s He also published in 1917 a Practical Method for Tenor Banjo In Actual Notation, but… Continue reading Arthur Black’s Modern Method 1933 →