Myself and three others are starting a monthly oldtime session down in Seaford in Melbourne. We have three clawhammer players and one guitarist to start with and hope to involve more instruments and players as we progress. The one thing I've noticed is that people sometimes play slightly different versions of the same tune and when three clawhammer banjos get together it can get a little messy. For example, in Arkansas Traveller, the three of us all play the A part differently but the B part is basically the same, a trait born out of learning in isolation or hearing different versions done by others. So I thought It would be good to "dumb it down" a bit get more on track. Having discussed this with the others, I've decided to seek out some interesting but easy to learn tunes and share these with the group and see how we go. I aim to bring along one new tune to each session and play it or put on a CD of the tune. Tab will be used as a teaching aid and the guitarist will be given some chords as a start. As a teacher, I'm approaching this from that point of view, by building on small stages. I'm hoping this will give us direction and eventually we will sort out the existing tunes by altering the arrangements to suit. I'm posting this for some feedback, and ideas or approaches that may also be used, or if I'm "barking" up the wrong tree altogether.
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