Lesson #011, Introduction to John Henry

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Lesson #011, Introduction to John Henry

Hey Everyone,

In this segment I thought I'd tell you the story about John Henry, "The Steel Drivin Man", and play the version that you'll be learning so you can hear the song and story in the same segment. I think it's important to know the story behind John Henry because the song ties into music perfectly for your first song. To visualize him swinging his hammer and to internalize the sound that he was making when he hit that hammer on the spike. He was making a consistent beat when he hit the hammer to the spike. He had that timing.... that timing that enabled him to beat that steam drill. Timing is probably the most important thing to understand when you are learning to play an instrument. When you hear and feel that beat inside you and hear the timing of it all, then you have learned one of the most important things in playing the banjo!

David