Question from Janet:
Have you ever had a string go out of tune during a song? Do you just keep on playing and ignore it, or bend it to compensate?
Answer from Bill Emerson:
Janet, I do all I can to stay in tune. I change strings when needed, make sure they’re attached and stretched out right, lubricate the slots in the nut and try to anticipate anything that might cause me to go out of tune. Nevertheless, it can happen - usually due to temperature changes going from air conditioning to heat or hot lights, but I do everything I can to eliminate it. When a string does go out of tune I just reach up and tune it on the fly while my right hand keeps going. Something like a fan blowing on your banjo can make you sound out of tune even though you’re not. If they have one blowing on the band I make em turn it off. If one of the band members is out of tune it can make me sound that way too, so I have to trust my instrument. When I worked with Jimmy Martin and Charlie Waller I tuned their guitars before every performance. That was another way to reduce the chance of being out of tune. I probably shouldn’t say this, but I couldn’t stand to see them twisting away on their tuning pegs while getting farther out of tune. In those days I tuned my banjo to the guitar and wanted to make sure it was right. No banjo should fly out of tune without a reason. ~ Bill
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