Banjo For Dummies

by Bill Evans

Play your way to banjo-playing expertise

Traditionally associated with country, folk, and bluegrass music, the banjo is accessible to anyone with the patience and willpower to learn it. This second edition of Banjo For Dummies does the rest of the work for you with updated practice lessons, teaching techniques, and step-by-step examples. With this guide, you will learn tips and techniques for selecting the right instruments and accessories, how to develop correct hand position and posture, and how to tune, care for, and make simple repairs to the instrument. An updated multimedia component features companion audio tracks and complementary video lessons that cement the concepts readers gain during their reading.

Written by Bill Evans, an accomplished five-string banjo player, teacher, writer, and historian Includes access to "how-to" videos on Dummies.com Ideal for anyone who wants to learn to play this classic instrument

For musicians hoping to lend their art an edge or interested learners looking to pick up a unique skill, Banjo For Dummies is a must-have, straightforward guide to success.

Genres: Music, Reference

503 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Altivo Overo · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this gives decent information and instruction on one style of playing for the 5 string banjo, it gives short shrift to other and older methods. Scruggs bluegrass style may currently be the most popular, but Clawhammer, melodic, single string, and others deserve better presentation than what is offered here. I also object to the (too common among banjo writers) omission of standard music notation. Tablature is useful for learning, but doesn't convey all the subtleties and information of standard notation. Serious musicians need the latter.

The author's own prejudices are offensive at times, such as when he shrugs off the tenor and plectrum banjos as if they aren't "real banjos" with a solid and long standing tradition behind them. He can choose not to cover them (and does so) but misinformation is not appropriate. He dismisses the four string banjos and relegates them to Mummer's Day and Lawrence Welk without the least nod for jazz or Celtic music. True, you can't duplicate Earl Scruggs' rolls on a tenor banjo, but the good players can in fact emulate the styling of great bluegrass fiddlers instead.

[David Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must have if you play banjo

Great place to start and to continue. The dummies guides are always excellent and this is no exception. Whether you play claw hammer or Scruggs style this will guide you nicely. Maintenance, accessories and who to listen to as well.

[Samuel Saul Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First chapters had some great tips and some easy practice music but the later chapters on buying, repair, finding lessons/festivals, etc. wasn't really relevant.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Public library copy.

I'm teaching myself to play banjo (picking style is my preferred method) while my wife teaches herself how to play the Cello. I work 5-10 hours a week of overtime but try to practice at least 30-minutes everyday. I've been watching You Tube clips everyday, reading articles online, and have a Bela Fleck how to play banjo tutorial dvd so when I'm not practicing I'm usually studying or thinking about improving.

Great book, I now have a digital copy to use as a resource.

[Ben Kellermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete guide to the world of the five-string banjo written for both beginners and more experienced players. Packed with over 120 how-to photos and 130 musical examples. 94 track CD included - hear and play along with every exercise and song. The only book to offer instruction in clawhammer, bluegrass, melodic, single-string, minstrel and classic styles. From Earl Scruggs' driving bluegrass picking to the genre-busting jazz fusion of Béla Fleck and the multi-million selling movie soundtrack  O Brother Where Are Thou?, the five-string banjo can be heard just about everywhere in American music these days. Banjo For Dummies is the most complete guide to the five-string banjo ever written. It covers everything you need to get into the banjo: including how to choose, tune and care for your instrument, developing a good playing posture, fretting your first chords and getting comfortable with the left and right hand picking patterns used for clawhammer and bluegrass playing techniques. You'll then add the left hand, spicing up your playing with slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes for an authentic five-string banjo sound. From there, you'll move on the play 19th century minstrel style, early 20th century classic style as well as try your hand at more advanced examples of bluegrass style. An in-depth chapter on bluegrass music explores Scruggs licks and techniques as well as melodic and single-string styles, with song examples. Also included is a banjo buyer's guide, a section on music theory as applied to bluegrass and old-time music, an accessories guide (advice on cases, picks, straps, metronomes, computer aids and much more), information on how to find a good teacher, banjo camp or festival, chord charts, bios of twelve influential players, practice tips and much, much more! Banjo For Dummies is accessible and fun to read and it's easy to locate just what you're interested in playing. Included are 20 songs including several new compositions written by the author just for this book, including Reno Rag (single-string style), "Winston's Jig" (Irish three-finger), and "Everyday Breakdown" (Scruggs style). All musical examples are played slowly on the accompanying CD, many with guitar and mandolin accompaniment. Bill Evans is one of the world's most celebrated banjo players and teachers. He has taught thousands of people to play the five-string banjo in private lessons and group workshops literally all over the world. In addition to leading the Bill Evans String Summit, Bill has performed with Dry Branch Fire Squad, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka and many others and he hosts his own acclaimed banjo camp, the NashCamp Fall Banjo Retreat in the Nashville area. As an American music historian, he has taught at San Francisco State University, the University Virginia and Duke University. He has written a popular instructional column for Banjo Newsletter magazine for the last fifteen years and hosts three popular instructional DVDs for AcuTab Publications. To learn more about Bill, visit his homepage at www.nativeandfine.com. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.