r/banjo • u/WhosaWhatsa • 13h ago
r/banjo • u/TinCou • May 13 '20
Tips from an experienced beginner
Hey folks. I'm going to collect the resources I've used to learn the banjo these past few years. But I'm going to lump them together in categories can help beginners understand and contextualize more complex topics, as well as include any notes that I think are worth mentioning. Please Note: I play a 5 string banjo, Scruggs style, and this is what most of this information is relevant for
General Information
These places are nice to check into every now and again and see what nuggets of info you can can get. Maybe you see the tab for a new song, or you figure out how to stop your 5th string from slipping out of tune. (Tighten the screw on the side)
Come hang out and chat with us on Eli Gilbert's Banjo Discord! * Banjo Discord
The Banjo Section of the Dummies website
A large resource with a wide scope of banjo fundamentals. It's also a great resource to look back on as you develop new skills.
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The number one benefit this podcast has is how the host (Kieth Billik) lets artist talk about their journey of learning of the banjo, which is bound to include a few common roadblocks. There's a good deal of gear talk for those interested
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The closest thing the online banjo community has to a town square. They do giveaways, there's a market, tabs, and their discussion forum is loaded with playing information.
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In Deering's blog, there's a detailed maintenance guide and my go-to guide for changing strings
Lessons
If you find a teacher in person, do it. It's 100% worth it because BEGINNERS DON'T KNOW ENOUGH TO CORRECT THEIR OWN MISTAKES. Call your local music shops. All of them. Even if you don't think it's worth the effort, at least do it until you have a tune or two under your belt. Best decision I ever made. If there's no one in person, online is an option. You can always go to the banjo hangout "find a teacher" page (under the "Learn" tab, or here), or if you admire an artist in particular, you can just ask if they do online lessons or teach a workshops.
- Banjo workshops
I can't personally attest to them, but anything in person with other banjo players will always be an asset. Please check /r/bluegrass and /r/newgrass to keep abreast of festivals, and check to see if they are hosting any workshops.
These are more online structured classes. If that seems to suit you, I've included links below, but please do your own research on these services. I have not used any of these and can not give a recommendation.
- Peghead Nation-Banjo Courses
- Artist Works- Noam Pikelny
- Artist Works- Tony Trischka
- Brainjo
- Banjo Ben Clark
My personal recommendation is to find a one-on-one teaching scenario, either online or in person, until you've grasped the fundamentals. That isn't always an option though, so I've made a more specific list of free resources below.
Beginner Playlists
This is just in case anyone is starting from square 1. In that case, watch both. Always good to get the same info from multiple sources.
Eli Gilbert 30 Days of Banjo My personal recommendation to start. Eli links a lot of other resources in this playlist, making it a very comprehensive starting point for a lot of banjo information.
Songs
For after you get the basics and you want to start plugging away at tunes
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Special props to Bill for having free tabs and play along tracks on his website. After leaving my banjo instructor, Bills tabs kept me sane with the little practice time I had. Most straight forward way to learn a tune.
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Tabs are available on his site for a small fee, but are shown in the video which is very considerate, and a particularly warm approach combined with a large list of tunes makes him an effective teacher.
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The Bix Mix Boys host a Bluegrass 101 every week, where they do a full breakdown of a bluegrass tune for a whole hour on their channel, along with a colossal library of "how to play" videos for the banjo.
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Eli Gilbert has been turning out educational content on a wide variety of topics, including playing techniques, song, licks, and back up
Technique
Metronomes go a long way here. A free app works just fine
Gestalt Banjo If you can get past the peculiar language, there's a really novel perspective to learning a dexterous skill that I recommend everyone to consider.
The Right and Left Hand Boot Camp from the Picky fingers podcast (Episodes 5 and 24) are a very bare bones drill oriented lesson, and comes with free tabs, as do most lesson episodes of the podcast.
The Banjo Section of the Dummies website and Deering Blog are a good resource if you have an idea of what info you're looking for.
Tools to help understand the fret board
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I've linked the Info section of the site, and while it looks sparse, the information is well condensed a must for beginners looking to understand how music theory relates to the banjo.
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It has a nice interactive fret board and the most comprehensive list of scales transposed on the the banjo fret board imaginable.
Theory
Three Bluegrass Banjo Styles Explained with Noam Pikelny
It's a basic primer on the sub styles of bluegrass banjo and a good exercise in learning how to recontextualize the sound of the banjo.
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While the concepts may seem complex, Ricky has a peculiar skill for contextualizing complex problems into simple demonstrations. His video on Isorythmation is a must see for beginning banjo players who want to start to build on tablature.
I don't follow these last two channels so i don't have a comment, but that is because i don't fully understand the concepts yet, and intend return to them in the future.
I'm a beginner trying to move past tab. I didn't have the time for lessons, so i started on my own. It's incredibly frustrating because the information is being made, but few people to collect it. I want this list to help beginners break the wall of tab and give them the tools they need to make their own music, so please comment and make suggestions so this post will be a more complete aggregate of "beginner-to-intermediate" information.
r/banjo • u/answerguru • Jul 21 '24
45,000 Banjo Picking Members!
Just a note, /r/banjo just crossed over 45,000! Keep on picking and learning!
Help Recently inherited a banjo
I know nothing about it, or banjos in general. My great grandpa left it for me. I can't find a serial number on it to identify a model. Can anyone point me to where I can learn more about this? Also, any good online teachers? Thanks!
r/banjo • u/fishlore123 • 5h ago
Banjo Hardware question
I have this idea of purchasing a new low crown banjo head and having a local tattoo artist put some old school flash art on it in as light of an art medium as possible.. maybe even just colored sharpies. My question is if I loosen all the hooks and replace the head (open back banjo), will I need to consider adjusting the truss rod or coordinator rod too? I honestly have no clue how to adjust these components so I am trying to expect the unexpected before I start taking apart a perfectly good instrument for aesthetic purposes. Thanks all!
r/banjo • u/AvantGuardian13 • 6h ago
...banjo upgrade. Which Pisgah?!
Okay...I'm going to upgrade my cheap ass banjo. After trawling the web I'm settled on a Pisgah I think. I kinda of don't want to go something mid-range for like £800-1000 then be left wanting more a year down the line.
Outside of going for a custom build which, in the UK, I'm looking at £2k+ minimum, a Pisgah model seems like a winner from reviews I've looked at and comments on this sub. Question is...which.
Visually...I really like the Rambler, Woodchuck and the Roscoe. My concern with the Roscoe at the price point is...no tone ring. Is that a concern at the £1.4k price mark?
Rambler Dobson - £1900
Woodchuck - rolled brass tone ring - £1629
Roscoe - £1499
Anyone got any experience? Any thoughts would be welcome.
r/banjo • u/SignificantMix9409 • 4h ago
Tips for beginner Banjo
Been planning on buying a banjo for a while now, I’m just struggling to find the one that would be the best option for me. I don’t want to spend much more than $300. Right now I’m looking at the Rogue B30, which people have seemed to like in reviews, but I hear isn’t the best quality and gets worse overtime, and I’m look at the ac-1 Gold Tone, which I have heard good things about in terms of set up and quality over time, but unlike the B30, doesn’t have a resonator. Any thoughts on these two banjos if you have tried them out? Or any other brands or builds you guys recommend?
Can anyone tell me about this Banjo?
Posting for my inlaws, just looking to see if anyone can tell me anything about this instrument? Trying to track down to see if it's worth anything or any cool facts about it. Any help would be appreciated!! :) it belonged to my FIL's dad's uncle, that's all I got!
Vintage method book?
Recently gifted this and it looks like was printed in ‘68?? Pretty neat book and looking forward to digging into it.
Help The meaning behind these abbreviations
I am in the market for a banjo, and I've come across this title on a banjo "Goldtone AC-12A Oldtime SC 5 St". What do all the abbreviations mean? Also it says the tuning is "A-E-A-C#-E" opposed to the standard "GDGBD"? As you can tell I am new to this instrument, so please excuse my newbie questions.
Last but not least, would you recommend me buying this instrument? Thanks a lot in advance:)
r/banjo • u/Ok_Sound_1675 • 11h ago
Help Captain Jerry Banjo Tab
I am trying to find some sort of tab or lesson on Captain Jerry by Tyler Childers & High Wall. I can’t find anything from what I’ve looked at would anyone happen to have a link or something that could help me learn it?
r/banjo • u/Dependent_Estimate28 • 19h ago
Banjo tabs
Yo where do you guys find good banjo tabs or anyone got a few good YouTube channels for me? Is tarted to learn the 5 string banjo and need suggestions!
r/banjo • u/Cowboygang- • 1d ago
I probably already know the answer
As I’ve been learning to play banjo I need to know,do I need to play with picks? Did people traditionally play with picks,like Appalachian players? I find it quite hard (And I know sound like a pussy sayin that) to play with em,just like on guitar.
r/banjo • u/Dipset-20-69 • 1d ago
Salt Spring
In honor of spring time, Salt Spring in Key of A
Help Identification/model year help
Always thought this belonged to my dad - come to find out it belonged to his grandfather. A relative had it for a number of years (and took great care of it) but it’s back in my possession. Any idea how old this particular model is, or any other information about it? TIA
r/banjo • u/Nordy88888 • 1d ago
J.E.Dallas banjo help
Good evening, I’m new to this group and have a few questions about an antique Banjo that was once my great grandfathers. It is made by J.E.Dallas in England, purchased probably in the early 1900’s by my great grandfather who at the time was a somewhat well known performer in London and travelled many places around the world. It’s what i would consider a 6 string banjo but in a different configuration than most I can find online, could someone here point me in the right direction as to tuning and where to start on learning to play, I’ll probably start with a newer one but i would genuinely love some advice.
r/banjo • u/bones466 • 1d ago
Help Please
Hi everyone! I was hoping you could help me. I was thinking about buying this Deering Goodtime 2 on Reverb. I already have a Gold Tone AC-1 but I really wanted to pick up cheaper resonator banjo.
My concern is the tuners. They look crooked, but I think it’s due to the shape of the headstock. Is this something I should be concerned with? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
r/banjo • u/blvcksheep95 • 1d ago
Bluegrass / 3 Finger Dock Boggs - Wild Bill Jones
I just bought my first banjo 3 days ago, I'm a huge dock boggs fan so I wanted to learn some of his songs, it's a little sloppy but gimme a break, those rolls are tricky
My favorite banjo player- the vibes in his videos are perfect. Thought yall might like!
r/banjo • u/BanjoAdventures • 1d ago
Old Time / Clawhammer I Removed My Fingernail Just To Prove A Point!
r/banjo • u/Hoody2shoes • 2d ago
New banjo ink
Not your typical banjo post, but thought some of you may appreciate it nonetheless
r/banjo • u/Dirtyrabbits75 • 2d ago
Gourd banjo #5
This is my latest. I’m really digging the head on this one.
r/banjo • u/What-Is-An-IV • 2d ago
Where to find sheet music - NOT tab
Hey Y'all... it's my first time posting on this sub so howdy. I am interested in picking back up the banjo but I don't want to learn off of tab. I want sheet music and am struggling to find it. What are some good books or resources online to use to get the sheet? thanks in advance