Interested in ROCK MUSIC and want to know some ways to play rock banjo? First and foremost, it’s not an easy task to make the banjo fit rock music. Especially because a lot of rock music depends on electrification and amplified distortion. However, we will…
I was recently playing at a local bluegrass jam and someone wandered in that was a jazz player. They asked about the differences between learning bluegrass and jazz, so I thought this would make for a good article topic. There are some similarities between the…
With the advent of technology, there is no need to leave your home to learn banjo. You can learn it on demand in the comfort of your living room. You pick the time and how long you want to study for. Learn banjo at your…
Barre Chords – Banjo I recently did a live stream entitled “ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW about Barre Chords.” Barre chords are often a sticking point for beginners. Sometimes it takes a while to build up enough strength in your hand to properly fret these. …
If your goal as a banjo student is to one day play in a group or at a jam session, you need to understand this BIG POINT: You’ll spend at least 75% of your time playing BACKUP and not lead! The good news is backup…
I think it’s helpful to have a list of bluegrass jam songs by key for reference. In jams we often are forced to re-tune or capo to play in a key. It’s nice to have a bunch of songs for each key. That way you…
With so many great guitarists out there, who are some of the top bluegrass guitarists you should listen to? I’m giving you a list of some of my favorites. There are lots of others, but these are some of my favorites and what I consider…
Today I’m going to share some clever gifts for the banjo player. Great for Holidays, Birthdays, Valentine’s Day, or National Earl Scruggs Day!….okay, about that last one. Maybe that isn’t a real thing, but it exists for us banjo players. Please note: I earn a…
The most popular bluegrass songs at jam sessions will change and vary depending on the region of the country you are in. However, there are some bluegrass classics that are pretty standard regardless of where you are. I’m in the state of Georgia; I hear…
I get asked this question a lot on live streams, so I thought I’d cover it in today’s blog post. First and foremost, understand that not all banjos are five string banjos. There are also four and six string banjos. Neither of those banjos have…
The wrong way to go about learning your banjo chords up and down the neck, is to get one of those big chord charts and start trying to memorize them. How many do you think you can memorize before the memory bank runs out? You’ll…
Are you interested in learning Chord Melody for solo guitar? So you can make your own arrangements for jazz and popular songs? One thing you must understand in order to make nice solo guitar arrangements are drop 2 voicings. Today I’ll show you what drop…
In short, you sure can teach yourself to play banjo. In fact, I’d argue everyone is self-taught when you get down to it. At the same time, teaching yourself can present some serious challenges and it’s best to understand what you’re getting yourself into. First…
Not getting to where you want to go? You’ve set goals, but it’s not helping much? Maybe there’s something wrong with the way you are setting goals? Maybe if we improve your music goals, we can improve your playing? SMART goals to boost your Musical…