Introduction
Are you ready to play the five-string banjo? If so, get ready for a fantastic ride. So whether you’re reading this book at home or standing in a bookstore aisle, hold Banjo For Dummies high and proud for all to see. I guarantee that this book is going to open the door to a life of musical fulfillment with one of the world’s greatest instruments.
Although the title of this book is probably enough to raise a good chuckle from many self-proclaimed “music lovers,” let me assure you right from the start that Banjo For Dummies isn’t a collection of the world’s best banjo jokes — or even the worst.
You probably have already come to the realization that no matter what you may have seen on television or in old movies, real banjo players aren’t comedic rubes or country bumpkins. They’re folks just like you and me from all walks of life who at some point heard the sound of a banjo and said to themselves “That’s for me!”
And what a gloriously rambunctious and complex sound it is! The banjo is usually associated with bluegrass, folk, and country music, but these days, musicians play just about any kind of music on the banjo — from jazz to classical to rock and everything in between. You can use the banjo to accompany songs around a campfire or to play a Bach partita; what you do with the instrument is up to you.
If you’re a total beginner to the banjo, Banjo For Dummies is the best way to get started on the five-string banjo. If you already play the banjo, this book can broaden your knowledge, enhance your playing ability, and deepen your love for the world’s greatest instrument. You can begin to play the banjo at age 8 or 80, and if you don’t think you have any talent for playing a musical instrument, then you’ve come to exactly the right place. The banjo is waiting to turn you into a musician.
About This Book
I’ve taught hundreds of banjo players of all ages in over 30 years of teaching, and for what it’s worth, I even have a master’s degree in music (how’s that for blowing away a few banjo player stereotypes!). In the process, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t work, and I know the location of pretty much every nasty pothole along the old banjo-pickin’ highway.
I’ve put all this experience to use in Banjo For Dummies, your complete guide to the five-string banjo. This book safely transports you from the most basic beginners’ questions to performing intermediate tunes played in a variety of styles. I even sneak in a few advanced concepts for those of you who really want to be challenged. You can find clear, step-by-step explanations to each and every technique and discover shortcuts that are especially helpful to the adult student.
Although I’d like to think that this book makes for a gripping and powerful literary experience, don’t worry about reading Banjo For Dummies cover to cover. Think of this book instead as a reference work that’s designed for you to jump in and jump out at any point along the way. Take a look at the table of contents and start at the chapter or section that best matches your ability and interests the most. Don’t forget to check out the index at the back of the book for an even more comprehensive listing of topics.
If you skim through the more than 130 musical examples in the book, you may notice that you can’t find a speck of conventional music notation anywhere in Banjo For Dummies. Instead, you find banjo tablature, the universal form of written music notation for just about all styles of banjo playing. Tablature is easier to master than regular musical notation and clearly shows you exactly what to do with both hands. When combined with this book’s excellent photos and the accompanying audio CD, not discovering the right way to play banjo is pretty darn impossible.
If you’re new to playing, here’s how to get the most out of this book:
Figure out the hand and finger positions by mimicking the photos and diagrams. Finding a comfortable hand position — especially in the right hand — is crucially important in banjo playing. You can find plenty of pictures and detailed explanations showing you how to find the positions that work best for you throughout this book. Chord diagrams
reinforce the photos by showing you exactly where your fingers need to go.
Listen to the CD. Each musical example in the book is included on the CD that you find inside the back cover. I can’t overemphasize how important listening is to becoming a good banjo player. If you have the sound of every note firmly in your head before you start to play, you can master each exercise, hot lick, and song much more quickly. And on many tracks, you can play along with the guitar and mandolin accompaniment. Don’t pass that gig up!
Read the tablature. Also called tab, tablature is a great way to represent what both hands do when you play a banjo tune. Tab shows you which strings to pick with the right hand and what to fret with the left hand (more on tab, picking, and fretting in Chapters 2 and 3). I show you how to read it, how best to use it, and even when best to set it aside.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make key terms and ideas more consistent and easier to understand, Banjo For Dummies employs the following conventions throughout the book:
When I reference a Web site that I want you to check out, it appears in a very official-looking monofont type. (Believe it or not, even banjo players use the Internet.)
Note: When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happens, rest assured that the publishers haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. Just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending that the line break doesn’t exist.
I italicize words I define (words you may want to pay attention to) in regular text. I also use italics for emphasis here and there (as a banjo player, getting excited once in a while is just natural for me).
Key words or phrases in bulleted lists and numbered steps are printed in bold, so you don’t miss out on this important info.
When I talk about the right-hand techniques, know that the right hand is the hand that picks or strums the strings, and the left hand is the hand that presses the strings down on the neck and does some of those fancy techniques that may have attracted you to the banjo in the first place. However, if you’re left handed and already play a banjo specially made for left-handed players, please read right hand to mean left hand, and vice versa.
This book often uses the terms up, down, higher, and lower to refer to where your left hand moves on the banjo neck (the skinny part with the strings). When you move up the neck on the banjo, you’re moving your left hand towards the body (or pot) of the instrument and playing notes that are higher in pitch. Conversely, when you move down the neck, you’re moving your left hand towards the banjo headstock, away from the pot, and playing notes that sound lower.
I use numbers in different ways throughout the book (don’t worry — no math skills required). The five banjo strings have number names (5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st), and I also refer to left-hand fretted positions using numbers (which can be from the first to the 22nd fret). Sometimes, numbers also describe the quality or sound of a chord, such as in D7.
If numbers weren’t enough, I also use letters throughout the book to instruct you in finger placements. You encounter letters standing for the right-hand finger that picks a string (T = thumb, I = index, and M = middle) and also for the left-hand finger that pushes a particular string against the fingerboard (I = index, M = middle, R = ring, and P = pinky).
As in all For Dummies books, figures are numbered sequentially within each chapter. I number the tablature examples, or tab, separately. Many tab examples are on the accompanying CD, and the track number is provided in the tab’s caption.
What You’re Not to Read
If you’re looking just for the need-to-know information and want to skip a few parts that aren’t essential to knowing how to play or maintain the banjo, you can breeze right on by sidebars (the gray shaded boxes) and paragraphs tagged by the Technical Stuff icon. However, if you like knowing some banjo trivia or want some nonessential tips and tools, by golly, read it all!
Foolish Assumptions
I’m betting that because you’ve picked up this book you’re interested in playing the banjo, but I don’t want to assume too much more as I begin this banjo adventure with you. You may or may not own a banjo or have any prior experience on the banjo or any other kind of instrument, and I don’t assume you come to this book knowing anything about music. I also don’t assume you’re interested in one particular style or way of playing the banjo over another (which is why I include more than one).
However, I do assume that you’re going to be playing a five-string banjo instead of a tenor or plectrum banjo, which are actually different kinds of instruments (see Chapter 1). I also assume that you want to get started quickly and not waste time with unnecessary and overly technical information. If I’ve described you in one way or another, you’ve come to the right place.
How This Book Is Organized
Banjo For Dummies is organized so that you can get the information you want quickly without spending a lot of time digging for it. The chapters are grouped into the following seven parts that focus on different aspects of the banjo.
Part I: The Amazing Five-String Banjo
This part includes information that every beginner needs to know to get started playing the banjo, including the different kinds of five-string banjos and the various parts of the instrument. You also discover the correct body posture, how to tune the instrument to itself and to an electronic tuner, and how to fret your first chords. I also cover some of the basic elements of music, such as rhythm, meter, chord progressions, and banjo tablature.
Part II: Let’s Pick! The Basic Ingredients
One of the things that makes Banjo For Dummies unique is that it covers both clawhammer and bluegrass styles in Part II. Although these techniques are the two most popular ways of playing banjo today, most other banjo books focus on either one way of playing or the other. That’s not good enough! I cover both approaches within these pages.
I help you find a comfortable right-hand position and present the basic picking patterns used in bluegrass and clawhammer banjo playing. You also figure out in this part how to select fingerpicks and shape them to fit your right hand for bluegrass playing. You can then make your playing sound more authentic by incorporating left-hand slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes, and even discover how to find a melody on the banjo and play it by using either clawhammer or bluegrass techniques. This part closes with beginners’ bluegrass and clawhammer versions of four popular banjo tunes.
Part III: Playing Styles Past, Present, and Future
You move beyond beginners’ material in this part and experience the historical roots of the banjo as well as explore the most recent stylistic and technical innovations. I take you back to the late-19th and early-20th centuries as you play two minstrel-style tunes and two classic-era pieces. You also get a more in-depth look at bluegrass style, exploring Scruggs, melodic, and single-string techniques and licks. And you can find a handful of great tunes scattered throughout this part, just ready for the playing.
Part IV: Buyer’s Guide, Care and Feeding, and More
Don’t have a banjo? Not sure how to keep your banjo in tip-top shape? No worries. I include a complete (and completely honest) buyer’s guide and maintenance advice in this part. The buyer’s guide can help you spend your money wisely on anything from a beginners’ instrument to a professional-model banjo. I also cover those accessories you really need as well as those extras that are just fun to have around the house. I take time to focus on banjo maintenance and string changing as well, so you can unearth the secrets of what you can do to keep your banjo sounding and looking great. Finally, I help you find a good teacher, survive your first jam session, and expand your musical horizons through workshops, camps, and music festivals.
Part V: The Part of Tens
The Part of Tens is a For Dummies trademark section — and you don’t want to miss out by not reading this part. In it, I present ten suggestions to make your practice time more fun and productive. I also include a select list of ten important banjo players who are well worth the listen.
Part VI: Appendixes
You can never grow tiresome when it comes to information on the banjo (at least I think so), which is why I’ve included some supplementary info in appendix form. In this part, you can find a handy chord digest. I also include some instructions about the CD that accompanies this book to ensure that you’re getting the full multimedia experience.
Icons Used in This Book
In the margins of this book, you can often find the following friendly icons to help you recognize different types of information I’ve included:
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Where to Go from Here
You’re probably a banjo player on a mission, so you want to know where, when, and how you can get started. You can always read this book straight through, but the beauty of any For Dummies book is that you can direct your own course and dip into chapters as you need them.
As you create your own roadmap, I can offer you a few suggestions to point you in the right direction:
If you need to purchase a banjo or you’re interested in an upgrade, head to the buyer’s guide at Chapter 9 first.
If you’re a beginner and want to start playing right away, proceed to Chapters 2 and 3, where you get your banjo in tune and play your first chords.
If you’re ready to start work on authentic banjo styles, roll up your sleeves and work through Chapters 4, 5, and 6.
More experienced players can check out the historical styles covered in Chapter 7 and the modern techniques in Chapter 8.