Banjo Workshop

Banjo Workshop was written with four important areas of the 5-string banjo technical and artistic development in mind: picking technique, personal style, creativity, and awareness of the instrument's key and tuning potential. Picking technique-Studies in Section 1 will equip you to dissolve the inhibiting notion that some songs are unplayable on the 5-string banjo. Any song is playable if the necessary technique has been learned and developed to accommodate it. Personal style-In Section 2 you will first explore several popular 3-finger sub-styles, seeing how each evolved and how they are all often intermixed within a given performer's own personal style. Through subsequent examples you will be made aware of style potential and the artistic necessity of developing your own personal style. Creativity-Through style development and improvisational skills taught in Section 3 you will begin to think and perform less like a mechanical follower and more like an artistic ground breaker. You will learn to modify arrangements; further, you will learn to create your own arrangements. Exploration of Non-G Keys and Tunings-In Section 4 you will find that playing in keys and tunings other than G are no less fun and no more difficult than playing the familiar G (bluegrass) tuning. Six non-G tunings will be explored, involving ten solos, including major, minor and modal tunings. The overall effort is to make you aware that you don't have to be a technical whiz nor a speed king in order to be a musical artist. If you can add something new and different, something enjoyable to listen to, you are an artist even if you are not yet an "advanced-level" player.