Banjo For Dummies (eBook)

Bill Evans is an internationally celebrated five-stringbanjo player, teacher, historian, and recording artist, who hashelped thousands of banjo players from all over the world in aprofessional career that spans over 35 years. He has producednumerous instructional DVDs and hosted hundreds of instructionalworkshops. Bill has performed on stages throughout North America,Europe, and Japan, and his CDs have topped both folk and bluegrasscharts.

Introduction 1

Part I: The Amazing Five-String Banjo 5

Chapter 1: You Want to Play What?: Banjo Basics 7

Chapter 2: Tuning Your Banjo 23

Chapter 3: Starting to Play: Fretting and Strumming 35

Chapter 4: Playing by the Rules: Songs and Tablature 53

Part II: Let's Pick! Basic Banjo Techniques 75

Chapter 5: Getting Right with the Right Hand 77

Chapter 6: Sliding, Hammering, and Pulling: Adding the Left Hand103

Chapter 7: Working Up Your First Tunes: Clawhammer and Bluegrass131

Part III: Playing Styles Past, Present, and Future143

Chapter 8: Playing the Old-T ime Way: Clawhammer and TraditionalStyles 145

Chapter 9: Playing Three-Finger Styles: Scruggs, Melodic, andSingle String 163

Chapter 10: Playing Up-the-Neck Backup: Chords and Vamping197

Chapter 11: Playing Historical Styles: African, Minstrel, andClassic Banjo 211

Chapter 12: Net working into Banjo Culture 223

Part IV: Buying a Banjo and Keeping It in Good Shape241

Chapter 13: Finding Your Banjo Bliss: A Buyer's Guide243

Chapter 14: Getting the Right Stuff: Banjo Gear 269

Chapter 15: Taking Care of Your Baby: String Changing and BasicMaintenance 291

Part V: The Part of Tens 311

Chapter 16: Ten T ips to Make Practicing More Fun 313

Chapter 17: Ten Great Banjo Players You Need to Hear 321

Part VI: Appendixes 327

Appendix A: Banjo Chords and Notes 329

Appendix B: Audio Tracks and Video Clips 335

Index 343