BANJO MUSIC | SKILLS | ARTISTS
I've been traveling for the past six weeks (roughly): Four weeks driving up to Oregon, where I have family and dear friends, and then onto Vancouver, Canada, where my wife's family lives. Then two...
In this lesson, John lays out the key things you need to know to play banjo in a bluegrass jam. He covers things like "How to find the key of the song", "the importance of chord inversions", "using...
FOR YOUR BANJO INSPIRATION:ALLISON DE GROOT & TATIANA HARGREAVES Allison and Tatiana recorded Hurricane Clarice in 2021 in Portland, Oregon. It grabs you quickly, feeling both rooted in the past...
Whether you are sitting down for a 15 minute or 1-hour banjo practice session, calibrating the picking hand as a warmup will make a big difference (video below)! What do I mean when I say...
The point of undertaking this challenge is first to improve my own banjo playing and second to come up with solutions to the resistance/difficulty of daily banjo practice and then share those...
Take a listen to the 7 new intermediate and 2 advanced clawhammer lessons! They've already been added to the courses and are available to all members. Here's the list: John Riley The Shepherd...
It turns out practicing the banjo for an hour each day is hard. You already knew that? I did as well but still underestimated the task. Several times in the first week I found myself starting...
That's the plan: 1 hour of banjo practice, every day, for 1 year, starting today. The fastest way to learn how to play banjo, or in my case, to level up my banjo playing, is to practice every day....
In my four decades teaching banjo, one of the most common stumbling blocks for students seems to be finding and identifying chords. Learning your banjo chord inversions will be the building blocks...
If you’re a banjo player (and if you’re reading this blog post, there’s a 99.9999% chance you are), it’s a pretty safe bet you’re familiar with the Earl Scruggs classic, “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”....
When I began my bluegrass banjo journey as an innocent pre-teen, I remember coming across a little ditty called "Little Sadie". I had recently bought a Doc Watson record (yes, we all listened to...
In my years teaching clawhammer banjo, I’ve found that once students have mastered some of the more basic mechanics (i.e. bum-ditty, pull-offs, slides, hammer-ons, simple chords, drop-thumb, rhythm...
In the decades I’ve spent teaching 5-string banjo, a fairly common (and thoroughly reasonable) question usually crops among banjo newcomers just before the first lesson. This question takes many...
Since I began teaching banjo some three-plus decades ago, I’ve had the pleasure of helping hundreds of banjo students become great banjo players. Along the way, I’ve noticed a common issue...
Which banjo picks should you choose? Metal or plastic? If you’ve recently embarked on your bluegrass banjo journey and have begun looking at fingerpicks (or perhaps have already bought a set),...
If you're reading this you are probably wondering "Which finger should I use for the clawhammer strum? The index or middle finger? Poring over online clawhammer forums this morning, I was struck by...
Thinking back to the days when I was beginning my clawhammer journey, I remember picking up a copy of Ken Perlman’s “Everything You Wanted to Know About Clawhammer Banjo” at my local library. That...
How do you get your picks to stop scraping against the drum head while playing? As a banjo teacher with years of experience helping beginning banjo students find their sea legs as bluegrass players,...
What is a fretless banjo? Let's start with frets. Frets are the metal strips inserted into the fingerboard of a stringed instrument and a fretless banjo does not have any. Why? Let’s back up for a...
Welcome to Banjo Mountain! This video breaks down how the site works and will help get you up and running quickly. You'll learn how to start a course, mark a lesson complete, track your progress as...
Welcome! We couldn't be more pleased to have you at the Mountain and we want to make sure that your path to learning banjo starts off smoothly! Here are some tips to help you make the most out of...
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: ABIGAIL WASHBURN photo courtesy of abigailwashburn.com THE SONG THAT CAUGHT OUR EAR:Abigail Washburn Country of Origin: U.S.A. (Illinois) Style: Clawhammer Current Album: Echo In...
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: ADAM HURT photo courtesy of adamhurt.com THE SONG THAT CAUGHT OUR EAR:Adam Hurt Country of Origin: U.S.A. (Minnesota) Style: Clawhammer Current Album: Artifacts OUR...
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: DAN WALSH photo courtesy of https://www.danwalshbanjo.co.uk THE SONG THAT CAUGHT OUR EAR: Dan Walsh Country of Origin: U.K. Banjo of choice: Deering Banjos + D’addario strings...
So, you’ve got your hands on your first 5-string banjo and now (naturally) you want to learn how to play the darn thing. And that’s when you make the discovery: there’s actually two styles of...
Well, gang, it’s been one helluva summer. Hope yours was fantastic and that you were able to find some time for the three “R”s - relaxing, reflecting and recharging….Oh, and playing your banjo, of...
I’ve found that an occasional sojourn into the world beyond our front door with banjo in hand is just what we need to add a little spice to our practice regimen. When we’re able to incorporate our...
From learning to improvise as a banjo player, to being inspired by other incredible pickers, bluegrass festivals will help you grow as a banjo player. MY JOURNEY AND THE TOPANGA BANJO AND FIDDLE...
So, you say you’ve always wanted to learn banjo? Perhaps it’s a dream you’ve harbored ever since you were young but it’s never happened? Perhaps it seems too daunting. We want to help realize your...
“Do I need banjo picks?” In the years I’ve spent teaching bluegrass banjo, it’s a question I’ve been asked many times? Perhaps you, too, have grappled with this question and have sought advice from...
While reading tablature is an essential component in learning to play banjo, there is always the danger that students can develop too much dependence on banjo tab. If this dependence continues over...
How does one make the leap from playing banjo songs alone to being able to improvise off the cuff with virtually any song thrown your way? Having been a banjo instructor for decades, this is one of...
So, you’ve just got your first banjo and you’re super stoked to play it. You bring it home, take it out of its hard shell case, put your picks on and start making some noise. And then it happens....
We are often asked by banjo students "how much time should I practice banjo?" The short answer is you should practice playing the banjo every day. But let's get further into it. To accurately answer...
When playing banjo, should your right hand be “anchored” to the banjo head with your pinky and ring finger, or just your pinky? Do you need to anchor your right hand to the banjo, at all? When I was...
If you want to learn banjo quickly the best way is to engage in “deliberate” practice. Deliberate practice means mindful practice. It means practicing with a specific goal in mind every time we pick...