Welcome to Banjo Mountain
LEARN BANJO
Welcome to Banjo Mountain
LEARN BANJO

Get The Most Out of Banjo Mountain

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 Banjo Mountain.

1. Decide Which Style You Will Learn: Bluegrass or Clawhammer? 

Which style of banjo you choose to play is an important decision for a beginner. Most new players don’t know the difference and may head down one road for a long time before finding out about the other style. While we enthusiastically encourage an intermediate player to learn both techniques of playing a beginner should start with one so as not to lose momentum and quit. Check out the video below from powerhouse husband and wife Bèla Fleck and Abigail Washburn. Bèla plays bluegrass (often referred to as “three-finger” or “Scruggs” style banjo) while Abigail plays clawhammer (also referred to as “Old Time” banjo).

2. Begin a Course

Let’s say you’ve decided you are going to learn bluegrass banjo. Head on over to the bluegrass courses page here and start your first lesson. If you are new to banjo start with the beginner skills course. That will take you from the first step of “How to Hold a Banjo” all the way to playing your first song “Bile ‘Em Cabbage Down.”

3. Setup a Practice Space

Everyone has a different living space. Some of you are in homes, and some are in apartments. Some lucky souls may be in a cabin out in the middle of nature and still have internet access. We envy you most of all. Regardless of your living space, you want to remove as many obstacles from picking up your banjo as possible. You may be excited now (we are excited for you!), but there will soon come a day where you don’t feel like practicing. On those days, you will want to be able to simply reach over and pick up the banjo and play for two minutes. If your banjo is in its case, which is in the closet, guess what: you will not pick it up. We prefer to mount our banjo. You can see (in the photo) that my personal practice space is simply a tablet next to where my banjo hangs. This setup makes it easy for me to pick up the banjo and refer to tablature (or start a new lesson). If you have a desktop computer figure out where your banjo can live close to that computer. If it’s a laptop you own, find a good place you can easily set the laptop and pick up your banjo. Take a moment and decide upon a strategy for removing all obstacles to practice.

4. Track Your Progress 

You know which style you want to learn, you’ve setup a practice space and you’ve gone to our courses page and started a course. Now track your progress as you go. Everytime you login to Banjo Mountain you will see a how far in a given course you are. You can click on the button and easily jump to the last lesson you left on. It couldn’t be easier! Just keep coming back everyday and keep that daily practice up.

5. Reach Out With Any Questions/Concerns 

We want you to succeed at learning banjo and we’ve created a great place to do so. If you have any questions/concerns don’t hesitate to email us at support@thebanjomountain.com Either John or I will get back to you within 24 hrs at the latest. Welcome to Banjo Mountain!