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 other players’ fretboards as a guide” and several other tips on how to play banjo in a bluegrass jam.

John is a judge at the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Festival (since 2015) and we caught up with him at this year’s festival, at a jam session at the festival, so you can see him read the situation and adjust in real-time. 

Interested in learning banjo? Check out our article How to Learn Bluegrass Banjo in 10 Easy Steps, over on our new site!