Secrets of Playing Fiddle by Ear

By Wayne Erbsen

Practically every fiddle player dreams of being able to play by ear. What does playing by ear mean? It means playing without reading music.

To play by ear, you need to know a little bit about three things: 1) Simple scales, 2) Chords, 3) Walk-ups and Walk-downs.

1) Simple scales. This is the “do re mi” you learned as a kid. In the key of G, it’s do=G, re=A, mi=B, fa=C, so=D, la=E, ti=F#, do=G. As you can see, you start with G and go right up the alphabet – G, A, B, C, D, E, F#,

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Why Are There So Many Banjo Jokes?

By Wayne Erbsen

Maybe you’ve heard the one about the banjo player who always sits in a level spot so the tobacco juice will run out of both sides of his mouth.

Or the guy who makes a perfect score by throwing a banjo in a dumpster without hitting the sides. He earned extra points for landing on top of an accordion.

Or what has 16 legs and 3 teeth? The front row of a banjo concert.

Or what do you call a banjo player in a three-piece suit? A defendant.

The fact is, people love making jokes about banjos

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One-Finger Easy Chords for Banjo

By Wayne Erbsen

People are always searching the Internet for the easiest way to play the banjo. Who can blame them? Aren’t we all looking for the easiest way to do things? Many of them end up on this website, and find the article Banjo Chords. This article demonstrates that with two- and three-finger chords, the beginner can play thousands of bluegrass, folk, and gospel songs.

Right now I’m going to make things even easier! Many thousands of songs can be played using just one-finger chords. Yes that’s right. One finger.

For bluegrass music, banjos are generally tuned in

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Very Easy Mandolin Songs

By Wayne Erbsen

The Internet is abuzz with people wanting to learn to play the mandolin. My guess is that you are one of them! Of course, you want to learn the easiest songs possible. Who wouldn’t?

The songs that are the easiest to play are the tunes you already know. They’re the ones you’ve had in your head for years. So instead of having me teach you a totally unfamiliar tune on the mandolin, let’s get you to learn how to play the tunes you already know.

I suggest you start making lists of your favorite songs. If you

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Very Easy Banjo Songs

By Wayne Erbsen

The Internet is abuzz with people wanting to learn to play the banjo. My guess is that you are one of them! Of course, you want to learn the easiest songs possible. Who wouldn’t?

The songs that are the easiest to play are the tunes you already know. They’re the ones you’ve had in your head for years. So instead of having me teach you a totally unfamiliar tune on the banjo, let’s get you to learn how to play the tunes you already know.

I suggest you start making lists of your favorite songs. If you

… Read the rest
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Easy Guitar Songs

Easy 2-Chord Songs for Guitar, cover

By Wayne Erbsen

The Internet is abuzz with people wanting to learn to play the guitar. My guess is that you are one of them! Of course, you want to learn the easiest songs possible. Who wouldn’t?

The songs that are the easiest to play are the tunes you already know. They’re the ones you’ve had in your head for years. So instead of having me teach you a totally unfamiliar tune on the guitar, let’s get you to learn how to play the tunes you already know.

I suggest you start making lists of your favorite songs. If you

… Read the rest
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