Category: Banjo

Ernest ‘Pop’ Stoneman

Rural Roots of Bluegrass

By Wayne Erbsen

We couldn’t quite figure out who he was. As the lights were dimmed and the audience hushed, my sister Bonnie and I sat in suspense at the West Hollywood club known as The Ash Grove. All at once, the band started to play and even as our attention became riveted on the spectacle unfolding before us, we wondered about the little old man sitting on stage in a hard-backed chair with an autoharp flat on his lap and a little black hat stuck on his head.

We got a hint when members of the Stoneman Family eventually

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Learn to Play the Banjo & Save Electricity!

By Wayne Erbsen

You’re determined to save electricity and I’ll bet many of you have always wanted to play the banjo. You can do both! All you have to do is turn off your TV and fire up your banjo. Despite what you may have heard, playing the banjo is easy, especially when you start out learning in the right way that I’m about to show you. This article was written for total beginners on the banjo.  It’ll show you, in the most simplified terms possible, how to make music (and friends) with that cantankerous banjo of yours. Trust me.

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Banjo Chords

If you’re gonna play bluegrass music, your banjo will be tuned in G Tuning. The strings in G Tuning are

1  2  3  4  5

D  B  G  D  G

 

The vast majority of all bluegrass songs use only three chords, G, C and D or D7. Some, in fact, only use two chords, G and D or D7.

When you’re in G tuning, your banjo is tuned to a G chord.

So in G tuning your G chord is just to pick or strum the banjo stings “Open,” or unfretted. What could be easier?

A D7

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How to Play Banjo

By Wayne Erbsen

So you want to play the banjo. That’s handy, because in one short lesson, I’m gonna teach you to play one.

Contrary to what you might think, it’s way easy.

The first thing is to tune your banjo. Check out my article “How to Tune a Banjo.”

I’m going to teach you to play banjo in what is called “Bluegrass Style.” The first song you’re gonna play is I’ll Fly Away. It’s easy. As you hold the banjo on your lap, the 1st string is the one closest to the floor, and

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How to Tune a Banjo

By Wayne Erbsen

Banjos are ornery critters. Like a puppy who wants to be petted, your banjo wants to be tuned. Often.

So how do you tune a banjo?

If you’re going to be playing bluegrass music, you’ll want to be tuned in what’s called “G tuning.”

Before you go running out to purchase an electronic tuner that you may or may not need, let me explain how to tune the banjo to itself. If you’re a beginner, you’ll be playing by yourself at first, so as long as your banjo is tuned to itself, you’re good to go.

Set

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Easy Banjo Songs

By Wayne Erbsen

If you’re total novice on the banjo, but want to learn to play, you’ve come to the right place.  I’m going to show you how to be up and playing the banjo in no time flat.

First, you want to get your banjo tuned in what is called G Tuning. Check out my article, How to Tune a Banjo.

Now, set your banjo on your lap in playing position. The short string is the 5th string. The string closest to your feet is the 1st string. Pluck the 1st and 5th strings together at the same

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Banjo History by George R. Gibson

By George R. Gibson

Uncle Dave Macon, the first star of the Grand Old Opry, was an extraordinary banjo player and entertainer. It is likely that black musicians as well as minstrel entertainers influenced his music. Earl Scruggs, who originated a unique style of bluegrass banjo playing, came from a mountain area where banjos and banjo songs had long been a part of the culture. Many mountain banjo songs became popular with early radio string bands, and later became bluegrass standards. When the banjo and banjo songs entered the mountains is a question that has not been definitively addressed.

Various

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The 5-String Banjo in North Carolina by C.P. Heaton

By C.P. Heaton

North Carolina is banjo country. No other area has done more to nurture and preserve banjo traditions; no other area has had greater influence on banjo innovations. The colorful history of America’s favorite folk instrument is very nearly synonymous with the history of banjoists and the banjo in the Tar Heel state.

The American banjo is of diverse ancestry. Stringed instruments with skin heads and wooden shells are known to have existed nearly 4500 years ago in Egypt. Similar instruments have been used for hundreds of years in India, Burma, Siam, Arabia, Tibet, and the Celebes. 1

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Clawhammer Banjo – A Simple Lesson

Red Rocking Chair tablature

By Wayne Erbsen

Here are the basic steps to learning old-time clawhammer banjo:

1. With your right hand over the strings of your banjo, curl your fingers up as if they were holding a baseball bat.

2. Strike down on the 1st string with the nail of your middle finger. (This is your melody note). With your hand still in motion, let your right thumb come to rest on the 5th string.

3. Then lift up you right hand and quickly brush down on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings with the nails of your middle and ring fingers. Again,

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Welcome, Closet Banjo Players!

By Wayne Erbsen

Come into the closet. As you nestle yourself in amongst the overcoats and umbrellas, you may be wondering why I called you here. A lot of people think that the only real banjo playing goes on at the Opry or at some far away stage with lights glittering from above. Not so. Some of the best banjo picking comes from inside of a well-stuffed closet. Of course, the sound does tend to get a little muffled in there, but the feeling is right, and the motives are pure. What closet picker could ever be accused of being

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