A Word About These Free Bluegrass Banjo Tabs!

Howdy!

If you’re thinking that the free tabs look a little sparse, you’re right! What I’ve provided you is just the bare bones skeleton of the melody.

Why did I do that, and where are the rolls?

As you know, bluegrass banjo plays the melody using rolls, which consist of 4 or 8 note patterns that are repeated over and over.

Virtually every single bluegrass banjo method out there teaches you a tune with the rolls already incorporated into the melody. That is a BIG MISTAKE.

Why?

Because you need to be able to figure out how to add the

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The Ballad of Frankie Silver

Her real name was Frances Steward Silver, but they all called her Frankie. The words chiseled into her tombstone give us a chilling reminder of what this story is about: “Frankie Silver, Only Woman Ever Hanged in Burke County, Morganton, July 2, 1833.”

I first heard about this strange chapter of North Carolina folklore from a mountain man named Bobby McMillan, whom I met when I lived in Hickory, North Carolina in the mid-1970’s. Because he was the third cousin to Charlie Silver, the man Frankie was accused of killing, Bobby had been collecting stories, songs and lore about Frankie

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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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Bluegrass or Clawhammer Banjo – Which One is Easier to Learn?

You’ve got your heart set on learning to play the banjo. Come to find out, there are currently two popular styles of banjo playing: bluegrass or clawhammer banjo. Which one should you choose? And most important, which style is easier?

First, let me explain each style and then we’ll talk about which one is easier to learn.

Earl Scruggs 2Bluegrass banjo was more or less “invented” by Earl Scruggs who first showcased it on the Grand Ole Opry in December, 1945 when he joined Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys. Earl’s way of playing was partly influenced by his brother Junie Scruggs, along with

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