5 comments about The Ultimate Banjo Songbook: 26 Favorites Arranged for 5-String Banjo.

1. I'm very impressed with this book. Each of the 26 songs has multiple versions as well as alternate licks that can replace other licks to make the song your own. I like that style of teaching. I often teach my own students how to think of a riff as a vocabulary word and then to think about all the different ways they can use that word. This book really shows that any song can be played multiple ways. I think that really opens up your mind and your ears and makes your playing more natural and free.
   
   I will say, however, that this is not a book for beginners. Playing anything in this book will place you solidly in the intermediate to advanced playing range. However, I like that. There are great beginning banjo books out there (Janet Davis's "You can teach yourself Banjo" is one of the best) but once you advance beyond that point it's sometimes difficult to find a book that can take you to the next level. This book will really push you.
   
   I once played in a band where we had some really difficult music to learn. The piano player told me "Yes, this music is tough. But when you're able to play it think how good you'll be!" This book makes me remember that advice. It will really challenge you, but once you learn any of the songs you'll know that you're a better player than when you started.
   
   Just think how good you'll be.



2. I have been picking for about 3 years without formal instruction, and have found Janet Davis one of the best to learn from. This book provides a nice collection for intermediate players, and I find the tunes just right- a little out of reach, not easy and tedious- good for learning. (I have found Trischka's tools out of reach...) The discs that come with the book are fine- usually a set with guitar and then one banjo solo. Tab is nicely and neatly printed. The tunes are familiar and sound great. Recommended.



3. This book (with CDs) is my favorite. I'm an old guitar hack who took up the banjo 2+ years ago. This book is very challenging and very rewarding. My banjo teacher often asks where where i get the arrangements in this book, since i like to add the songs from this book to my repertoire. This book is fun, interesting and challenging - ranging from "advanced intermediate" to really tough. It really exercises your Scruggs style plus has some fun melodic songs like "Roanoke". I just bought my second copy of this book because i cracked one of my CDs, plus the book was "well used".



4. Janet Davis always puts her all into the books and accompanying CDs she prepares. Whereas most books of this type give 1 banjo tab for each tune and then move to the next song, Janet provides enough material on each tune to keep even the most advanced banjo player busy. She provides several breaks on each tune - from conventional to way out jazz solos. She also provides alternative licks that can be swapped into tunes. This gets the banjoist away from learning tabs by rote memory, and starts the player thinking "what other variations could I swap into what I'm playing?".
   
   As examples, the book and accompanying CDs give a harmony banjo part for Foggy Mountain Breakdown and arrangements of Blue Moon of Kentucky in both 3/4 and 4/4 time. The song choices also show Janet's lack of stylistic constraints. The songs span from the most popularized bluegrass tunes such as Dueling Banjos to straight bluegrass like Fireball Mail to jazzy banjo tunes like Alabama Jubilee and Limehouse Blues. The books goes all the way to the Everly Brothers' Bye Bye Love and the Beatles' Yesterday. Even Bela Fleck's UFO-TOFU is included.
   
   The book also mixes traditional Scruggs-style banjo with melodic and single string styles. This will be a resource I go back to for years to come. This book is probably best for intermediate and advanced players.



5. This is a great source for any banjo player who looking for songs to play on the. banjo

5 comments about How To Play The 5-String Banjo (Music Sales America).

1. This edition, with its facsimile handwritten notes inside the covers, has that something extra over and above the books value as a banjo tutorial.
   
   It's nice to have it there on the shelf and the enjoy looking at from time to time, and there's also a feeling of carrying on something traditional for future generations.
   
   Music is a wonderful social thing; something we can share with family and friends, and today's electronic generation have maybe lost that. Books like this encourage us to start over. Even if you're not going to take up the banjo in the end you can at least learn the songs and pass them on.
   
   I'd encourage you to buy this book as an investment for future generations if for no other reason.



2. I agree with other reviewers that this book has historical merit and is interesting to have on your shelf. But inside the cover Pete Seeger says himself that the one useful revision of this book would be to rewrite it for G tuning. Why did he or a colleague NOT do so? When buying this book over the internet it is not apparent that the whole book is written in C tuning. Hence the book as an instruction manual on how to play the 5 string banjo was pretty useless for me. I would rather have spent my $$s elsewhere.
   
   Carole M



3. I like this book because its more about Folk Banjo styles instead of Bluegrass. Don't get me wrong, Bluegrass is great, but if you are interested in sitting on a porch strummin on a Banjo I think you will find this book very helpful.



4. This book will not teach you any thing if you don't practice with it. If you are willing to put in the time, this book will make you a skilled Banjo player with many different styles in your repertoire. Excellent for a beginner. Pete Seegar is an American treasure and some where I read that he said this book helped him pay the electric bill. This is the same as the older REd covered version with a few added stories. You won't be disappointed.



5. I was 17 years old when I came under the spell of an American protest, folk singer called Pete Seeger. I bought a copy of "How to play the 5 String Banjo". Somewhere down the years I mislaid both my banjo and the book. Hearing of Pete's 90th Birthday Party in Madison Square Garden, NYC, I wanted to recapture the influence that made my guitar style what it is. The book is a piece of history, recapturing memories of a music that has survived the test of time.
   
   Play a Pete Seeger song and even a rabid right winger will sing along and identify with this national treasure, conveniently setting aside his politics and life spent standing up for the underdog and the down trodden. This book is an instruction manual, but also a piece of history. It is now a treasured possession in my household.

5 comments about The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo.

1. Patrick is an inspirational teacher.I love the book, and it complements his wonderful and free videos on Youtube. Just do a search on Patrick Costello.



2. I first discovered Patrick Costello on You-Tube, have become an avid follower of his, and Dear Old Dad's, online video tutorials. There is a CD that is also available with this book, I highly recommend the CD too [...].
   Great book, lots of good information/advice/stories/etc. Not your typical instructional book, much better and much more useful.



3. This is a great book and I highly recommend to it everybody interested in old time banjo. You can download the pdf from tangiersound.wordpress.com i believe



4. If your a Banjo "picker", this book is for you. Patrick Castello has done an excellent job in covering the many aspects of old-time banjo picking. This is the second book that I have purchased from Patrick on old-time banjo. Both are informative and will be of value to both "newbies" and experienced pickeres alike



5. Patrick Costello is a great teacher. He focuses on the basics as a foundation through out the book. However, this is not a step-by-step instructional book. There is plenty of instruction, but there is also lots of encouragement to work many things out on your own. While this book will take your banjo playing a long way, it is not just about playing the banjo. The book is designed to teach the reader musical knowledge that crosses from the banjo to other instruments.
   
   One thing to note is that while Patrick teaches a frailing or clawhammer style of banjo, his focus begins in folk music, with a bit of bluegrass. Some people think of clawhammer as a style of music more than a playing technique. Those who take their time to learn will be able to play anything, including fiddle tunes. The focus is not on learning as fast as possible, but to enjoy the journey of learning to make music. Patrick doesn't want a tribe of people playing to sound like himself, he wants you to find you own sound and run with it.
   
   If you are interested in learning the banjo, I highly recommend this book to you. I have purchased too many books that full of tab and charts but little else. This book contains a lot more advice on making music and discovering things on your own while having fun along the way.

5 comments about Mel Bay's You Can Teach Yourself Banjo.

1. I had gotten a banjo, and wanted to learn how to play, so I purchased this book. It's wonderful. It's extremely descriptive, and the DVD that comes with it helps you get a feel for how the rolls shown in the book can actually make a song. Perfect for beginners of any age.



2. This, in my opinion, is almost the perfect beginner banjo book. I purchased it and was amazed at how fast I was learning! It's written so that someone with literally no musical background can understand it. And you jump right into playing songs. I found the DVD and CD to be an excellent resource. Also, on [...] you can get back up music to every song in the book for free, you just click the name of the song and i pops up in your media player. Altho, my only complaint about the entire set is that Janet doesn't mention anything about how to build speed, which kind of surprised me, because thats really what give the banjo it's reputation. Hindsight 20/20, I would buy the set again. I wouldn't own any other book. Period. I know a guy that bought the You Can Teach Yourself Fiddle, by Janet Davis and he swears by it too. Well gotta go so i can get back to my Banjo. Hey I'm having a great time with this, and if you buy it you will too.
   
   Thanks



3. I inherited my father's banjo when he became frustrated at a lack of progress in his lessons and gave up. I found this book at Amazon and have not needed a single lesson. The lessons here are well thought out, and progress from least to greater difficulty. Best of all, you learn full songs, not just a handful of "licks" that comprise songs. Within weeks, I was playing songs "down the neck." I like the way Janet Davis breaks down songs into parts to learn, and then puts them back together when you have mastered the skills needed to play. I play everyday using techniques I have learned in this book -- and have fun doing so. Now, how about a "You Can Teach Yourself Intermediate Banjo" book.



4. I've been playing now for several years (and still learning). This book is the one that I think worked the best!! I'd recomend taking lessons from a pro for a few months (3-4). That way you will start off rite,,, not with mistakes / bad habits that you will have to teach your self to stop later!
   As for this book, I think it's a good way to learn,,,, BUY IT!!



5. I like this book. It's straightforward and to the point. I haven't gotten very far, but I understand rolls and tableture and now I think it's all about practice, practice, practice!

3 comments about Banjo: A Novel.

1. I named this tranquility because I ordered "Banjo" by McKay I got it in a few days and it was in perfect condition. Therefore I didnt have to worry a second thankyou peppiep@centurytel.net



2. Formed in 1992, the X Press intends "to become not only Europe's biggest, but the world's number one black book publisher." Judging by their 2000 edition of McKay's Banjo: A Story Without a Plot (1929), we will have much to fear if they succeed.
   
   The X Press edition is rife with errors and silent emendations, beginning with omission of the book's crucial subtitle: "A Story Without a Plot." This edition also omits McKay's dedication ("For Ruthope"), along with the table of contents and the chapter titles. Worse still, the publishers frequently tamper with McKay's prose, changing punctuation, omitting clauses, and converting McKay's carefully constructed dialect passages into Standard English. Consider the book's second paragraph:
   
   X Press: "It sure is," he noted mentally; "the most wonderful bank in the ocean I ever did see."
   Original: "It sure is some moh mahvelous job," he noted mentally; "most wonderful bank in the ocean I evah did see."
   
   X Press omits an entire phrase ("some moh mahvelous job"), blurring two separate thoughts into one and making McKay's semicolon seem ungrammatical. Banjo's vernacular "evah" becomes "ever," far from a minor point since the characters in Banjo frequently reflect on the nature of language and slang. The X Press edition does not eliminate all uses of dialect, but it does efface many. For example, there are eighteen silent emendations of dialect on page 252.
   
   For those readers who wish to appreciate Banjo as McKay intended it, I highly recommend the Banjo (Harvest Book) Harcourt Brace edition (1957/1970), which replicates of the original Harper & Brothers 1929 edition down to the pagination. Far from being a definitive modern re-issue, the X Press edition misrepresents McKay's authorial vision, preventing readers from appreciating one of the great novels of the 20th century.



3. The years after World War One were a time for youth with adventure on their minds to follow what the war showed them and seek the world. This book brings to my mind another book of this heady time of excitement, Dos Passos great _1919_. However, this book goes far beyond the interesting and humorous adventures of its protagonists to sketch a vision of Pan African.
   
   The characters are former sailors and dockworkers on the bum in Marseilles in the early 1920s, all Black from the United States, the West Indies, French and British Africa. Some are uneduated workers and former peasants, at least one is educated, living "the life of the people" on the beach. While careening through adventures involving very much sex, more alcohol, and encounters with whites from every level of European and American society, the book takes up the issues of race and racism, not only on the part of European and American whites, but the prejudices among and within the different Black nationalities themselves.
   
   When the book was published young Africans, young West Indians, and Black Americans, but especially Francophone Blacks like Aime Caesaire and Leopold Senghor would would craft the Black cultural and political affirmations called Negritude, would champion this book as a call for Black unity, dignity, and for looking to the warmth, joy, and passion of the culture and people of Africa and her diaspora int he Americas.
   
   The ordinary reader will enjoy this book because it is told with wit and grace and that it humor comes from the real world. After all, the protagonists live by their wits, not by their labor, and there are enough scraps with romance, hustlers, and the police to keep the plot moving.
   
   I read it because its comments on culture and race are important to my own research, but once reading it, I found myself hungry for its pages every time I put it down, wanting to get through the current adventure and into the next.

5 comments about Original Banjo Case Chord Book.

1. Concise, well made, organized chord book - fits right in the case ready for any quick reference. Thank you MP



2. Just received this book today. It looks as useful as other reviewers have said, BUT the binding is awful. I tried to open the book out flat and pages immediately started falling out! Publisher, please print an edition with a spiral binding!



3. Fits banjo case and has more chords than you'll ever need to know. Arranged in a logical order - as in chords are listed in Keys, not alphabetically. A must have accessory.



4. This is a good reference book , but the binding does not allow it to lay flat open.



5. has all the most used chords in the most used tunings. small and easy to reference. very useful for learning banjo.

5 comments about Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus (Book & CD set) (For the Complete Ignoramus!).

1. This is a very good book for someone who is teaching there self to play the banjo. It moves you along at your own pace, written in an easy to understand format. One piece of music is written with 3 0r 4 different ways you can play it. Each new way is a slow progression to a harder to play verson of the same song. There are lots of songs in the book and you feel like you actually achieved something worth wild by purchaseing this book. I am very pleased with my purchase.



2. Erbsen boils it down to the basics. He doesn't overload the reader with lot's of info. The book is laid out in a straightforward manner. Included are lot's of tunes with the bare bones melodies. Erbsen show how easy and fun it is creating a variety of real bluegrass banjo tunes from the same basic melody. The reader progresses at his/her own pace. I highly recommend this book. I have several teach yourself bluegrass banjo books and I think this is the best one.



3. I bought several different beginner banjo books and got a little confused and impatient. Then I found this one and I was playing on the very first day. I am sure the other books will come in handy at some point, but this is a great place to begin. All of the other books load you down with theory, etc. This one just shows you how to play and gives you songs you can start with and then teaches you how to spice them up. I highly recommend it!



4. This is a very good type of learning for me. I like the way the lessons are set up and I feel that I am continuously improving instead of feeling like I am at a standstill for weeks on end.



5. This was the first bluegrass book that I got when I started playing/teaching myself the 5-string banjo about 2 months ago. I really liked it as a beginner because the first levels that the author presents ("Ice Cold", "Cool", and "Warm" licks) are easy to get into while also playing at a reasonably fast pace so that other people can tell what tune you're aiming for. In the Warm Licks level, the author moves from just playing melody notes, drones on the first string with eighth notes, and pinches, to using a "two-finger roll" that have not seen in other bluegrass banjo books that I've used. From what I've read, this is closer to an Old Time two-finger thumb lead style than Bluegrass. It sounds like it has two drone strings and is very haunting and modal-sounding. However, from there it was actually kind of difficult (for me at least) to start moving into rolls like the forward, backward, and foggy mountain rolls that do not use the thumb for the melody note. I would suggest practicing some of these rolls early on so that they don't feel and sound alien once you start using them. Also, if you can, practice the C, D7 and F chords early on rather than only playing melody notes, it'll make the transition to chords easier.
   
   Pros of this book:
   -Like others have said, it gets you to think for yourself in terms of arrangements
   -It's easy to find the melody when only the melody is tabbed out
   -You can get to higher speeds fairly rapidly
   -The melodies are tabbed out in a way that makes them easy to learn quickly once you've gotten a few down, so you can learn a bunch of songs quickly.
   -It's really good for complete ignoramuses!
   -Once you start learning more complex techniques elsewhere, it's a good book to revisit.
   
   Cons:
   -There's a tradeoff between learning a lot of songs easily, and learning techniques. Without the latter, you can end up getting tired of hearing the actual songs because playing a bunch of songs in the same key and style starts to sound the same after a while.
   -Everything is played "down the neck". If you want to start exploring up the neck like a lot of BG songs do, you have to get another book.
   -Sometimes it wouldn't hurt to see what a more complex tab would look like, at least for a section.
   -It's hard to know what book to use next. I emailed the author after, and he didn't recommend his older bluegrass book after this one, so I had to look for other recommendations on where to go next.
   
   If you get this book, I would recommend using it at the same time as another beginnging BG book if you want to get used to reading fully-tabbed out songs, play up the neck, or use more licks with pull-offs, hammer-ons, and slides. I recommend Mel Bay's You Can Teach Yourself Banjo by Janet Davis and I've heard her other books are good for elaborating on a melody, so you can revisit Wayne Erbsen's book again.
   
   I would also recommend to try fingerpicks from the beginning, rather than waiting, because they feel and sound very different than playing with bare fingers.

5 comments about Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo: Revised and Enhanced Edition.

1. I am a complete neophyte at banjo, having just received one as a gift only weeks prior to writing this. However, Earl Scruggs is such an innovator and legend that this book is a must have. The book has some history, an intro, a section on how to make a banjo and lots of tabs. I find that in order to work through the tabs I need to hear the songs but through youtube, the lack of a CD is not an issue. Having some experience on guitar has given me a leg up and I am not sure what I would think if I did not have this experience. Even beyond the tabs, and the advice, the biography, pictures and other information is interesting to read. What I have come to appreciate that the banjo is more than an instrument but a heritage, passed down via people, almost like storytelling. I do not think I will experience this first hand but through this book, I have certainly gained an appreciation of how the five string banjo is part of american history. Now if I can only learn Foggy Mountain Breakdown.



2. My banjo instructor strongly suggested this book. And I can see why. Obviously, Earl is the Gold Standard. It reads easily, and the exercises are interesting and fun.



3. well i ordered this from amazon thinking that it came
   with the cd what a waste would not have ordered it with out
   the cd



4. After watching a couple of young teenage boys entertain the crowd during a fiddling contest in 1979, I was inspired to learn to play banjo, and the only resource available to me was Earl's book and record. Over the years since, I've found MANY other lesson manuals, and have purchased most of them. Additionally, I've picked up various bits of wisdom from professional banjo players that have changed my perspective on becoming successful in playing the banjo.
   
   At a bluegrass festival back in 1992, I spoke with Eddie Adcock about his style and mentioned that it sounded like Don Reno's. He IMMEDIATELY pointed out that he did NOT use any of Don's licks because, as he put it, "Copying someone else is creative suicide." Also, Earl himself said in in one of his magazine columns that he never played a song the same way twice.
   
   A couple of years after talking with Eddie, I was fortunate to find, in my opinion, one of the best teachers available anywhere, since he used (intuitively, I might add) teaching methodologies expert researchers had spent years discovering that work best for learning physical skills. I recognized them because I had earned a university degree studying those very methodologies 10 year before. As it turned out, my teacher had actually lived with Bill Keith when trying to make it in the music industry in Tennessee as a young man. He told me that it was Bill Keith who had written the tablatures in Earl's book, NOT Earl himself, as one reviewer mistakenly wrote. Any so-called "errors" in the tablature should be attributed to Bill, not to Earl. The number one drawback to using Earl's book, however, is the fact the it cannot teach intonation and timing (aka, playing on top of the beat) that top players use.
   
   As for the "errors" people find between any tablature and what they hear on a recording, in light of the comments from both Eddie and Earl, I believe the proper perspective to take when approaching Earl's book, and any others for that matter, should be to use tablature only as a guide to "locate" the music on the banjo. It should then be adapted to individual player's current skill set and comfort level. Nearly every song I tab out includes ideas from several teachers' tabs, but is always adapted to my own ways of playing, which are grounded in both Earl's and J.D. Crowe's styles. As a result, I now have nearly 200 songs that I can play with many records, although not note-for-note as Earl played them on any particular recording.
   
   Hope this help!



5. I bought the original version of this book in 1978 after frustration with teachers that couldn't teach scruggs style.
   
   I learned how to play Scruggs style 5 string directly from this book. By the time I was 16 I was playing professionally and did so for the next 15 years.
   
   Could I have done it with another book? Probably so. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy this book without hesitation.
   
   There are many more great teachers these days and access to a great deal of information, but for this city boy, who couldn't read music, this book along with a great deal of will and determination is what allowed me to learn the style I loved and provided years of satisfaction and enjoyment of the banjo.
   
   If one is serious about the banjo and has the desire to learn, one will not go wrong buying this book.

5 comments about Banjo For Dummies.

1. Lots about the banjo but not a lot of tunes to learn. Really basic stuff for players but probably good stuff for someone about to buy a first banjo or consider taking up the banjo. I would have liked to see more tabs, particularly old time styles.



2. This is a decent book for beginners or intermediates. I found I learned more though from the Murphy Henry Dvd's and Ross Nickerson's Banjo Encyclopedia. I didn't like the "for Dummies" format. It was a little to bland for me. If I was a beginner, I'd get the other two ones I recommened.



3. Having just received a banjo as a gift, I was eager to find as much help as I could. I started out with youtube and then decided I needed to have a couple of books. Banjo for Dummies is an interesting book with lots of great history, helpful tips, random facts, a CD and some tabs (music tabulatures allowing a person to sight read music without reading notes). However, having played guitar for years (although still an amateur), while I found the book very entertaining to read, I did not find it was going to advance my playing much more than what I received off of youtube. Guitar players already know many techniques such as hammer ons, pull offs, slides, etc. as well as how to read tabs. Nonethless, I do not regret my purchase as I have enjoyed the book very much and continue to find little gems here and there. If I was a complete neophyte to string instruments then I would have given it another star.



4. "Banjo for Dummies" by Bill Evans is full of information about all things Banjo. What makes this book so unique is that it teaches the basics of BOTH clawhammer and Bluegrass styles, and gives examples of other techniques such as minstrel. This lets new pickers get a taste for the different styles before they decide which they like best. (Most instructional books are dedicated to only clawhammer or Scruggs Bluegrass)
   
   The CD that comes with it is the perfect learning tool, since a person needs an audio reference to really be sure they're getting the exercises and songs the correct way. And it's great for playing along with tunes after you learn them.
   
   Another cool thing is that the book starts you off on two particular songs, "Red River Valley" and "Boil Them Cabbage Down", first on easy strums, then with basic clawhammer and bluegrass methods, and later shows advanced arrangements of these two classics with hammer-ons and slides. It was fun to play the easy version the day I got the book and progress to the hard versions.
   
   Aside from a very nice collection of tabbed songs, Mr. Evans gives detailed instructions for such things as choosing and changing strings, basic care of the instrument, and an interesting history of the Banjo.
   
   I highly recommend this book for first time banjo players, for pickers who want to experiment with new styles, or for the know-it-all who wants to learn even more. :)



5. I am very upset about this so called book, its not a book its a CD that someone made at home. Which they spent .05 to make. I want my money back!!!

5 comments about Foxfire 3: Animal Care, Banjos and Dulcimers, Hide Tanning, Summer and Fall Wild Plant Foods, Butter Churns, Ginseng, and Still More Affairs of Plain Living.

1. Foxfire books make you see how easy life is in the 21st century and how tough it was in days gone by. Foxfire books are a great read.



2. We purchased Foxfire volumes 1-12 in a single purchase and are very pleased. If one is looking to learn skills from the "old school," then this series is a good one to purchase. Whether searching for how to build a log cabin the good, old-school way, learning how to make a natural bed of hay, stitching, or soap-making, this series will be valuable to you. The directions are good, and in many cases there are detailed photos or drawings that accompany the instructions being given. A good read. Worth the money if you are interested in learning many skills that are quickly being lost from generations past.



3. I had a pleasant surprise when searching for the Foxfire 3 book and received it promptly! Thank you!



4. This series depicts the culture of the Appalachian so well. It is a reminder of the hardships that our ancestors as well as the people still of this region endured then and now.



5. this series covers animal care, banjos and dulcimers, wild plant foods, butter churns, ginseng and more.All of the foxfire books have a similar format: interviews with elders who practice a specific handicraft. Get them all, they are great.