Best Ways to Start Learning Banjo

Overview

In sum: Focus your teaching directly on the skills that will enable your students, as soon as possible, to play simple and enjoyable music with other people. And as soon as they’re ready, help your students get together with others to make music.

A hard fact: Most people who try to learn bluegrass-style banjo give up at some point, whether after a few months or a few years. I feel this would happen far less if teachers and instructional materials would help students, from the first lesson, to play simple music with others.

It’s sad and frustrating to see how many teachers and teaching methods set students up for failure, when there are great possibilities for launching musicians. The biggest problem is that they focus primarily on having the student try to memorize note-for-note banjo solos, usually instrumentals. Most new players find even the simplest solos too hard, and play them very slowly and haltingly. Even those who learn to pick smoothly often have persistent rhythm problems because they never have to play in “real time”. This often goes on for months or even years, wearing down the student’s optimism as they struggle to learn a repertoire that amounts to only a few minutes of music.

I suggest they focus instead on skills such as simple right hand rhythm patterns, making easy chords, and learning to follow simple chord progressions in real time. Once a person can do that, making music with other people, or even a play-along recording, becomes possible. The rewards are endless. The repertoire of 3-chord songs is humongous. Songbooks and word sheets, or just watching others’ chords in a jam situation, make hours of music possible. Frustration is at a minimum. Also, this type of learning is more fundamental than soloing, providing a solid foundation which will serve the student well when it’s time to start learning solos.

If you actually facilitate your students’ jamming with one another, or with the students of a fellow teacher, you will create an unbeatable motivational situation. Any student who learns to jam is unlikely to ever quit playing. Being able to jam leads to motivation to go beyond the basics, and it engenders an optimism in the student that in time, many things are possible.

Motivation is Number One

Without motivation we have nothing. It’s the difference between the person who practices and makes progress, versus the one who never seems to “have enough time”, and who keeps coming back without having practiced (you know, the one who eventually drops out).

I assume every student begins with a motivational head start: Maybe he/she just likes the sound of a banjo, or likes bluegrass music itself. Maybe he/she happens to have a banjo and feels an urge to try to play it. We can add to that initial motivation, or we can squander it by needlessly trying the student’s patience. If we help them develop some momentum, they’re hooked. If we don’t, there’s a good chance that sooner or later they will quit.

What’s rewarding for a beginning student? A few favorites:

So to summarize: To keep motivation high:

What else dictates what we should teach our students?

The Importance of the Social Situation

A great many beginning players make music exclusively by themselves. Often the only person who hears them is their teacher, or a family member. This is not natural!

One thing that’s great about bluegrass and banjo music is that so much of it can be reduced to a form simple enough for almost anyone to do it, and do it successfully with others. I use the expression, “The first rung of the ladder is very close to the ground.”

Once a person can successfully combine with others in the making of simple music, a commitment develops. The fun and the feeling of success in that experience builds a desire to improve, to practice.

Start Jamming — Right Away!

Once a person has an in-tune banjo in their lap, why not run through a number of nice G/D7 songs they know and have them strum along? No special technique required for the right hand. Just brush the strings with the thumb or any finger, in a regular downbeat rhythm. If a student is up to it, have him/her try a simple strum: thumb on the 3rd string on the downbeats, the index and/or middle on the offbeats.

Don’t use written music of any sort. It’s better for them to practice listening and watching (skills needed for jamming). They get the chords by following you.

You could start with kiddie songs like “Skip to My Lou” or “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”, or maybe bluegrass classics like “Handsome Molly”, “I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky”, or “My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains”, “Katy Daley”, or “Little Birdie”. For the over-40 crowd there are songs like “Tom Dooley” or “Down in the Valley”. For country fans, there’s “Take Me Back to Tulsa” and “Jambalaya”. Just have the student watch your left hand and change back and forth at the right time. These are all just 2-chord songs. It’s hard to mess them up!

The point is that, with a teacher leading the way, a student can actually be making banjo music immediately, in the first few minutes of trying. That has got to be a good feeling!

I spin out this initial blast of success and fun with a vision of the future:

You’ll learn one more chord (C, using three fingers) and this will open up a WHOLE WORLD of music, such as at least 80 percent of the repertoire of Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, and the Stanley Brothers — for starters. All that’s needed is someone to sing the song, and the banjo can play along. If the student is willing to sing, or even hum while looking at a songbook, there’s a clear path ahead.

Next will be learning rolls and adding them to chord changes. One TITM for each downbeat. Show how it sounds played slowly, then gradually increase the speed. Have the student strum lightly on each downbeat, and synchonize your roll to the strum.

For extra motivation, you can whet the student’s appetite by doing a slide on the 3rd string with this roll, like the B part of “Cripple Creek”. Do it up to speed, and make it sound great. (You’ll see them smile.)

Stress that a person can play all night long on song after song, with just three chords and a strum or a simple roll. Not fancy, but it’s workable music a way of backing up singing and joining with other musicians.

I have this definition of “successful musician”: “a person who enjoys playing music”. Nothing more. After all, what is the primary purpose of music? Ability is great, but without the enjoyment, what’s the point? And if it’s enough fun, the person will do it more, and improve.

As Vince Gill sings in his song “The Key”, “Three chords on the banjo is the key to life.”

Teaching The Skills

For the first stage, the student needs to get comfortable with the basics of rhythm playing. Key skills involve knowing:

Chord Changes — Which Chord and When It Happens

Forming chords accurately. Check by picking the strings slowly with the right hand, one by one. Listen for unclear notes, and correct.

These skills all come with practice. This is where students really need you to monitor their progress, to be encouraging and to congratulate them on their success.

The above steps amount to creating a musical foundation for your student. Keeping rhythm and following chord changes may be easy for some, but it is definitely not something to take for granted in your students. Be sure they are on solid footing before you move on.

How to Scout Good Jam Opportunities

What makes a good situation? Mostly, the presence of a person who can accurately sing a variety of banjo-friendly songs at comfortable tempos (70-90 beats/minute works well). Just one person like that is all a banjo player needs to get launched as a jammer.

In a pinch, you can be the student’s jam partner. But better they should connect with another musician or two or three who can enjoy and benefit from playing with a banjo player.

There are many people out there who could fit this need. The question is, how to find them? A few ways: Through music teachers, by scouting in person at festivals and jam sessions, and even by scouting through advertisements, such as index cards on music store bulletin boards. Read more.

If you’re a music teacher with several students of compatible abilities, you can arrange a group “jamming” lesson. You can show one person how to roll while the other strums. If you can get one or both to sing, using lyric sheets or songbooks, it won’t be long before they’re self-sufficient. Also, you or your student can call a guitar teacher and ask for help in finding a basic-level guitar player who’d enjoy jamming with a banjo player. The student could even offer the teacher a finder’s fee for their help, well worth it. [See this resource: Bluegrass Jamming Guitar Chords!]

An added benefit to any teacher whose students are learning to jam is that now the students are likely to get a burst of motivation, which makes them learn better and be less likely to quit.

Scouting for good jam partners can be a lonely pursuit, but since the goal is finding just one good match, it’s worth the effort. Since the people who would fill the bill are likely to be “closet” players, they are sometimes hard to spot. Look for people who attend jams or festivals with instruments that they never seem to take out of the case. Strike up a conversation: “Do you play that?” When they say, “Not very well,” you can say, “Me neither. I play pretty slowly but I know some easy three chord songs. Want to play a little?” That might be all it takes.

Any way a teacher can facilitate their students’ finding jam buddies will pay off big time. It will go a lot farther than having them learn one more tab!

First Solos — Songs Are Best

Speaking of which, even a nice and easy tune like “Doug’s Tune”, while a confidence-builder, does not easily generalize to other pieces.

Solos to songs tend to use common notes and licks that transfer easily to solos for other songs. Solos to songs are generally half the length of a typical two-part instrumental. Well known and well-loved songs such as Red River Valley, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, You Are My Sunshine, and Worried Man Blues can be learned in much less time than almost any instrumental, and have much more utility to the next steps of learning.

A Short List of Recommended First Tab Solos

“Bile Them Cabbage Down”, is a song and favorite, and also a definite confidence builder, though a bit atypical compared to most bluegrass songs. It is a song, but can be played as a tune. If taught as a one-roll (TMTIMTIM) song with the first note and the following index notes staying on the melody, it is a fine introduction to using that forward roll.

On my Beginning Bluegrass Banjo instruction video I teach four different rolls by applying each one to an entire song. I use classics: Shady Grove (alternating thumb), Handsome Molly (Foggy Mt. Breakdown roll), Big Ball’s in Boston (forward), and Worried Man Blues (forward-backward). These build confidence, and though quite simple compared to most basic solos, they do get the melody out. They show the students in a general way how the melody can be brought out with different rolls.

Once a student is rendering these tunes acceptably, it’s appropriate to try a few tablatures which combine the simple rolls. Simple songs with melodies found on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings are best. Melodies on the 3rd and 4th are best, because the thumb falls there naturally, and any roll can be started on those strings (only some can start on the 2nd). My Bluegrass Banjo book offers simple versions of four familiar songs: She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Ballad of Jed Clampett, and Worried Man Blues.

If these are working all right, it’s time for a student to start creating arrangements on their own.

I first have a student try to find the melody on their own. Once they think they have it, I review it and make sure it’s plausible.

Next comes the big assignment, combining melody and rolls. This is a rather complicated trial and error task, one usually requiring quite a bit of patience and persistence despite frustration. This bridge of skill and understanding Scruggs-style bluegrass must be crossed at some point, and with a few memorized tabs under a student’s belt, I feel now is the time. A teacher can review and point out problems in the arrangement. Working through the problems will result in success at some point.

To assist a student with the challenging task of creating a rhythmically correct solo, I first have them make a play-along rhythm recording.

Selecting the Song: It should be a familiar 2- or 3-chord song in G, not in waltz (¾) time, one whose melody can be found on strings 2, 3, and 4. I have the student pick the song from a list of favorites that qualify, or if they have one they’d prefer, I make sure the verse’s melody in G is found on strings 2, 3, and 4.

Creating the rhythm track: Programs like Band In a Box or Strum Machine can make this task easy but the student making a play-along track is quite valuable — instilling playing steadily while changing chords correctly, important jam skills. Smart phones include recording apps, such as iPhone’s “voice memo”. The student sings or audibly hums (or just says the words) in time while playing the simplest chord changes (open G, 3-finger C, 3-finger D) with a simple steady strum. Ideal speed is about 70 beats per minute. For easier playing along later, it’s good to start with a steady strum for a few beats on the G, then give a signal (such as a 1 2 3 count) jut before starting the words. I recommend repeating the chord progression that goes with the solo at least five times without stopping, to help the student stay focused later when playing along, without frequent pauses to replay the recording. Once a recording is created, I check it for accuracy of chords, steadiness, and ability to hear both the voice and the strum clearly enough to play along with.

Playing Along: The demand of staying in time with a correct track in real time forces the student to avoid typical pitfalls such as stops and starts, hesitations, and other rhythmic flaws. First try at playing along should use a steady TITM roll where the first T synchronizes with each downbeat. This combination of strum and roll is potent! As soon as it works, the student may feel a thrill of a breakthrough: “This is what a banjo does — rolls synced with rhythm.”

The video Get Rolling shows this syncing done by two players, and the viewer is invited to do the TITM roll along with the simple strumming I do throughout the video. This connection is critical to a banjo player’s growing ability to play three-finger banjo as part of a bluegrass jam. Playing with the Get Rolling video instills that connection and builds the student’s confidence — not only laying the foundation for the full Scruggs-style to come, but sounds really good besides. Congratulations are due!

As mentioned, several rolls besides TITM are commonly used in bluegrass banjo playing. Each roll can be internalized by playing it repeatedly, and solidified by keeping it going continuously while changing chords. Another good step is to vary the roll by not always starting on the same string, but varying the first note. This allows a player to grab a melody note by moving the finger to the string with the melody on it.

Finding the Melody: The ability to find the melody notes of a song on the banjo neck is required to create a break to a song. It’s a skill some find natural and easy, and others struggle with. Regardless, it’s necessary for soloing with bluegrass banjo and must be developed to play for-real breaks the student creates themselves, the primary skill to play intermediate-level bluegrass. Tab-bound players may sound good playing memorized solos, but full reliance on rote learning is a dead end, and ability to find a melody is necessary for soloing in general — on any instrument.

If someone never sings, this skill may be underdeveloped, and singers might find it easier. So I recommend singing songs while chording! Many good bluegrass songbooks are out there, and the Wernick Method uses a very user-friendly and low-priced one called JAM Songbook. Even out-of-tune singers tend to find pitches when they hear accompanying chords. A helpful fact: Most important melody notes are heard in the chords being played. Checking the different strings, trial and error, usually finds them. Even if this skill is elusive at first, it needs to be cultivated if one is ever to make up solos.

The rhythm track can be used for backup as the student searches for the individual melody notes, eventually playing them right along with the words on the recording. The many benefits will blossom the more it’s done, to where the fingers start finding melody notes more often on their first try.

Blending Rolls and Melody: This is the key skill of bluegrass banjo playing: Ability to create a solo stating a melody, that stays in time with the accompaniment. I consider this what it takes to deem a player beyond “novice” and a true intermediate. Literally the majority of banjo players can’t do it, stuck trying to learn others’ arrangements by rote (usually tab), generally a dead end in bluegrass playing.

In a single sentence, the essential skill of Scruggs-style banjo is keeping rolls going in time while getting the thumb or index to the string with the melody on it, at the right time. Not every melody note must be played, just the main ones for the song to be recognizable. But even rolling with no melody emerging can still sound good on the fly at a jam session, and acceptable if the timing matches the accompaniment.

To work up a solo, a rhythm track for the song can be a helpful guide, for repeated use with the trial-and-error process. Down the line, most players find that some version of the rhythm track plays in their mind as they roll through a solo. Helpful!

When an arrangement finally flows smoothly, synced to the chords and rhythm of a play-along track, the job is done and it’s time for congratulations! The student has every reason to believe that this solo will really work in their jamming situation. Next step? Do it again on another song.

If the student has been doing all right till now with the steps of learning, and has found people to make music with, there’s a good reserve of motivation to endure the frustrations of this critical learning stage. You have given him/her enough foundation to make the task as easy as possible, but now it becomes like walking or running or riding a bicycle — doing it enough, the student will just get the hang of it, and put it into the “automatic” part of their brain, where the parts of what they’re doing blend into larger units that the conscious mind can control. Coming out the other side of this process, the student has “learned the style” and there’s no turning back. They’re hooked! Now they just have to build that soundproofed practice room or woodshed.

To me, this indicates the student is no longer a novice… which concludes this discussion of “the best ways to get started playing bluegrass banjo”.

Of course there’s plenty more to learn:

1. Typical Earl Scruggs licks and where to use them as embellishments to sound like Scruggs style
2. Backup techniques such as chopping chords, and learning basic major chord positions in different places on the neck
3. Standard repertoire
4. The number system and playing in different keys
5. Improving quickness in learning the chord progression of a new song
6. … and more. Using the play-along jamming videos that can be found at video.drbanjo.com will provide instruction about important new skills, and give ample opportunity to work them in.

In Summary

The observations and recommendations in this article are distilled from almost 40 years of teaching experience with a few thousand students. While I can’t claim they will fit everyone, they have worked for a great many. If the student really wants to play, these methods should keep the path as clear as possible, moving one rung at a time up the ladder, with a minimum of frustration and a maximum of optimism. I hope you’ll try these ideas with your own students. Let me know how they work, and what other ideas you have which may help our students learn to be successful musicians.

Good luck,
Pete Wernick