Welcome to

 BanjoLessons.net

FREE BANJO LESSONS FOR THE BEGINNER

       This is a free site...

where you can learn to play the 5-string banjo!

Videos now available!

 Click here --> to hear a sample of my banjo playing.

Table of Contents

There will be more free videos available by May 30th!

Some Important Basics You Need to Know

Tuning Your Banjo                  

Right Hand Position /Video Lesson

The picking direction of the right hand is downward with the thumb and upward with the index and middle fingers.  While picking with the right hand it is extremely important that you anchor your ring and pinky finger onto the head of the banjo. (See photo below.)  This anchoring of the right hand will both stabilize and strengthen your picking to help create that great bluegrass banjo sound. 

Video Notes (Wearing picks): When buying picks at your local music store you will need 2 metal finger picks and one plastic thumb pick.  The idea is that you find picks that are comfortable for your fingers and that the picks make a clear and crisp sound on your banjo strings.  If you hear a lot of rubbing sounds you might like to bend your picks slightly.  I bend my picks so that the flat of the pick is parallel with the string.

At first it may seem difficult to keep your right ring and baby finger placed firmly on the banjo head while you play.  Try some 2-sided carpet tape to help you with this.  After a few days it will become easier.  Keeping your two fingers down firmly is very important.  It stabilizes your hand and allows you to pick firmly.  Allowing one finger to float around doing nothing is simply allowing one of your fingers to be lazy and not contributing to your playing.

Proper Fretting and Left Hand Position/

Video Lesson  

Video Notes: When your are pressing your fingers down on the banjo neck your fingertips are going to be sore at first.  Sometimes, very sore!  After several days and weeks you start to develop calluses on the ends of your fingers.  These will help to ease the pain.  There is really no way to get around this.  I have heard of various innovations to attempt to solve this problem (like finger guards).  My recommendation  is to just slowly develop your calluses and rest your fingers when they get too sore. 

Banjo Tablature

There is any easy way to read banjo music and it is commonly used by most banjo players.  Banjo tablature, or tab for short, uses the five music staff lines.  Each of the spaces in the five staff lines represents one of the open strings of the banjo.

A number that is found in one of the spaces would indicate the fret to be played on that string.  The following diagram shows that you are to fret the 3rd fret of the third string.  The letter located under the staff lines indicates what finger of the right hand you should pick that note with.  The thumb is indicated by a (T), the index finger a (I) and the middle finger an (M). Some banjo players use a (2) instead of the (M).

Here is another example of tab below where the open 1st, 3rd and 5th strings are played by the right hand thumb (T), index (I) and middle (M) fingers.   These notes make up a very simple but important roll called the forward roll.  I'll talk more about this roll a little later on.

Some Music Theory

Timing

Timing is very important for good banjo playing.  The more time you spend to understand this section... the better your playing will be.  I would recommend investing in a metronome (electronic or otherwise) to play along with for the first while at least.  You want to have consistent timing with your playing.  This will be very important when you play with other musicians or when you record music!

The notes used most commonly in banjo tab are the quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes.  In tab these notes values are represented as follows.

Quarter Notes

To help you understand how quarter notes sound, think of how an old fashion clock would go "tick, tock, tick, tock."  Clap your hands in time with that imaginary clock, "one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four."  (Here's where a metronomic device of some type would be very helpful.)  Your clap is the time value of the quarter notes. Keep in mind though that in music the time value of the ticking clock (and thus the quarter note) can vary depending on the tempo (speed) of the song.

Eighth Notes

One way to describe eighth notes is to clap your hands at a normal paced quarter note time value.  When your hands clap together you say "one", and that would be one note. When your hands are at their farthest distance apart you say "and", which would be the the next note.  When your hands clap together again, you say "two", which would be the next note and so on.  In other words there would be one note for every word you see (and say) in this next line:

Sixteenth Notes

There are two sixteenth notes in one eighth note.  They're pretty quick and are used in the hammer-on, push-offs and pull-offs, which are more advanced playing techniques.

Here's a little 2-step activity to help demonstrate the time value of a sixteenth note. 

Step 1:  With your finger, tap the time value of each of the numbers below.  Be sure to tap out a normal quarter note value and count out loud as you tap. 

Step 2:  Stop counting out loud but keep tapping in the quarter note value.  Now each time your finger taps one of the beats, count out loud to four. 

In print the activity would look as follows:

The Measure

In banjo tab we use the same five-line, four-space musical staff that you find in any other kind of music. 

A musical staff can be divided into measures by bar lines.

Frequently in tab you will find a time signature. 

There has to be some kind of guidelines or order when placing notes into your measures.   The time signature tells what the order will be.  For example:

You can find different time signatures in different songs.  For example:

The notes that are found most often in banjo tablature are eighth notes.   Each measure contains eight eighths notes as in the following example.  (Notice the 4/4 time signature which is the equivalent time value to eight eighths notes as explained in the preceding paragraph.)  *See heading,  "Second Alternating Pattern" to hear this pattern.

Rests

Sometimes, what you don't play can be as important as what you do play.  A rest is a pause in a song.  Sometimes in banjo tablature, a rest is indicated by an X.  Sometimes rests are indicated by the way they are in regular musical notation as shown in the following diagram.

Repeats

A double bar line with two dots indicates that you repeat all notes that are between the dots. 

Separate Endings

Occasionally you will find a song, or a part of a song, that may be repeated as indicated by the dots shown above and the song will have two separate endings.   One ending for the first time you play it and a second ending for the second time you play it (the repeat).  When this occurs each of the endings are indicated by the numbers 1. and 2. as shown below.

Let's Get Started!

Your Practice Schedule

How long you practice each day is really a matter of personal preference.  I recommend you practice a minimum of one half hour each day, with one day off a week.  Personally, my practice schedule has varied over the years.  Some years I would practice one hour per day, other years 2 hours per day and I have even had years where I practiced 4 hours per day.  But when I look back over all those years of practice I now believe that 1 to 2 hours per day, if spent productively, is sufficient practice time to become a good banjo player. 

 Banjo Exercises

The following exercises are based upon the 3-finger playing style (or Scruggs style) developed and popularized by Earl Scruggs.*

The Alternating Thumb Pattern 

Audio Lesson                                   

Alternating your thumb is a very common movement when playing the banjo.   I       will play the pattern slowly three times.  Try not to hit the 4th string when alternating between the 3rd and 5th strings with your thumb and play the notes smoothly with the timing of a ticking clock.   

The Alternating Thumb Pattern/Video Lesson

Video Notes: Alternating the thumb between the 5th string and the 3rd (or others) is a very fundamental and important pattern for the 5-string banjo. 

The Alternating Thumb with Pinch Pattern

Audio Lesson

With the pinch you pick the 5th string downward with the thumb and the 1st string upward with the middle finger.  Be sure that you play the 1st and 5th strings at the exact same time. 

Alternating Thumb with Pinch/Video Lesson

Video Notes: When you are doing this pinching motion with the thumb and middle finger be sure that the volume of each note is approximately the same. 

Second Alternating Pattern

Audio Lesson

Here is another example of an alternating pattern.  This type of pattern can be found in many banjo songs. 

Here is the pattern repeated three times slowly.   

Here it can be heard in a repeated pattern slowly. 

Here it can be heard in a repeated pattern up tempo.  

Second Alternating Pattern/Video Lesson

Video Notes: You will notice that when I am playing this pattern up tempo there is a certain bounce or rhythmic sound.  Try to work on that rhythmic sound once you have learned the notes correctly. 

The Forward Roll

Audio Lesson

I will play this simple, but important roll three times slowly. (With a time value of three quarter notes.)   

Timing is very important  even with these simplest of patterns.  Be sure that there is an even spacing (of time) between each of the notes.  Also remember to keep the ring and baby finger of your right hand anchored to the banjo head for stability.

Forward Roll

(Emphasis on Index Finger) Video Lesson                                                                             

Video Notes: When playing the forward roll this is when proper anchoring of the right ring and baby finger to the banjo head is so important.  If you anchor your two fingers firmly you can get a very solid sound with your forward roll.  If you don't anchor your fingers firmly the forward roll will sound weak and flimsy.  The spacing of time between each note must be the same to achieve a smooth flowing sound. 

Forward Roll (Alternating Emphasis) Video Lesson

Video Notes: Alternating your emphasis note between the thumb and the index finger gives you a  bouncing sound as required in the song Dixie.  This is a very good exercise for finger coordination.

 The Forward and Reverse Roll

Audio Lesson

With the forward and reverse roll there is no emphasis on any particular note (in this example).  Each note is played with equal emphasis. Being able to play this roll smoothly will contribute to a smoothness in your overall playing.   

Forward and Reverse Roll/Video Lesson

Video Notes: This exercise is also very good for developing the finger-brain connection and the smooth syncopated sound so important in good banjo playing. 

Beginner Song

This short and simple tune is called "The Old Banjo Waltz".  It is a good tune for beginners.   It includes patterns that you have already worked on combined with slightly more challenging patterns. *Video lessons for this song will be available in the video section that I am presently hoping to complete by June,2008.

                  The Old Banjo Waltz (Brian Ramsay)      

I have broken the song down into 5 sections:

Section 1

Section 1 is a simple alternating thumb pattern with pinch which was covered earlier in this web site.  This alternating pattern however has the third note as an open 4th string rather than an open 3rd string as shown in the following diagram.

Section 2

This pattern is very similar to the second alternating pattern previously taught.  Section 2 however is a combination of an alternating thumb pattern ending with a pinch. 

Here is Section 2 played once.  

Here is Section 2 repeated three times.  

Section 3

Section 3 is a slightly longer pattern and is important for two reasons  1.) This particular step pattern provides you with important left hand fingering exercises. 2.) It gives the song its "waltz" sound. 

For section 3  I have indicated the correct left- hand fingering ABOVE the notes to be fretted.  In the example below the (I) placed above the 2 means you fret the 2nd note of the 3rd string with your left index finger.

All left-hand fretting indicators would be indicated as follows:

Here is Section 3 played once slowly.  

Here is Section 3 played once up tempo.  

Section 4

Section 4 is similar to the second alternating thumb pattern which was previously taught. Rather than continuing with the alternating pattern right to the end of section 4 there are two quarter notes.  This will make an easier connection to section 5. 

Section 5

Section 5 is a type of ascending pattern focusing on the 4th string.  This type of pattern is excellent for developing the finger co-ordination of both your hands.  If you find yourself constantly looking at (both) of your hands while practicing, don't worry, this is very normal for beginners. 

Here is Section 5 played once slowly. (The last strum is not included.)  

Here is Section 5 played once up tempo.  

To help you with your timing, here is the complete tune played once again with just guitar so that you can play along with your banjo.  

The Slide  

Audio Lesson

The slide is a great sounding pattern and very important in banjo playing.  Place your middle finger of your left hand on the second fret of the third string.  Play that note and then immediately slide your middle finger up to the fourth fret. 

Listen carefully to the slide sample played 3 times.  

The Slide/Video Lesson

 Video  Notes: Although the slide may appear very easy it is important to get the "feel" for this pattern. The purpose of the slide is to add to the quality of the song.  If done hastily without the right timing it can do more harm than good to your song.  Practice getting the nice smooth flow of the slide.

Once you have learned the slide pattern try combining it with the following notes played over and over.  The slide must blend into the other notes smoothly.  Notice that the time value of the slide is written as a sixteenth note.  This tempo can vary depending on the song you are playing. Practice the slide pattern for 5 minutes each day.  

Here is the slide played at a slower tempo 4 times. 

Here is the same slide pattern but up tempo. 

The Slide with Additional Notes/ Video Lesson

Video Notes: The purpose of the slide is to add to the quality of the song.  If done hastily without the right timing it can do more harm than good to your song.  Practice getting the nice smooth flow of the slide.

The hammer-on is an extremely important and frequently used technique in banjo playing. Place your left index finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. Play that note.  Immediately after that note has been played strike down with the left middle finger onto the 3rd fret of the 3rd string.  This striking down action (or hammering on) when properly done, will produce a secondary sound. 

Listen carefully to the hammer-on played 3 times. 

Hammer-on/ Video Lesson

Video Notes: When the left hand is performing the hammer-on, the index finger of the right hand can pick that note or the thumb.  Either is used in various songs.  In the above video examples I refer to both.

This is another very important banjo playing technique which you should try to master.  It really helps improve the overall sound of your playing.  Place your middle finger on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string. At the same time you should have your index finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string as well.  Pick the 3rd string with your right index finger.  Immediately after you have played that note you push your left middle finger up and off the 3rd string in the direction of your left ear leaving your left index finger still fretting the 2nd fret.  You should be able to hear two separate notes clearly. Listen carefully to the audio sample.  Practice this until you can   hear the two separate sounds.  

The Push-off /Video Lesson

Video Notes: Patterns such as push-offs will help to add "flavour" to your playing. Try to perfect these patterns just as you would any other.  I have noticed that the very best banjo players have these smaller techniques mastered and it really improves the overall quality of their playing. 

Here is the push-off played again with additional notes.

Push-off with Additional Notes/Video Lesson

Basic Pattern

Audio Lesson

This basic pattern is a lot of fun to learn and really gives the bouncy driving style of bluegrass banjo.  To begin, I will play the basic pattern three times slowly. Then I will play the pattern at six tempo levels.  Practice with the slower tempos and move up as your ability allows. 

First Example: The basic pattern played slowly three times. 

Note: With the following levels one to six the first note is only played once at the beginning and then you repeat what is between the dotted bar lines.  The last note is also a quarter note as well so be careful of the timing.

Beginner Levels

Level one.             Level two.  

Intermediate Levels

Level three.          Level four. 

Advanced levels

Level five.            Level six. 

Do not get discouraged with levels five and six.  Playing at these faster speeds takes plenty of TIME and perseverance.   Practice the basic pattern 5 to 10 minutes each day for a few weeks and then move on to practicing songs which are the most important!  ( Go back to the basic pattern occasionally even when you are learning songs.)

The pull-off is another very important technique used in banjo playing.  In this sample below place your left index finger on the 2nd fret of the 1st string and your left middle finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string at the same time. Now play the 3rd fret of the 1st string and immediately after you play that note pull your middle finger down towards your left leg.  Even though you have only picked once with the right hand you should hear two separate sounds when done properly. 

Here is the pull-off played 3 times slowly.   

Pull-off/Video Lesson

Video Notes: A sharp sounding and clean pull-off can sound very good.  If you have calluses built up on the ends of your fingers they will actually contribute to a better pull-off as they will "catch" on the string. Practice the pull-off until you can make it sound sharp sounding. 

Pull-off with additional notes

Audio Lesson

Here is pull-off with additional notes.  For this pattern place your left index finger on the 2nd fret of the 1st string,  your left ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string and your left middle finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string all at the same time. 

Pull-off with Additional Notes/Video Lesson

The Choke

Audio Lesson

The choke is a great sound often played in banjo songs. It involves bending a note.  The amount of the bend is usually equal to one semi-tone (or one fret).  This takes practice and can be a little hard on your fingers at first.  In the following example I am bending the 10th fret of the 2nd string towards the direction of my left ear.  Bend that note until it sounds the same as the 11th fret of the same string.  When you have done that then you are playing a full choke. 

Here is the choke played 3 times slowly.

The Choke/Video Lesson

The choke technique is fairly difficult and a little painful for your fingers if you are a beginning banjo player.  I would suggest you might postpone this pattern until the calluses on the ends of your fingers are thicker.

Video  Notes: The choke is probably the most difficult banjo technique and yet one of the most rewarding once you have mastered it.  It's hard on the fingers and a great way to speed up the callous developing process.  I generally use my left middle finger for chokes.  Remember though, if you don't bend the string far enough the note will just sound flat and sloppy.

Here is the choke again with additional notes.

The Choke with Additional Notes/ Video Lesson

Video  Notes: The addition of these extra notes is helpful for developing smoothness in your chokes.  I would suggest you practice this pattern more often than just the choke in isolation.

Advanced Patterns (using the choke)

Audio Lesson

The following is one more advanced example of the choke.  Even though this pattern is a lot of fun to play don't let it discourage you.  Try it once in awhile and over time (months) you will gradually find it easier.  This "break" is (similar) to a break that can be  heard in the tune "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.  It's  the tune that inspired me to play the banjo.  It really is an amazing tune! If you haven't heard it I would highly recommend you check it out.  

Banjo Chords (G Tuning)

The name of the chord is above each diagram. The first chord is strummed open.  Therefore no circles are found on the first diagram (which is an open G chord). You strum all the strings without fretting any notes.  The darker coloured circles are optional fingering.  The lighter coloured circles are where you place your fingers to play that chord.  The smallest circle indicates a string which is not fretted but still played.  The small numbers at the right side of some of the chords indicates frets higher up the neck for higher position chords.

About the Author

Information about my daughter Natalie. <---Click for new webpage.

Natalie's new website is now up and running and all

her songs can now be heard free from start to finish.

 Acknowledgements

There have been many terrific banjo players that I have had the privilege to listen to over the years and I am grateful to all of them for their influences. 

 Earl Scruggs, Alan Munde, Carl Jackson, Tony Trischka, Bela Fleck, Billy Constable, Ralph Stanley, Bill Keith, Doug Dillard, Ben Eldridge, John Hickman, J.D. Crowe, the late John Hartford, the late David Akeman (Stringbean), Billy McKinley, Eric Weisberg, Steve Hansen, Gene Bretecher, Denis LePage and Paul Hurdle who gave me my one and only banjo lesson.   

 Additional Resources

Be sure to check out your local music store for information on additional banjo lessons from a qualified banjo teacher. You can't beat one on one instruction.  Some of the banjo players in my acknowledgements section have great books, tapes and CDs that will help you and I highly recommend you check them out.

* The style of banjo picking that I have presented on this website is based upon the 3-finger playing style developed and popularized by Earl Scruggs. Earl Scruggs is widely acclaimed to be the greatest and most influential bluegrass banjo player of all time.  You can learn much more about the "Scruggs style" of playing in an excellent banjo instructional book called Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo, published by Peer International Corporation (1968). Apart from one lesson I received as a beginner, Earl's book was all that I had to learn from and it helped me immensely.  Like millions of others, I am very grateful to Earl Scruggs for all that he has done for the 5-string banjo.  

I hope you have enjoyed my 5-string banjo lessons.

Thanks for visiting!

Banjolessons.net

Site established July 15, 2003

(Copyright 2003 Brian Ramsay. All rights reserved)

email: BrianARamsay@hotmail.com