First Lessons Banjo Book/CD Set

Rating:
Summary: Very basic...takes nothing for granted
Review: First Lessons Banjo is a very basic 32-page beginner's book (with companion compact disc) for the five-string banjo. It starts with the most elementary information such as banjo parts, picks, tuning, holding the instrument, and hand positions. Black and white photos are included. First Lessons Banjo also has a fair amount of written narrative, and one complaint is that the font used could have been bigger for ease of reading. Author Jack Hatfield explains how to play a simple melody (Go Tell Aunt Rhody) from tablature, how to count time, and use the pinch. The songs Tom Dooley, Good Night Ladies, Old Time Religion, Cotton-Eyed Joe, When the Saints Go Marching In, and Cripple Creek are also used to teach various beginning techniques such as alternating thumb roll, forward rolls, basic chords, slide, hammer-on, and pull-off. The charts include tablature with melody notes in boldface type, lyrics, and a clear reference to the applicable disc tracks for each song. Several tips are offered to help a student learn to play by ear, as well as recognizing rolls by their shape in order to read tab faster. The disc which comes with the book includes all examples, with the banjo and accompaniment in separate channels. The songs are played at three tempos - slow, medium, and up-tempo. First Lessons Banjo is clear and concise and takes nothing for granted. With diligent practice, a beginning 5-string picker would master this material quickly and be ready for more challenging exercises and lessons. -- Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now

Rating:
Summary: Kept me faithful to my practice times.
Review: So, there I was. A thirty-something workaholic looking for a new hobby to unwind a bit, but with very little in the way of musical experience. Nonetheless, inspired by a local Allison Krauss concert, I found a hot deal on a great used banjo on E-bay and I was off and running! What fun! I'm hooked on the 5-string twang!! About 3 months or so at 30-minutes a day (give or take) and I can play well enough to entertain myself - and my wife and the cat can at least stay in the same room!

Not many banjo instructors in New England, so I thought I'd go in for a few good teach-yourself manuals. I bought four. In order of usefulness they were - Revised Banjo Primer by Geoff Hohwald - First Lessons Banjo by Jack Hatfied - How to Play the 5-string Banjo by Pete Seeger - How to Play Banjo by Tim Jumper.

The Banjo Primer was the best of the lot. I was able to make good progress with about 30 minutes practice each day. The instructions were clear and the tunes were fun to play (Cripple Creek, Boil 'em Cabbage Down, Worried Man Blues). It was VERY helpful that the book came with a CD. Some lessons I just couldn't get until I heard them played, then they came easily. Each lesson is played at three speeds, but I've pretty much given up EVER matching the insanely fast top speed.

First Lessons was next best. It also came with a useful CD with multiple speeds and I think I've at least got a shot at the top speed. It also includes tracks with only the backup musicians so you can jam on your own (I haven't reached that point yet). The choice of music wasn't as good - the intro claims that well-known songs are easier to learn, but I found them to be cliche and boring (Tom Dooley, Old Time Religion, Good Night Ladies). It was much more fun to learn a song I didn't know and finding myself actually playing something that sounds like bluegrass after the long struggle!

Both books cover roughly the same techniques and both focus exclusively on Scruggs Style picking (all plucking, almost no chord strumming). It's turning into my favorite style. But my goal is to play well enough to sit in on a local bluegrass jam, so I've also started to learn other styles (e.g. frailing) that will let me strum on chords in the background to build confidence. For that I need other books, but so far I haven't found a good one.

By all accounts, Pete Seeger's book seems to be the classic in the field. It started as a set of hand copied notes and it really is lots of fun to read. I hope that once I improve a bit more I'll be able to get more out of it. My guess is that its the book you'd want if you already had a community of pickers around to lend advice and guidance. As a teach-yourself manual though, I'm finding it tough going.

How to Play Banjo is the worst of the lot. To my untrained eye it seems more like a guitar book than a bluegrass banjo book. The focus is on chords and strumming (which is good for my next step I suppose), but it's just boring. The instruction is minimal and the music uninteresting, at least to me. I tried several times to get into it but found myself quickly going back to the other manuals when I realized I was no longer looking forward to my practice times. I finally threw in the towel on this one when I used it to try to learn "frailing". I like to think I'm a smart guy, but I just didn't get it. And I don't think it was me. I'm now in the market for an alternative, but in the meantime I'll keep pickin' with the Scruggs Style.

One last bit of advice. I highly recommend getting at least two books. I found myself much more motivated jumping back and forth between the Primer and First Lessons - when one got too hard or too boring, I'd work on the other for a few days. A great trick to keep from getting stuck. I'm in the market for some "intermediate" books next and I'll probably take the same approach.
Happy Picking!!