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Catalog > Books > Banjo updated May 5, 2008
  • Bluegrass
  • Clawhammer
  • Tenor

    • Bluegrass/Fingerpicking

    Back-Up Banjo -- by Janet Davis, book/CD set $29.95
    240 pages, spiral bound. The definitive book on the subject of banjo accompaniment, with a wealth of information on how technique can be tastefully applied. Since a banjo player in a band plays accompaniment at least 75% of the time, it is extremely important to master playing in this style. Janet Davis offers specific suggestions for accompanying a vocalist or instrumentalist in a variety of styles-- and then provides musical examples illustrating her points. Janet breaks her concepts down into their basic components, making them crystal clear in lay terms. The various back-up techniques are separated into categories determined by song tempo, by lead instrument being accompanied, and by the area of the fingerboard in which the chords are being played. In notation and tablature. This set includes a companion 2-CD set which demonstrates the examples in the book.
    A Banjo Christmas $9.95
    47 pages. With banjo tablature, chord names, lyrics and introductory text. Includes: Angels We Have Heard on High, Away in a Manger, Deck the Hall, The First Noel, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, I Saw Three Ships, Jingle Bells, Joy to the World, Silent Night, We Three Kings , more.
    Banjo for Dummies -- by Bill Evans, book/CD set $24.99
    This 360 page book will cover the basics on playing, from picking and strumming techniques to various banjo playing styles (from classic banjo technique to jazz theory). It will include finger patterns, chord positions, chord scales, single string technique, claw hammer picking and strumming, fingerboard charts, and more. Banjo playing is vibrant and evolving, and Banjo For Dummies discusses not only traditional banjo play but the latest style innovations. No other book offers such an accessible "point of entry" for the new banjo fan and offers instruction on the various playing styles. Companion CD featues play-along exercises, songs, riffs, chords, and audio and MP3 files.
    Banjo Picking - a Complete Method -- by Pete Pardee, book/CD set $24.95
    125 pages, spiral bound. The ultimate banjo method to develop tone, timing and rock solid rhythm for the picking hand, thorough in scope from the beginning level to the challenges of "extreme banjo". With lots of exercises, tunes, photos and helpful text, tools for learning bluegrass, classical, jazz, folk, urban classic fingerstyle or other music, no finger picking banjoist should be without it. Develop skills, repertoire and confidence with the accompanying CD.
    Banjo Songbook -- by Tony Trischka $19.95
    A collection of fingerpicking classics from 1900-1940 and beyond. 75 tunes in tablature.
    Complete Banjo Book - Neil Griffin $19.95
    This comprehensive book contains 139 solos for the 5-string banjo. Arranged by Neil Griffin, Mark Barnett, Karl Kurth, Carl Jackson, and Bob Forrest, this book is the perfect resource to expand you repertoire of solo pieces. The Complete Banjo Book contains no text and should not be considered a method book, but rather a superb collection of intermediate to advanced solos. These pieces reflect contemporary concepts of both Scruggs style and melodic/chromatic styling. While most of these tunes are written in both standard notation and tablature, a few are in tab only.
    Complete Bluegrass Banjo Method -- by Neil Griffin $24.95
    244 pages, spiral bound. One of the very best G tuning five-string bluegrass banjo methods available. Teaches how to pick out tunes single-string style (one note at a time), how to play chord accompaniment, and how to play solos in the full three-finger, bluegrass style. Topics include note and tab reading, chord background styles, traditional bluegrass techniques, fills and endings, use of the capo, rolls, slides, hammers, pull-offs, choking, harmonics, and up-the-neck playing. In notation and tablature.
    Complete Book of Irish and Celtic 5-String Banjo -- by Tom Hanway, book/CD set $29.95
    184 pages. An important anthology of Irish and Celtic solos for the 5-string banjo featuring a comprehensive, scholarly treatise on the history, techniques, and etiquette of playing the banjo in the Celtic tradition. Includes segments on tuning, pick preferences, and tablature reading followed by 101 jigs, slides, polkas, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, strathspeys, O'Carolan tunes, plus a special section of North American Celtic tunes. A generous collection of photos of Irish folk musicians, street scenes, and archaeological sites further enhances this fabulous book. All of the solos included here are written in 5-string banjo tab only with a few tunes set in unusual banjo tunings. The appendices provide a sizable glossary and a wealth of information regarding soloists and groups playing Celtic music, Irish festivals, music publications, on-line computer resources, cultural organizations, and more. The first-ever CD collection of Irish and Celtic music for 5-string banjo provides 68 lovely melodies and demonstrates revolutionary techniques for playing highly ornamented tunes and rolling back-up. The five-string banjo is "out front" and plays through each melody in real-life tempo with authentic Celtic chordal and rhythmic backing. The recording features the music of all Six Celtic Nations and includes jigs, reels, hornpipes, slides, polkas, marches, country dances, larides, andros, slipjigs, strathspeys, airs and O'Carolan tunes. 35 songs in the book are not on the CD.
    Easiest Banjo Book -- William Bay and Neil Griffin $4.95
    24 pages. A lively collection of songs for strumming, plus easy G-tuning solos for fingerpicking 5-string banjo. The solos are in tablature with both melody and solo parts and feature three-finger picking technique in the popular bluegrass style. Slide, hammer, and pull-off techniques are taught. A basic chart of banjo chords is also included.
    Easy Banjo Solos -- Mac Robertson $6.95
    24 pages. A unique bluegrass/country supplement to any beginning banjo method. With banjo tablature, vocal melody, lyrics and chord names. 16 songs, including: Hey, Good Lookin', I'll Fly Away, Rocky Top, This Land Is Your Land, Wabash Cannon Ball, I Saw the Light, and more.
    Gospel Banjo -- Dennis Caplinger $12.95
    48 pages. With banjo tablature, chord names, introductory text and black & white photos. Features 15 spiritual favorites, each arranged in two different keys for banjo, with tablature. Includes: Amazing Grace, In the Sweet By and By, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Old Time Religion, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and more!
    Gospel Banjo Songbook -- Mike Bailey and Michael Smith $12.95
    96 pages. Thirty-three gospel favorites written in tablature for G-tuning banjo. Each song has a melody tab and an accompaniment tab.
    Hal Leonard Banjo Method Book 1 -- Mac Robertson $16.95
    64 pages. Instructional book and examples CD for 5 string banjo. 64 pages. With banjo tablature, chord names, lyrics, banjo chord diagrams, instructional text and introductory text. This innovative method teaches 5-string banjo with a carefully-paced and interest-keeping approach to the bluegrass style. Covers easy chord strums for the beginner; learning tablature; right-hand rolls characteristic of bluegrass; techniques such as hammer-on, slide and pull-off, more.
    Ragtime, Blues and Jazz for Banjo -- Fred Sokolow $11.95
    56 pages.If you are a 5-string banjo player whose enjoyment of music isn't limited to bluegrass and country, you'll find this collection of tunes fun and sometimes challenging. Contains ragtime, blues, old-time jazz, and bluegrass blues, G tuning. Banjo tab.
    You Can Teach Yourself Banjo -- 116 pages, by Janet Davis. $10.95
    Ideal beginner's book, presenting the basics of playing the banjo in a way that is both fun and produces quick results. Takes you on an extensive tour of this instrument's fundamental techniques as well as some intermediate possibilities including rolls, chords, bluegrass banjo techniques, playing up the neck, licks, endings, and other basic information needed to play bluegrass and melodic-style banjo. Thorough performance notes are provided from beginning to end revealing the secrets of this versatile traditional instrument.

    Clawhammer/Old Time

    Art of the Mountain Banjo -- 96 page book with CD, by Art Rosenbaum. $25.00
    A survey of traditional banjo styles (frailing, up-picking, old time 2-finger and 3-finger picking) with tunings, playing tips, and musical notes. 43 songs in tablature, many for the first time. Includes demonstration CD of 18 songs, chart of banjo tunings, how-to-read tab.
    Buzzard Banjo -- 40 page book with CD, by Dan Levenson. $17.95
    Provides the intermediate clawhammer player with a fresh repertoire of 21 traditional and 5 original tunes as played by the author with the Boiled Buzzards Old Time String Band. The book briefly addresses clawhammer basics with a few pages of exercises and scales before presenting the tunes. The banjo tunings in this book are: double C tuning (gCGCD), modified double C tuning (eCGCD), G tuning (GDGBD), A tuning (aEAC#E), D tuning (aDADE), and Double-D tuning drop 5th (f#DADE). Written in banjo tablature only with suggested backup chords.
    Celtic and New England Fiddle Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo -- by Ken Perlman. Book/CD set $19.95
    36 pages. A compilation of favorite solos on Irish, Scottish and New England fiddle tunes arranged for banjo by one of America's foremost clawhammer banjoists, Ken Perlman. Formerly published under the name Basic Clawhammer Banjo. In notation and tablature.
    Clawhammer Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus -- by Wayne Erbsen. Book/CD set $17.95
    64 pages. On the 30th anniversary of the publication of the original book, Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus, Wayne Erbsen has completely rewritten this banjo classic, and now it’s even better! Clear and humorous instruction. Includes: Cluck Old Hen, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, Sugar Hill, Shady Grove, Little Birdie, Darlin’ Corey, Rain & Snow, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Buffalo Gals, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Gap, Little Sadie, Lynchburg Town, New River Train, Old Blue, Old Joe Clark, Polly Put the Kettle On, Red Rocking Chair, Shortening Bread, Sweet Sunny South, more. Includes instructional CD with 85 selections!
    Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch -- by Dan Levenson, book/CD set. $26.95
    Southern Appalachian native Dan Levenson and Mel Bay Publications present Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch - A Guide for the Claw-less! This book teaches clawhammer banjo the way we play, not the way others say. It really begins as though you really have NO knowledge of how to play the five string banjo clawhammer style. Based on Dan's innovative Meet the Banjo program, this book assumes no prior experience. Beginning at the beginning, Dan presents a brief history of the 5-string banjo then goes over the parts of the banjo, holding the banjo, right and left hand positions and his basic clawhammer strum. Even the strum is broken down into the steps of the finger and thumb. You are guided through the chords, the scale and then the individual notes of each of 12 jam session favorite tunes from scratch. Includes 2 reference CD’s with all exercises, tunes (slow and up to speed), and a fiddle version of each tune.
    Clawhammer Style Banjo -- by Ken Perlman. $19.95
    The complete clawhammer tutor 200 pages, 80 tunes plus numerous exercises
    Everything You Wanted to Know About Clawhammer Banjo -- by Ken Perlman, book/CD set. $29.95
    200 pages. One of the world's top players addresses nearly every aspect of the popular 5-string banjo style known as clawhammer or frailing. Chapter themes include fundamentals; advanced and experimental techniques; arranging and backup; how to play reels, hornpipes, jigs and other fiddle tunes; how to approach such genres as ragtime, bluegrass, klezmer, blues, calypso, and a wide variety of national and regional music; alternative tunings; setup and accessories; and historical background. Features 120 tunes along with numerous exercises and musical examples in crystal clear tablature; all tunes illustrated by author on two accompanying CDs.
    Frailing the Banjo -- 96 pages, by Eric Muller and Barbara Koehler. Book/CD set. $22.95
    This is a book for genuine banjo lovers. Full of beautiful photos and hand-sketched tabs, this highly acclaimed text presents a systematic method for playing the unique frailing banjo style. Old-time mountain banjo is taught with clarity and expertise. In tablature only. The compact disc is in split-track format, allowing the student to play along with the old-time string band or the frailing banjo parts.
    How to Play Banjo -- 63 pages, by Tim Jumper. $14.95
    Fingerpicking & frailing, mostly old time. 48 tunes in tabulature with guitar chords. Partial song lyrics. Chord dictionary, transposition chart, how to tune, how to read tab. Glossary, discography, bibliography.
    Melodic Clawhammer Banjo -- by Ken Perlman. Includes CD. $19.95
    The classic clawhammer tune book. The new edition includes a CD that features all 55 tunes.
    Old-Time Festival Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo -- by Dan Levenson. Book/2 CD set. $29.95
    This book and two CD set is intended to be a tune repertoire book. It includes over 100 Old-Time festival favorites. The book contains 2 lines of tablature (one basic and one advanced) as well as standard notation and suggested chords. The basic version should be playable by those with general clawhammer skills. The advanced version will require more time and finesse as it is more ornamental (often more than just melodic) and may include less than intuitive ways of playing some passages.
    Round Peak Style Clawhammer Banjo -- by Brad Leftwich. Book/ CD set. $24.95
    This 104-page book presents more than 70 tunes in the unique highly developed clawhammer style known as Round Peak - named after the Blue Ridge Mountain, North Carolina community where it originated. While not intended for the absolute beginner, this book will benefit players at various experience levels. Tunes in the book are organized according to the specific banjo tuning used, with A and D tunings most prominent. Much of the book's commentary and the included CD recording is directed towards the fretless variant of the 5-string banjo but as these tunes are written in standard 5-string banjo tablature, they can most definitely be played on the more common fretted instrument. Includes tune lyrics and extensive historical and biographical notes plus technical tips and a discography. Written in 5-string banjo tablature only.
    Southern Mountain Banjo -- by Wayne Erbsen. $15.95
    16 Classic Melodies Arranged for Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Clawhammer Banjo. 120 pages.This friendly book is filled with clawhammer banjo instruction, tablature, lyrics, tune histories, chords, playing tips, vintage photos, and more. Includes such classic oldtime tunes as, Soldier's Joy; Cluck Old Hen; Arkansas Traveler; Leather Britches; Mississippi Sawyer; Chicken Reel; Shady Grove; Red Rocking Chair; John Henry; Uncle Joe, more. A companion recording, Southern Mountain Classics, is available on CD.