A complete survey of traditional banjo styles complete with tunings, playing tips, and the author's deft drawings. Progresses from easy tunes for the beginner to more difficult pieces. The styles include up-picking or Pete Seeger's basic strum; two-finger picking; three-finger picking; and what had variously been called frailing, clawhammer, knocking, rapping, overhand, fram-style, flayin' hand, andother Appalachian names, here called down-picking. Audio download available online

Art Rosenbaum is one of America's foremost performers and teachers of traditional five-string banjo playing. He has a long-time interest in the myriad old-time tunings that give breadth and richness to mountain and old-time banjo picking, and has learned first-hand from old-timers in the South and Midwest. Pete Seeger (whose pioneering book How to Play the Five-String Banjo gave Art his start in the 1950s) praised the inclusion of 23 tunings in Art's 1968 Oak Publications book Old-Time Mountain Banjo. This book and 2-DVD set doubles (plus one!) that number of tunings. Art groups the tunings into families and shows how they can be used, with various picking styles, in playing banjo tunes and string band music and in song accompaniment. Experienced players will broaden their knowledge of unusual and interesting tunings and styles, and novice players can get started with common tunings for easy pieces like Cripple Creek and Shout Lulu, the first tunes many old-timers learned.

An Instruction Method for playing the old-time five-string mountain banjo based on the styles of traditional banjo-pickers.

Sampling virtually all of the old-time styles within the musical traditions still extant in north Georgia, Folk Visions and Voices is a collection of eighty-two songs and instrumentals, enhanced by photographs, illustrations, biographical sketches of performers, and examples of their narratives, sermons, tales, and reminiscences.

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 (where Dan brings 15 banjos and teaches players who may have never held a banjo), 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.

Cultivated in East Kentucky and North Carolina for over 100 years, the two finger picking style has almost been forgotten. Few "old timer" players have mastered this style but fortunately some committed players like Art Rosenbaum and Mike Seeger have preserved this heritage and kept the style present.And now in three installments, Sebastian Schroeder will introduce you to this interesting style.In this second 2-finger book the focus will be on Thumb Lead Style. Here the melody tones are plucked by the thumb, while the first and fifth string is played by thumb or index finger as drone strings.The tones of the lower strings of the banjo are easier when played in the Thumb Lead Style. So this add a nice contrast when accompanying singing or other instruments. Therefore this is also a good style for ballads.This book includes 48 pages for banjo beginners and advanced players, 48 downloadable audio examples and tablature for all exercises and songs.Songlist:Boil Them Cabbage DownFly Around My Pretty Little MissDrunken SailorWorried Man BluesWill The Circle Be UnbrokenShady GrovePretty PollySpotted PonyJack O ́Diamonds (Drunken Hicups)Darling CoreyReuben ́s Train