CONTENTS 2 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY BANJO

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2 2 TEAH YOURSELF TO LAY BANJO ONTENTS etting Started A Shrt Histry f the Banj....3 The Five-String Banj...4 The Hands...5 icks...5 Tightening the Head...5 Hlding the Banj...6 Tuning Yur Banj...6 Tuning t a ian r Other Keybard...7 Tuning t a itch ipe....7 Tuning t a Tuning Frk...7 Tuning by Ear...7 Using an Electrnic Tuner...7 aring fr yur Banj...8 Buying a Used Banj...8 Starting t lay hrds...9 laying the hrd...9 laying the D7 hrd...11 etting Acquainted With Music MINI MUSI LESSON: Ties...14 Dwn in the Valley...14 MINI MUSI LESSON: Eighth Ntes & Rests...15 Tell Aunt Rhdy...15 MINI MUSI LESSON: ickup Measure, Dtted Quarter Nte...16 ckles and Mussels...16 lementine Strum N MINI MUSI LESSON: D.. al Fine Tm Dley Strum N Old aint...20 The Majr hrd When the Saints Marching In On Tp f Old Smkey...24 Oh! Susanna Strum N Strum N Wrried Man Blues...27 The 7 hrd Jesse James...28 She ll be min Rund the Muntain...30 Red River Valley Strum N Skip t My Lu...33 Strum N. 5 (cntinued) Hand Me Dwn My Walkin ane...34 This Land is Yur Land MINI MUSI LESSON: The Arpeggi Strum N The A7 hrd...36 Aura Lea...37 Strum N The wby s Dream...38 Strum N New River Train...41 Strum N Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built fr Tw) Meldy laying...44 dnight Ladies...45 My Hme s Acrss the Smky Muntains Llly T Dum...47 MINI MUSI LESSON: Hammering-On...48 me and with Me...49 MINI MUSI LESSON: ulling-off...50 ttn Eyed Je...50 Strum N. 8b...51 The Old ray Mare Bluegrass...52 Bluegrass Rll N Black Eyed Susie...53 Bluegrass Rll N. 1a...53 Old Je lark...54 Bluegrass Rll N Little Maggie...55 MINI MUSI LESSON: Tuning The Wabash annnball...57 Hme n the Range...58 Strum N MINI MUSI LESSON: Transpsitin...60 The ap...61 What t D Abut the 5th String...61 hrds in Tuning...62 hrds in Tuning Fingering harts...64

3 TEAH YOURSELF TO LAY BANJO 3 ETTIN STARTED A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BANJO There are fur types f banjs in cmmn use: the fur-string, shrtneck tenr; the fur-string lng-neck plectrum; the six-string banj tuned like a guitar; and the ne this bk will teach yu hw t play, the fivestring banj. Banjs were brught t America by West Africans wh played an instrument called the bania. They may have adapted the bania frm similar stringed instruments they heard the Arabs playing. The bania has several strings stretched ver a wden neck and hllw gurd, which acted as a resnatr. Early in the develpment f the instrument its resnance was imprved by slicing a piece ff the side f the gurd and stretching an animal skin ver the resulting hle. It is this skin (nw usually made f plastic) that gives the banj its characteristic bright, snappy sund. The earliest American banjs that still exist date frm abut Sn after that an imprtant imprvement and a brilliant innvatin permitted players t reach the heights f technique previusly unheard f: the imprvement was the additin f frets (which early banj makers brrwed frm the guitar and mandlin) and the innvatin was the additin f a fifth string. Unlike the fur lnger strings, hwever, the fifth string is a shrt drne string, which means that n matter what else is being played, the fifth string always sunds the same nte, either the rt r the fifth f the key. One pssibility is that this innvatin was an attempt by American banj players f Scttish-Irish ancestry t imitate the sund f the bagpipe* which was such an imprtant part f their musical culture. There is als evidence the fifth string dates back t the instrument's African rts. Surprisingly, the five-string banj was ften used in the 19th century fr playing classical meldies. There is much printed music frm the perid 1875 t abut 1910 that prves that the instrument was in great demand fr this purpse. (T hear what this sunded like, listen t the histric recrdings f banj virtus Fred van Epps, wh recrded befre the first Wrld War.) Althugh it had always been ppular as a flk instrument, the banj really came int its wn with the beginnings f bluegrass music in the late 1920s. The basic bluegrass band cnsists f five instruments: fiddle, mandlin, bass, guitar and five-string banj. (It is said that the early bluegrass musicians were using stringed instruments t imitate the sunds f Dixieland jazz they heard n radi.) Bluegrass sn became an independent, imprtant and exciting part f the American music scene. Banj pickers like Earl Scruggs, Dn Ren, Bbby Thmpsn and many thers brught the instrument t new heights f virtusity, and innvatrs like Dick Weissman and the incredible Bela Fleck cntinue t push the bundaries f what the instrument can d. In this bk we will give yu a thrugh grunding in the basics f five-string banj playing. N matter whether yur interest lies in bluegrass, flk, jazz r even classical, the fundamentals f playing the instrument are the same. After cmpleting Teach Yurself t lay 5-String Banj, yu ll be n yur way t becming an excellent player in yur favrite musical style! *Bagpipes have ne r mre drne pipes that sund the same nte regardless f what else is being played. The meldy is played n different pipes, called chanters. The mdern banj player gets a cmparable effect by playing the meldy n the fur lng strings while the shrt fifth string cntinually sunds the same nte. Earl Scruggs, here with his partner Lester Flatt and their band, is famus fr his three-finger style f playing. He als invented the Scruggs peg, a device used fr making quick changes in tuning f B and strings. ht curtesy f untry Music Fundatin.

4 22 TEAH YOURSELF TO LAY BANJO The Majr hrd The chrd, alng with the and D7 chrds yu have learned, cmprise a grup f three chrds called the principal chrds in the key f. Using nly these three chrds yu can accmpany literally thusands f flk, cuntry, blues and ther sngs. If a chrd symbl des nt have 7, min. r sme ther abbreviatin after it, it is always a majr chrd. Thus and are bth majr chrds. Here s hw t play the majr chrd: Finger the chrd as shwn abve. Then play the strings ne at a time t make each ne sund clear. N buzzes r dull thunks, please! Once yu can play the chrd perfectly, practice the first exercise in using Strum N. 1. Then use Strum N. 2 t play the secnd exercise. Track & 4 4 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Track & 3 4 \ \ \ \ \ \ \ The fllwing exercises will train yur fingers t change chrds smthly. Keep a steady beat. This is very imprtant. If yu have a metrnme, set it at 60 beats per minute and play thrugh the exercises using the basic strum (striking dwn n the strings with the fingernails f the right hand). When yu can d this smthly, withut hesitating r missing a beat, gradually increase the temp until yu can play the exercises at 120 beats per minute (marching beat). Track & 4 4 \ \ \ \ \ \ D 7 \ \ Track 20 D 7 \ \ \ 2. & 4 3 \ \ D7 \ \ D7 \ \ \ D7 \ \ \ \ Track & 4 4 \ \ \ \ D 7 \ D 7 \ \ \ D 7 \ D 7 \ \ \ (strum and hld) After yu can play the abve exercises using the basic strum, try the tw exercises in using Strum N. 1 and the exercise in using Strum N. 2.

5 TEAH YOURSELF TO LAY BANJO 35 This flk classic is a perfect sng n which t play Strum N. 5. lay it with gd spirit and a slid beat. The chrds used in this sng are: D This Land Is Yur Land Track 37 Mderately & # D 7 D 7 1 & uh 2 & uh 1 & uh 2 & uh Wrds and Music by Wdy uthrie 7 hrus: & # yur land, this land is my etc. land. 4/0 Frm This land al - red- & # D7 & # fr - nia D 7 t the New Yrk is - land. # w 7 w Frm the is i- wd fr - est t the ulf Stream wa - ters, & # D7 this land was D 7. 4/4 made j 4/0 fr 4/4 yu and w me. Verse: \ \ \ \ \ D7 \ D7 \ \ As I was walk-ing that rib-bn f high-way I saw a - bve me that end-less sky - way, \ \ \ \ \ D7 \ D7 \ \ \ \ I saw be - lw me that gld-en val - ley; This land was made fr yu and me. (Repeat hrus) TRO pyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 Ludlw Music, Inc. New Yrk, New Yrk. Used by ermissin.

6 50 TEAH YOURSELF TO LAY BANJO MINI MUSI LESSON ULLIN-OFF A cmplementary technique t hammering-n is called pulling-ff. It, t, can be used t enhance accmpaniment r meldy picking. Here s hw t d it. Use the third finger n the left hand t finger the first string, third fret. ick the first string with the index finger f the right hand. This prduces the nte F. Nw, withut using the right hand, pull the third finger away frm the fingerbard s that the pen first string sunds. Yu can t just pick up the finger; yu must pull it sideways s that the pen string sunds clear. Once yu can pull-ff n the first string, try it with varius ther ntes, such as the secnd string, third fret; the third string, secnd fret; the furth string, secnd fret. We ll use the letter t mark the places where a pull-ff is desired. Try this new technique n an ld square dance tune. It uses pulling-ff and, in a few places, hammering-n. Als ntice that the B nte is played in an alternative place the third string, furth fret. But use the third finger t play it. ttn-eyed Je Track 52 ete Seeger, wh has cmpsed ver 100 sngs, uses a straightfrward meldic and harmnic style. Althugh an accmplished banj player, Seeger emphasized the functinal supprtive accmpaniment f the banj rather than its virtusity. ht curtesy f untry Music Fundatin. American Square Dance Tune N chrds are used in this arrangement. & # 2 4 4/0 4/0 4/2 & #. 4/0 & #. H. 1/2 1/0 1/2 1/0 1/5 1/2 1/0 4/2 4/0 This is an example f pull-ffs and hammer-ns used in sl meldy playing. 1/2 H 1/0 4/2 * ** * This repeat sign means t g back and play again frm the beginning. ** This secnd repeat means t g back and play again frm the earlier repeat.