Customer Reviews

Mel Bays Complete Bluegrass Banjo Method

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading some of the previous reviews of this book, I bought it. I have used another teach-yourself-banjo book for the past year, but this one fills in so many gaps in understanding. It teaches you "why", not just "how". The book also urges the player to learn to read music, not just tablature. Being a piano player, this opens many more doors. I spent 6 continuous hours practicing with this book the first day I received it. I would urge any beginner, whether teaching yourself or having an instructor, to buy this book. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know, and also don't know how to ask!

This book starts at the beginning and describes tuning and techniques and is interspersed with advice on what to practice. It explains both tabulature and normal music notation and has a variety of songs progressing from easy to difficult. There are many exercises on various rolls and accompaniment techniques. This is a good first book and will also challenge a banjo player for a long time.

This is the first book I bought when I started to teach myself to play the banjo. I find it to be extremely helpful to beginners and will also be challenging as the pupil progresses. It teaches setup and simple lesson plans for beginners. There is also a fun section on roll patterns and fills and endings. The book has solos of bluegrass songs for the more advanced, and the solos are challenging. Having the accompanying CD was very important to me so I could hear how the roll patterns and solos are supposed to sound. I would encourage others who are teaching themselves to buy the CD along with the book. This is a great book for anyone learning to play the banjo.