Customer Reviews

How to Play the 5-String Banjo, Third Edition

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Thirty-four years ago I started buying and using banjo instruction books. Today I have only one still in my possession, Pete Seeger's "How to Play the 5-String Banjo." In addition to his many other gifts, Seeger has mastered the difficult job of teaching a musical instrument on paper. His approach is to take the student step by step with clear explanations in the text to making music as quickly as possible. Even readers with absolutely no knowledge of musical notation will be able to grasp his explanations and his illustrations. His drawings of the fingerboard are not the most sophisticated graphics in the business, but they don't have to be. The book (which isn't very long) also teaches the student about traditional and home made music as it touches on many styles of banjo playing. Seeger clearly uses banjo instruction as another means to spread his lifelong gospel of the integrity, value and sheer joy of music that comes out of living rooms rather than loudspeakers. Despite its popularity, the three-finger bluegrass banjo style of playing gets only cursory treatment in the text, but that is not a slight. There are plenty of slick and heavily tabbed (for "tablature") music books focusing on the so-called Scruggs-style. Seeger's book acknowledges bluegrass, but gives the many other styles the due they receive nowhere else. I was at first frustrated, but later pleased at his technique of giving the student the words and music for only the first verse of a traditional song, telling me that I can get the complete version elsewhere. He was saving valuable space for more songs and other styles, and forcing us to expand our horizons to the sources he cites in the text. Thus, does his banjo instruction book inject the reader into the world of traditional music. My enthusiasm for the book is such that I've gone through 2 copies. I easily learned the frailing style. I have a grasp of Scruggs-style (and I tried Earl Scrugg's own book, too). But, I never got the hang of the drop-thumb. I don't blame Pete or his book for that lapse. Along the way I was introduced to songs, and the musical and social histories from which they sprang. Seeger's book was the best musical investment I ever made after I bought my first 5-string. Its purchase price is a pittance compared to the decades of enjoyment it has allowed me to experience.

Bruce Collins Greensboro, MD

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 Kraus 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. Maybe if it came with a CD that I could listen to I could work it out. 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!!

What can you say about a little book that started out as a handful of mimeographed sheets, and has been in print for over 40 years? Like thousands of other player, my banjo playing began with a borrowed Harmony 5 string banjo and the this little book.

And what a marvelous little book it was! In a few pages Pete introduced me to scores of styles, tunings and songs. I didn't even know there was more than one way to play a banjo, but by the time I worked my way through this book I could frail, I could play a bit of clawhammer, and I could even work my way through a slow and tortured version of Earl Scruggs' great "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". All the songs and techniques are presented in a simplfied tablature, and Pete's explainations and the illustrations are goods enough that I managed to develop a pretty good clawhammer stroke even though I'd never actually heard one played before.

It's amazing how much Pete squeezed into this tiny book. Besides instruction in playing, there are bits on the history of the banjo, choosing a banjo, installing a fifth-string capo, lengthening a banjo neck- in short, everything the total novice needs to get started and then some. I eventually progressed to other books- notably Art Rosenbaul's "Old Time Mountain Banjo" and "Art of the Mountain Banjo", and of course Ken Perlman's many fine books on clawhammer style, but I always kept a copy of this little manual around, as much as a reminder of those early days as anything. What more can I say? It's a gem. I love this little book.

I bought this book over 35 years ago. I still use it today. Learned Seeger and Frailing (claw-hammer) style from this book. Probably the best book for the beginner, who wants to learn the original bluegrass style.

I first bought this book around 1980 to teach myself to play my first banjo. I never really got very far, and marriage made for further distractions. Then in 1984 a rental truck fire claimed both my banjo and my book.

Fast forward twenty years. I finally replaced my banjo (it just arrived five days ago). I was delighted to find Pete Seeger's book was still in print and available through Amazon, and it arrived a few days ahead of the instrument. I am also using the Janet Davis book and DVD, which is a great tool, but I wouldn't be without Pete Seeger to guide me as well.

The main benefit of this book is that Pete covers a wide range of playing styles, and lets the student sample them all. He encourages readers to skip around the book and experiment. This is a far cry from today's banjo books that tend to lock you into one style or another right away.

I love the way the book is laid out. It begins with a basic strum in C tuning. This is what I learned many years ago, and it was well suited to simple accompaniment of folk songs. This will have you making useful music in a fairly short time. It moves into more advanced concepts from there.

This book isn't slick and polished like modern works. The printing looks amateurish, and the tablature is hand-drawn, as are many illustrations. Photos look like they were made on an old copy machine. But all of this only adds to the book's down-home spirit.

Besides teaching technique, Seeger sprinkles the book with music theory, banjo history, and lots of other flavorful items. My favorite is a Peanuts cartoon (I'll let you buy the book to see it.) His writing style is also very friendly and readable, and often quite funny. This may not be your main instructional book, but it is a must have for any banjo student, for it captures the spirit and soul of folk music far better than most books which tend to read like technical manuals.

The 2002 edition includes handwritten notes from Pete inside the front and back covers. He indicates that if he had time for a major revision, he would start with G tuning and three-finger picking, where are more in vogue nowdays. He also makes mention that some obsolete addresses of banjo supply and record companies still remain in the text.

I purchased three instructional banjo books: Banjo Primer, by Geoff Hohwald; How to Play the 5-String Banjo, Third Edition (Banjo), by Pete Seeger; and Teach Yourself Bluegrass Banjo (Teach Yourself Bluegrass), by Tony Trischka.

How to Play the 5-String Banjo, Third Edition (Banjo), by Pete Seeger, is a good book, but teaches a different style of banjo playing than most of us are familiar with. The book focuses primarily on frailing (strumming), rather than the finger-picking, Scruggs-style bluegrass that we all know. It's more "folky" oriented, but is an excellent book nonetheless. I have not really used it as a practice book, but the amount of information contained in the book about music and the history of the banjo makes it a worthwhile investment for any picker.

Banjo Primer is the book most easily used because it is very simple and easy to learn from. The songs that are taught take you step by step through the learning process and are played at two or three different speeds on the accompanying CD to help you progress. Even though the book is great, I find that I am going to take additional banjo lessons along with using the book, as I find myself developing bad playing habits already.

These bad playing habits are covered in the book, but should be addressed by a professional teacher to help you develop good technique from the start.

I also purchased Teach Yourself Bluegrass Banjo (Teach Yourself Bluegrass), by Tony Trischka, because I am familiar with Tony Trischka's music, but the book seems to be geared more towards the intermediate/beginner level of playing. Once I've been taking lessons for a couple of months, I'll probably take another look at the book and use it. The CD that accompanies the book has all the songs, but because the titles are not explained as you're listening, it's easy to lose track of where you are on the CD and where you are in the book.

Bottom Line: Banjo Primer, by Geoff Hohwald is the best beginner banjo book and I would recommend it to anyone who is learning to play the banjo, but definitely pick up Pete Seeger's book just for the information contained within it.

Pete Seeger's "How to Play the 5-string Banjo" is easily one of the most informative and readable books about the 5-string banjo ever written. For years, it was the only such book available, and countless of today's best-known banjo players got their start studying its pages and listening to the accompanying LP (available on CD from Smithsonian/Folkways; a new DVD version is also available from Homespun Tapes).

From an historical standpoint, this book contains the first usage of the terms "pulling-off" and "hammering-on," which Pete coined to describe these now commonplace left-hand playing techniques. Pete is also responsible for reviving the use of tablature, a simplified way of diagraming music that had not been used for centuries.

It is important to note that this book was written before bluegrass became the most popular style of banjo playing. So while "Scruggs style" is ably discussed within its pages (with the help of Mike Seeger), many other playing styles are explained and demonstrated. These "other styles" were the ones used by Bob Gibson, Erik Darling, Peggy Seeger, Hedy West and all the banjo greats of the so-called "Folk Era" (including, of course, Pete himself). So if you're a fan of banjo music from that period, this book is a must.

For me, the key thing about Pete Seeger's banjo playing (and teaching) is his belief that the 5-string banjo is not a narrowly defined "bluegrass" or "folk" or "old-timey" instrument--but rather, that it is a musical instrument whose usefulness is limited only by the player's imagination. Thus in this book we find TABs of mountain tunes like "Darling Corey" and "East Virginia" side by side with "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and Seeger's beautiful accompaniment for the "Burgundian Carol."

The current edition is identical to the classic "Third Edition, Revised" from 1962, with some notes from Pete added to the inside covers. Regarding these notes, one reviewer said: "He indicates that if he had time for a major revision, he would start with G tuning and three-finger picking, where are more in vogue nowadays." The part about Pete wanting to start with G tuning (rather than C tuning) is accurate. But the picking style Pete says he'd now prefer to start with is not three-finger picking; it is a type of two-finger picking (index finger and thumb) he learned from Bascom Lamar Lunsford. And my guess is that he now would like to start with G tuning not because it is "more in vogue these days" but simply because it is easier to learn to play in the key of G using G tuning than it is in the key of C using C tuning. (For one thing, a G chord in G tuning requires no left-hand fretting at all.) Likewise, while the "Lunsford Lick" has the same "bump-dit-ty" rhythm as the "basic strum" and frailing, it is easier for the beginner to master. And Seeger's aim has always been to get people playing (and singing) as quickly as possible.

Is this the best book to start with? Probably not, especially if your interest in the 5-string banjo is restricted strictly to bluegrass. But if you're open to exploring many different banjo-playing styles and applying them to many different kinds of music, there is no better place to begin.

O.K. You've got all your fancy schmancy books and videos out there on how to be a great banjo player. They are all well and good, but Pete says it best for the beginner. Even if you don't play the five string banjo, but like the sound of the instrument you should read this book. When Pete first printed this little manual back in the 40's there wasn't anything like it. It has survived(with revisions) for over sixty years. That's got to say something for it. Just about all of us city players of old time banjo music who are sixty or over learned the "basics" from Seeger's book. It has in the writing what a lot of instruction methods do not........soul. Nothing plastic about this publication. It gets right down to the "real nitty gritty". I highly recommend it for anyone who even has a faint curiousity about the old five string banjo.

i wouldn't call this a book for "all levels." it's not going to take a scruggs style picker very far. this is a basic introduction to several different styles of banjo playing -- seeger style, frailing, scruggs, etc. it's probably going to be difficult for most people to use unless they can get and accompanying audio cd or tape or teacher who is familiar with the styles covered, so they can hear how the written music is supposed to sound. the wonderful thing about this book in my opinion is that it's written by pete seeger. the flavor of who pete is, his love of music, his embrace of all cultures and musical styles, and his politics (my recollection is that he initially sold the book at a very modest price and declined to copyright the book), all come through as you read the book. if you love what pete does, this book is a good choice. if you want to really get into clawhammer style, scruggs style, or melodic style banjo, you'd get more mileage out of other books.

I hadn't realized just how much I had worn out this delightful, Pete Seegerish banjo manual until my daughter wanted to take up the instrument. We dug out my 1962 red-covered edition and between the stains, rips and tatters, I saw all the things that made me love it way back when. It's probably not the perfect way to learn for absolutely everyone, as Pete himself would certainly agree, but it is the perfect way to learn the banjo while being warmed by the insight and soul of this wonderful American.