Customer Reviews

Hot Licks for Bluegrass Banjo

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

 

 

This book is packed full of great licks. It changed my playing overnight. Tony's clear and insightful teaching style comes through as always. I learn something new from it all the time and it's at the top of my stack when I sit down to practice.

I checked this book out of the library a few years ago when I was first learning bluegrass banjo (preceded by a couple of years playing Old Time banjo), and it didn't help at all. I needed more basic instruction and I needed to learn songs, which this book doesn't really have. It's all licks, and "hot" licks at that. I got frustrated and returned the book without learning a thing.

Flash forward to about 6-months ago: I bought the book and am working through it. It's improved my pickin' more than any other book. The licks are clearly presented, creative, useful, and fun. But it took a few years of practice to get to the point where the book was useful.

I had this book when I first learned to play banjo, then somehow lost my copy. It's not a perfect book by any means, but it's full of good ideas and I thought it worthwhile to have again. The book is a huge collection of 1 and 2 measure excerpts done in tablature notation. You can learn bits and pieces as you see fit; pop around to nearly any spot in the book and learn a new trick. Piece together the licks to make your own thing from the various ideas. This is a good book for both beginner and experienced banjo player.

this was a great book for intermediate level pickers. Make sure to get the version that comes with a CD. Its worth the extra money.

Just wanted to give my 2 cents here. The book has some great licks for the banjo. They will definitely get you picking an jumping all around. The problem with the book is that if you have used a lot of other instructional books that have tablature where the notes are on the line, then this book will through you off. All of the tablature in the book is between the lines which is a little tricky on the eye if you are trained otherwise. This may not be a big deal at all to those that are very skilled, but to a few of us beginners, it kind of throws us off. That's it. Besides that a great book.

Good Book - when I finish working my way through it I will be a lot better picker.