Mel Bay Grandpa Jones 5-String Banjo [Paperback]

Mark Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

Learn from the best. Grandpa Jones was a country music legend and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was very well known and respected for his own style of clawhammer banjo. The instructions are helpful for the beginner, with tips on caring for your banjo to keep it sounding its best. The text covers tunings, chord diagrams, and the right hand rhythm patterns that made Grandpa Jones famous with the 5-string banjo. For the intermediate musician, there are alternate tunings, drop thumb rhythm, and exercises for practicing your new skills. Included are several favorite songs, along with lyrics and chords for your accompanist. The preface of the book, written by Grandpa Jones, along with the collection of personal photographs, makes this an excellent keepsake as well. This is simply a must for your music library.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark A. Jones, son of the legendary Grandpa Jones, grew up in the heart of country music, Nashville, Tennessee. There he learned to play clawhammer style banjo from some of the finest. They included not only his father, Grandpa Jones, but other great talents such as: Bashful Brother Oswald, Stringbean, and Merle Travis. Mark began teaching banjo in 1978, passing along the traditinal style to others and continues to do so today. He currently resides in the foothills of the beautiful Ozark Mountains, Mountain View, Arkansas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc. (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786667079
• ISBN-13: 978-0786667079
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,755,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful!!!!, October 26, 2005

By 

Gary S. Sanders - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mel Bay Grandpa Jones 5-String Banjo (Paperback)

This is promoted as an instruction guide to Grandpa Jones's banjo playing style - there is 1 page devoted to very limited tabliture - the rest is a few songs showing chords. It is the worst instruction guide I have encountered!

4.0 out of 5 stars Consider the source and setting!, January 26, 2011

By 

William D Vose - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mel Bay Grandpa Jones 5-String Banjo (Paperback)

I'm slightly disappointed that the other reviewer took such a negative view of this book. If someone is looking for a one-volume set of lessons that will turn a novice into an expert banjo player, this of course isn't it. Jones doesn't go into much technical detail, and the book is very brief. (If someone is looking for something more advanced, Jones himself actually mentions Pete Seeger's "How to Play the Five-String Banjo" in the introduction to this book.)

Rather, this book is a brief introduction to Grandpa Jones's style of banjo playing (called "frailing" or "drop-thumb"), written at a time when there were few or no such books about that style. (Jones learned frailing by hand from an older player, called Cousin Emmy; he'd been asked many times since if he could recommend a book that taught this style. Not knowing of any, Jones finally decided to write one of his own. That book, published in 1954, became the basis of this one.)

Jones chose familiar old songs as examples; ones that most interested people would already know, and were in the public domain. This would keep the price of the book down, and avoid publishing hassles. Lead sheets to the songs (instead of simply the lyrics and chord names, as they appear) would be more helpful, but Jones likely figured his readers probably couldn't read sheet music, and trying to teach them with this short volume wouldn't be worthwhile. Instead he gave them a starting point, to play their own old-style music.

As a banjo manual per se, the book may dissatisfy, but as a Grandpa Jones keepsake or a source of insight into his approach to banjo music, the book suits well enough.