Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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158 of 159 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A review by one who learned to play the banjo from this book, September 1, 1998
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
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everybody's first banjo book, April 1, 2001
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.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Great read. Tough for beginners., December 29, 2003
By A Customer
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!!
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