If there’s one single thing Bluegrass needs in order to maintain its place as a legitimate distinct music genre it might be ensuring that we have a constant supply of three fingered banjo pickers. There are certainly good bands that play great Bluegrass without a banjo but still, there is nothing like the driving machine gun rhythm of good banjo picking that makes Bluegrass sound like Bluegrass.
The banjo is not an easy instrument to play. It ranks with the fiddle for being such a challenge in the Bluegrass world. But the banjo is fun. Since it is usually tuned to an open G chord it invites the casual musician by its very nature. If you know any music at all you can noodle around on a banjo and have fun.
But Earl Scruggs and his like changed all that for would be banjo pickers. Three finger banjo rolls took the instruments to a new level and some would say Bluegrass was born as a result. Noodling around might be fun but if you want to really play you need to put some real effort into learning how to play.
We need more banjo pickers at Bluegrass festivals! Fortunately there are resources to accomplish that goal. So here’s what you must do if you want to join the elite and become a Bluegrass banjo picker:
1) Network with friends who play the banjo. There is nothing like personal hands on advice.
2) Find a banjo instructor. If there is nobody in your area you can Zoom or Facetime
3) Check out free banjo lessons. Although that is the subject of this article I would still recommend #1 and 2 as the most useful options. YouTube has lots of free lessons for anything banjo you might be interested in. A few posters have lessons for free. Some of these are very extensive and some are teasers to entice you to buy more lessons. Depending on how serious you get that might be a good option if you can afford it but in the meantime here are some free sites I have found useful in getting started:
1) Eli Gilbert’s Thirty Days of Banjo
2) Mark Wardle
3) Jim Pankey
