Banjo Basics On-line Course – $75/year Promo Price $59.50/year. You get FREE banjo lesson updates all year. You can register early by sending an email to: banjocoach@bgwebconnect.com
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This course is primarily designed for beginners or anyone else that wants to re-fresh their skills on the fundamentals of playing bluegrass banjo. The Banjo Basics On-Line Course includes an introduction and five sequential lessons that build upon one another. Please review each description below.
- Lesson 1 – Getting Ready (available now) is focused on a fast path to get you to play your very first song. The fast path is a no frills learning approach that teaches you five key steps: how to tune the banjo, how to use banjo picks, how to perform a simple pick and pinch, how to play your first left hand chords, and lastly how to play your first song. It provides student interaction, voice overs, six videos, printable practice worksheets, and lots of other training aids.
- Lesson 2 – Reading Tab (available now) is focused on “how to read banjo tablature”. This lesson is very important to quickly learn how to “pick-out a melody” using both your left and right hands. Learn about lines, measures, time signatures, fingerings and more. Includes three videos, and printable exercise tab worksheets include: lead-in, rolls, pinch and notation for slides, pull offs and hammer-ons. Reference links for Music Symbols and their definitions. You can participate in worksheets exercises with a listen and play along feature that allow you to build your skills.
- Lesson 3 – Banjo Timing (available now) is focused on “counting and timing”. This is a key lesson and one that will take some concentration because you have to use not only both hands but also both ears. This lesson helps you improve your timing skills which is a key skill for any banjo player. Proper timing is one of the hardest skills to learn and is also one of the most important. You are provided a worksheet to learn about how to use the metronome. This lesson is a challenge and will take some concentration. Additional voice overs with TIPS, Worksheets and Videos are included.
- Lesson 4 – Playing Rolls (available now) is focused on six basic banjo rolls. Learning banjo rolls is the most fundamental task to playing the banjo. Playing the rolls can also be one of the most “boring” assignments. Yet without perfecting the roll, it is impossible to be a good banjo player. Patience and persistence is required. This is a fun lesson as you will learn how to play six different rolls that can be incorporated into hundreds of songs by using just three chords (G, C, and D). There is a video for five of the six rolls with demonstrations for the picking pattern and the sound. The sixth roll is considered a “practice challenge” because you are only provided the tablature and you have to work out the picking pattern and the sound. Several voice overs, TIPS, printable worksheets and Videos are included.
- Lesson 5 – Cripple Creek (available now) is completely focused on learning your first standard bluegrass song called “Cripple Creek”. The tab is exactly like I play the song. A sound track is provided so you can hear how the song is played with a metronome. This is a down the neck. You will see and hear how it is properly played at 100 bpm. Additional TIPS, printable worksheets and voice overs are included in the video.