ISBN 9781609744649. 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.

ISBN 9781619112988. Fiddle Tunes for Banjo Made Easy is a collection of must-know, easy-to-learn bluegrass instrumental standards. Ross records each song at three speeds and also includes a rhythm backup track. The slow speed is ideal for hearing the notes clearly and being able to play along in rhythm; the medium speed is a perfect goal for the beginning and intermediate student while the faster speed demonstrates what the song can sound like with a hard, driving push. The tablature is large for ease of reading and includes accent marks for melody notes where needed. Ross also provides tips and suggestions for each song to save you valuable practice time. These are tips on the more challenging spots that Ross has learned firsthand from teaching these privately for many years. In addition, there is a whole page of instruction on learning the chords to the song, how to play the song using only the chords, chord charts written out for each song and tips for memorizing and playing without tab. Fiddle Tunes for Banjo Made Easy is not just another tab book; it covers all the bases and gives you a realistic balanced approach for learning the songs the EASY way. Access to online audio.

ISBN 9781610658089. First Lessons on Banjo is an ultra-easy instruction manual for beginning five-string banjo played in the three fingerstyle in G tuning. It can be used by those with no previous experience with the banjo or music of any sort. It is so basic it can be used even by small children. The book features very detailed descriptions of even the most basic aspects such as wearing the picks properly, the correct picking motion, and noting the strings properly. These are aspects that are so basic most manuals skip over them. There are many detailed photos, several from the player's point of view, not from in front of the banjo. First Lessons on Banjo covers the most basic rolls, the Alternating Thumb Roll and two Forward Rolls, plus the three basic chords plus the relative minor chord. All musical examples are presented in tablature, with the melody notes in boldface type so the student knows which notes to emphasize. All arrangements include lyrics, which is very important to the novice who is trying to train the ear to hear the melody among the fill notes. Several tips and suggestions about the proper mental approach are included that will lead to playing by ear and arranging at an earlier stage in the student's development. There are also suggestions about developing the proper mental approach and about speed reading of tablature. These suggestions are not found in any other banjo instruction book. The 'finale' arrangement is Cripple Creek, a popular banjo standard that when mastered, should give the novice a great sense of accomplishment. The accompanying recording includes all tabbed examples, with the rhythm instruments and lead banjo in separate channels. The songs are played at three tempos, the first tempo VERY slow, then a medium tempo version, and finally at performing speed with guitar, mandolin and bass accompaniment. The up- tempo accompanied versions are all together at the end of the recording so it the final tracks be used as a listening recording. This also allows the student to play along with all the more interesting arrangements in sequence without skipping around the recording. Includes access to online audio.

ISBN 9781619111974.

Counterpoint is a collection of banjo duets, where Miles has taken traditional melodies and created a second banjo part in counterpoint harmony. Counterpoint harmony (vs parallel harmony) has a rhythm and melody of its own, distinct from the main melody. The result is an exquisite sound that enriches these ancient melodies and breathes a revitalized life into them. When Pete Seeger heard it he said, this is one of the most beautiful recordings I have heard in all my 70 years....it's enough to make me want to learn the banjo all over again.

ISBN 9781610655569. An important anthology of Irish and Celtic solos for the 5-string banjo featuring a comprehensive, scholarly treatise on the history, techniques, and etiquette of playing the banjo in the Celtic tradition. Includes segments on tuning, pick preferences, and tablature reading followed by 101 jigs, slides, polkas, slip jigs, reels, hornpipes, strathspeys, O'Carolan tunes, plus a special section of North American Celtic tunes. A generous collection of photos of Irish folk musicians, street scenes, and archaeological sites further enhances this fabulous book. All of the solos included here are written in 5-string banjo tablature only with a few tunes set in unusual banjo tunings. The appendices provide a sizable glossary and a wealth of information regarding soloists and groups playing Celtic music, Irish festivals, music publications, on-line computer resources, cultural organizations, and more. If you are serious about playing Celtic music on the 5-string banjo, or if you don't play the banjo but simply want to expand your knowledge of the Celtic music tradition-you owe yourself this book. The first-ever audio collection of Irish and Celtic music for 5-string banjo provides 68 lovely melodies and demonstrates revolutionary techniques for playing highly ornamented tunes and rolling back-up. Recorded in stereo with virtuosos Gabriel Donohue (steel- and nylon-string guitar and piano) and Robbie Walsh (bodhran- frame drum played with a stick), the five-string banjo is "out front" and plays through each melody in real-life tempo with authentic Celtic chordal and rhythmic backing. The recording features the music of all Six Celtic Nations and includes jigs, reels, hornpipes, slides, polkas, marches, country dances, larides, andros, slipjigs, strathspeys, airs and O'Carolan tunes. 35 songs in the book are not on the audio recording. Includes access to online audio.

ISBN 9781513455082. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.

This comprehensive collection features over 100 note-for-note skillfully-crafted clawhammer banjo arrangements of old-time Southern fiddle tunes, in clear tablature - with suggested guitar chords at a wide variety of skill levels. It contains most of the tunes played in concert or recorded by author Ken Perlman and renowned Appalachian-style fiddler Alan Jabbour, plus over 50 more classic tunes from Ed Haley, Edden Hammons, John Salyer and many other iconic roots fiddlers. Also included: Instruction on basic and advanced techniques Tips on improving your musicianship How to play syncopated rhythms and melodies in clawhammer style Frameworks for dealing with crooked tunes and modal tunes Historical notes and picturesque backstories Ken Perlman demonstrates all tunes and most musical illustrations on 124 online audio tracks *Online Audio Includes: 24 tracks featuring excerpts from recordings of the author performing with the virtuosic fiddler Alan Jabbour, to whom the book is dedicated.