Classical guitarist here who just bought my first banjo last week. It has been a very frustrating week. I watched this video and applied all the right-hand techniques mentioned. It is no longer frustrating. A must-see video for beginners.
Thanks for posting this. I am a long time banjo player that is having shoulder surgery this week, so looking for some drills to work on with my picking hand to keep me busy for the next several weeks.
THANK YOU!!! You helped me figure out why I slowed down so much on my banjo! The first thing I found that was by playing without picks- my speed was much better! After making that adjustment I kept finding that then I went back to my picks - I slowed down tremendously - between picking with no picks and finally finding more information about my armrest height - I was back in the groove again!!! I believe my armest slid down and it was making my arm to flat on the banjo and I wasn't easily making the hand shape you reccomended. I literally spend my last two months trying to get my speed back and barely made any progress until I found this video!! Liked - and Subscribe - would by a T Shirt if you sold them! hahahaha! :D Phew... man, I'm so relieved! I was ready to give up picking!!!
Just watched your no fingerpicks video and then this, so going to subscribe as they were great instructional videos! I don't use fingerpicks, and love it that way. This speed video makes me want to play faster! Do you have any tips on speeding up your fingers on the picking hand? Do you just start off with a certain meter and then try to increase it to be faster and faster?
Awesome! Speeding up your (picking hand) fingers: Play slowly with good form. Memorize the song you are playing. You can then increase your speed without sacrificing accuracy. Starting out with a slow beat works great. When you memorize the song, your speed should naturally increase though.
