Thank you for making me smile while I wade thru learning the banjo. Love your videos....very helpful, simple and concise, and humorous. You've helped keep me from giving up...you and my self-taught guitar-playing granddaughter.
Thanks, Jim. It's been one year since I picked up my value banjo and started learning from your series. Moved up to a much better instrument and still at it. Getting better, but only because of you. Can't thank you enough! Good video.
I knew as soon as you were talking about 5th string capos. You were gonna do the pen capo. Heather still has the one you gave her during her like second lesson. And yes, I have been practicing. See you on Tuesday.
Just wanted to say I gave up on banjo about 4 years ago. Always wanted to pick it up again and after I saw your videos I am going to dust it off and start pickin
Wow. I never thought about the bic pen method! I have a ton of them laying around and im not really wanting to put spikes on a beginner banjo. Ill have to try this
Neat idea for an inexpensive capo Jim, definitely better than the old rubber band & pencil trick that gets in the way ! Thanks for sharing your work and ideas for 5 string banjo from the UK, I’ve learned so much from your channel over the years I have been watching 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. My biggest problem is I have spent so much time in hospital this past two years, my fingers have become somewhat “rusty”. Looking forward to better times in 2019 so I can get back to some picking.
As with all of your excellent videos...thanks for the capo instruction. Having just started 6 months ago there is a lot to absorb. You always make things so accessible and understandable. My banjo playing is slowly improving---at least it sounds more like a song now rather than a herd of irritated cats...so that is improvement. :-) If I had not found your extraordinary videos...I would still be struggling. THANK YOU!
Jim, I'm currently on lesson #2 of beginning bluegrass banjo. Really enjoy your teaching method. Just had to send a note...I feel like I'm being taught by one of my favorite actors of all time, Dennis Hopper. Just wondered if anyone else has told you that ? I think it's your voice and delivery that does it along with a similar look at times. Can't wait to grajeeate your school !! Thanks, John St Louis, Mo
Hi Jim. Been thoroughly enjoying watching and learning with you. I'm gonna polish up the songs that I've got down then I'm gonna come on over to Patreon. Thanks for the learning and inspiration. I've been trying to figure out Nashville Cats by Del Mccoury as my little side self guided practice. Thanks again.
Hey mate, got your annual trim I see. Is it true that they're called spikes because they were originally little spikes from model railway sets? Ken Miller told me that but I wondered if he was pulling my leg! Thanks for the vid mate; always something new in there.
Hey Jim! I just put on a shubb slide capo...it works ok, but can be a little in the way for my thumb! PS. Just got spikes in the mail......hard to find in Norwegian musicstores :-)
Hey Jim, Fantastic videos, I am really enjoying the learn to play bluegrass banjo videos and all of your other learn to play videos. I am very new to using and playing the banjo, I received mine from my grandfather before he passed away he always wanted to learn how to play but never got the time. I figured learning to play would be a way to honor his memory and your videos have gotten me pretty far. My question (finally) is what do you think any banjo player should have? I was missing a finger pick which I had to order I don't have a strap and I didn't even know what a capo was until I watched this video. I am trying to get the whole setup so when I play I know I am not missing anything. I know you have mentioned pieces and parts in the learning series you did, and this video about capos I just didn't know if there was anything else I could be missing or not. Thank you!
Hey Jim, why don't you make us a T-shirt with your face on it. I'd buy that! We could wear them to all of our bluegrass festivals and drive more viewers to your channel. Just a thought! Thank you for the lessons!!
Hey Jim - really appreciate the videos and I’m basically working my way through the song tutorials playlist one by one. Off-topic, but: One thing that I just can’t get quite right, and I’ve really tried, is to get the “crispness” in the 3-2 pull off. Slowing your videos down, I can see that you pick the string with your middle finger, but when I do it I either don’t get the desired effect (no difference in sound compared to just releasing it) or I end up hitting the adjacent string too. Are there tricks for this? It doesn’t sound *bad* when I play it the way I do, it just doesn’t sound *as good*.
Hello Mr. Pankey. I was wondering if there is a curriculum in your videos. I know I can't learn off of your videos without in-person lessons but until then, is there a correct order for which lessons to practice? Maybe you could make a video about what we should be able to do, and what we need to know to cross over between beginner to advanced. Maybe what songs we should be able to play, and key skills we must have. Thank you for your videos and all your hard work.
While there’s no particular order of things beyond the first 10 lessons most of my videos should be ok for someone that’s assimilated the beginner series. I find people do well with songs they like, so look through what I have and see if there’s a particular tune you think you might like. Good places to start would be the super simple ballad of Jed, and even my Foggy Mountain Breakdown video.
Pen caps work well, but just so they don't snap out and fly away, it's a good idea to take a pocket knife and score a little slot across it for the 5th string to sit in.... That will make it more secure.....
Good explanation for the key of A, Jim. However, maybe you can help me figure out why some folks who are playing a song in D (like Liberty) put on their capo at the second fret and play out of the "C" position?
Hey maestro, can you show us that piece where you go up to Bb? There’s is that dissonant lick that is so cool, that I can’t quite figure out. I’m a guitar/Mando player, and my brain gets confused because my ear just hears the note but doesn’t account for the right hand rolls. This is where tab really helps with banjo. Thanks
Thanks for the video, Jim. You asked for it, so: Have you considered making a Beginning Backup Banjo series maybe in the same way you did the 10 part Beginning Banjo vids? I have found your lessons very useful and although I have not been through Every song-lesson video yet, I need to start learning backup. There are many good videos by others out there, but I wonder "how would Pankey do it?" Thanks pal!
So I tried that pen cap but the action on my old Washburn is apparently too high. Any tips? Could maybe find something thicker or pad it up somehow. Maybe hot glue an extra layer of pen cap on it?
@@JimPankey thanks- I guess that i'll have to get some banjo spikes and give that a try. Just goes to show that you can learn new things no matter how old you are!