Here are the top 5 mistakes I've seen beginner banjo players make over the past 11 years. No banjo player is perfect and it is very easy to make mistakes. Here are a few tips to help you along the way! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for spending your time and presenting us with these 5 mistakes. I find the thumb to be most interesting and more so during a pinch. Also playing around others. I sit in front of a window with a full view. When there is noone on the sidewalk, it's fa la la. As soon as somebody appears its twing twang twong. I think I need to work on that a bit. Thank you again, you help more folks than you could ever know. Maybe even the next Earl Scruggs or Roy Clark. 🪕🪕🪕🪕🪕 To those folks may I say.. use a strong thumb and hit that like 👍 button and subscribe while you're at it. Toss in a notification too.
I have been playing for a year seriously. I’m self taught and rely on people like you to provide wisdom. I set aside time to practice daily and I stick to it. One of my goals is to stop relying on tab because everyone says to stop playing tab. But I got to tell you, when you said to stop relying on tab and start memorizing the fret board something kind of clicked. I get it. See the melody and chords on the board. Memorize that. I practiced again today with that in mind and it helped. Thanks !
Thanks, Dan! Happy to help! You are absolutely right - seeing the melody and chords on the fretboard is key. I watch the fretboard probably 98% of the time I play.
Honestly, this is just great advice for musicians in general. This is the first time I see someone explain how important it is to be able to play your music in a social way. Thank you so much for that.
I'm 8 months into my banjo journey and agree with all of these. For #3, I recently switched from self teach to in-person lessons with an instructor and that made a big difference in my playing (he plays along with me during the lesson with various instruments). It still distracts me and throws me off sometimes but overall it's a great improvement.
Thanks for the input! That's awesome. Playing along with other people is wonderful for development. Sometimes I'll switch between guitar, mandolin, and bass, while a student is working on the banjo. I also like to do a recording session once in a while, so they can hear how they are developing.
Thanks for the tips! Seems today I learned I am supposed to be looking at the left hand and not the right. This is going to take some brain power to change. I Hope I don't hurt myself ;)
The very best way to keep picks from moving around is wet (lightly lick) the fingers and thumb before putting the picks in place, it was taught to me and I've been doing this for about 40 years now.
SO true about conditioning in front of someone... my keyboard or flute timing goes to heck the second I hit "record", too, even alone! Because it's "someone listening".
Excellent tips, thank you... lifelong guitarist here, every guitarist wants to pick up a banjo and play it like a guitar, but its an entirely different animal. Got some guitar habits to break so this was helpful, also your voice is soothing as hell, you should record books on tape.
I have been playing a while and am doing exately what you said about looking at the music too much. I will back off that and see if it works for me, I'm gonna get it one day,Thanks
Some great info here. I'm very much a beginner with banjo, but am already an intermediate fingerstyle guitar player... I think #3 & #5 hold true for any instrument. #4 seems to be a common stumbling block with the banjo. I've already experimented with a thumb-pick on the guitar & am convinced it's a worthwhile technique to learn, but am drifting towards frailing-style banjo because I find fingerpicks so uncomfortable.
@@acousticidaho No. The ones I've tried are unbranded & are too tight... Here in the UK there doesn't seem to be much choice/availability in the stores. Amazon do sell the Ernie Ball ones, but only by the 24 pack & I suspect that they too will be too small for my fat fingertips.
@@acousticidaho Yes... ATM I'm just trying to learn some chord shapes, as those apply to whichever style... Between the frailng/clawhammer basics & the guitar fingerpicking patterns I already know, I should be able to get to grips with the fret-board geometry somewhat. When I do find some comfortable fingerpicks, I'll get into the rolls... I'm not super-serious about the Banjo at this time TBH. Since I got back into learning guitar a few years ago, I seem to be drawn to a lot more Bluegrass & Americana than before, so when a rough old Banjo came up for sale cheaply, I decided to buy it & have a try. I have a lap steel that I've failed to get into for the same reason. Doh!
Thanks! Could it be that your fingerpicks are too thick? The Dunlops can be uncomfortable if they are a heavier gauge. Here's a quick video where I talk about it. ru-vid.comjhTe179aP60
Just starting out. First thing I realized is, my picks are too small for my hand. Large ones arrive this week. Revelation to me in this video is #5. I was thinking I should not look at fingers on either hand but to develop muscle memory for fingering and plucking. Thanks for giving me permission to watch what I'm doing. Subscribed.
I am having problems with fretting, I have arthritis in my left hand, so have been playin open G or Open C, but when I put my forefinger across the strings I mute them. I tried with a piece of a splint and that was ok. Please can you help, as I am sure there are others like me. TIA from Australia
Thanks for reaching out, Al! I just recently had a conversation with a student about this. Have you tried using the side of your forefinger to fret the strings? The side of your finger has less "meat" on it, making it easier to get sounds from the strings. It doesn't feel very good at first, your fingers will get used to it. I hope that makes sense! When you fret the strings, roll your forefinger on it's side to get more pressure on the strings.
I’m having so much frustration of getting the chords, practice practice I know.. some days i begin to link them the next it’s like I’ve never picked up the instrument
I haven't made any of these mistake's, i'm a week and a half into teaching myself how to play scrugg's style and the only mistake I found out from this video is that i'm not anchoring at all! Gunna be hard because my ring finger is kinda wonky and crooks into the rest of my finger's, which impede's there movement, but it's better than going free willy.
I am on day one of my journey and doing OK but I have one very important question. What side of my finger do my picks go on? On top like my nail or underneath like you have here?
Hello David! Welcome to the world of the banjo :-) Great question - You wear them underneath like you see in the video. Using them on top of the nail seems like it would work, but it won't. The fingerpicks should be under your finger tips, allowing them to glide across the strings as you pick.
@acousticidaho thank you. I will fix that tomorrow when I practice. Maybe I can get the metal ones I have to fit properly now. Lol I am gonna add some of your videos to my practice as well. I'm sure it can't hurt to get all the wisdom possible.
I have been playing banjo for approximately 30 years. I’m certainly not Earl Scruggs, but I do fairly well by myself and in groups. One of the things that I learned early on regarding picks is to lick your fingers before you put your picks on. That will make your picks stay on beautifully until you’re ready to quit playing and take them off.
Interesting! Perhaps your picking hand is crowding the strings a little? Does the wrist of your picking hand have a nice curve to it or is it straight when you play?
My ring finger and my little finger absolutely had a mind of their own. I couldn't control them so I made a slip on belt out of 1 inch wide (my fingers are small) duct tape to keep them together and it worked! Fold the tape back onto itself to the length needed to wrap around both fingers and leave an inch or so of stickiness to secure it to itself. Don't make it super tight, you want to be able to slide it on and off. @@acousticidaho
I've been playing the banjo for 6 years now (and the guitar for 19) and one of the biggest mistakes that I see folks making, is the mindset of "earl didn't do it that way ". There's nothing wrong with wanting to play similarly to others, but we aren't earl. We should be trying to play like ourselves, not religiously sticking to one person's way of doing things. There are a few places where I have a big problem with this rigid adherence. One is keeping fingers planted. I've seen people tape their ring and pinky fingers together to plant both of them, the way Mr Scruggs did. Some of us don't have the proper tendon structure for that and can cause major damage by trying to force it. I happen to be one of these people. I can plant my pinky but if I try to force both I can't play for more than a minute without causing severe pain. Another issue I have is the insistence that we have to use picks for better volume, tone,(and this one really gets me) accuracy. This might be my classical guitar background showing through, but if we need more volume, we should be plucking the strings in a way that causes them to vibrate more into and out of the bridge instead of across it. Getting better (more similar to picks) tone can be done by building up callouses on our fingertips on our picking hand. And I can't comprehend how an item that block our ability to touch the strings can make us more accurate. I apologize if I came across as argumentative, that wasn't my intention. I'm autistic and sometimes I don't come across the way I intend. I'm just a fellow musician trying to share my thoughts.
Yes sir! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I don’t think you are being argumentative at all. In fact, you’re speaking my language with a lot of that. I totally agree that someone shouldn’t have rigid adherence to everything when learning an instrument. Can you play it how you want to play it. Gain essential knowledge from others and use it to adapt to your style. Nothing wrong with thinking out of the box. I actually made a video on playing the banjo without pics. Several people didn’t like the fact that I mentioned you could get great tone from your banjo without using finger pics, but I stand by what I said. There are those who love and enjoy fingerpicks, and those who want to “feel” the strings when they play. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Jr5H7S5k2YU.html
Wait what? People just keep looking at the tab the whole time while playing? I thought you were *supposed* to just look at it a little, but then aim to play it by memory. I can't imagine someone being able to only play a song when looking at it.
With both banjo and guitar picking, there is absolutely no need to place any fingers on the soundboard. It servers no purpose. Your hand does not need that restriction. Your hand is more than capable of being supported by the rim of your instrument. Look at classical or flamenco players. After all they were the pioneers of the technique.
@@rinkydinkfretboard8737 I am much the same as you really. I am playing a long, long time playing. I play flat pick (Irish trad) and hybrid picking country and fingerstyle classical, my father was a classical guitarist. The funny thing with all of it is, it is quite easy to switch from style to style. With regard to taking your pinky off the soundboard, it only takes a couple of weeks and you wonder why you had not done it already. I am a big Mark Knopfler fan. He started off playing fingerstyle folk guitar, his sister was a folk singer in the folk clubs in the UK. He says himself that he is a guitar teachers worst nightmare and would not encourage anybody to go down this route. I would say the same about Chet Atkins and I am a huge fan of his as well. It is just so much easier adopting the classical way. But, there are many ways to skin a cat.
I play for whoever wants help, in church or shows or anyone local or loco enough to ask me🤣 as it’s always an experience to take back home to improve on, some good, some great, some meh.
As a guitar player learning the banjo, I'm dubious about the last tip. I've always been taught not to stare at my fretboard. The sexist pejorative is employed that girls look at the fretboard, but not men. It's especially true if you sing. You have to get your eyes away from the fretboard. Is it somehow different on banjo? As a piano player, I was taught to keep my eyes off my fingers and on the music. Why is banjo different? I honestly don't look at music anyway when I'm practicing banjo. But in theory, shouldn't I just look out?
Hey! I’ve actually never heard that girls look at the fretboard more than boys. Is that just common knowledge or is there something I can read on it? That’s very interesting! The banjo is different is several ways. It is a very temperamental instrument… as you know :-) A small change in your picking hand can result in a hollow or “tinny” sound. A off angle in your freehand position can result in muted or buzzing strings. The piano is a “cleaner” instrument. Press a key - hold it down - and get a clean, sustained note. If only the banjo were that easy! Lol Banjo music (Tablature) involves memorization and “feel” much more that reading and playing simultaneously. You can basically break banjo playing down to three main things: Pick hand, fret hand, and eyes. Most beginner banjo players stare at their picking hand to begin with. Once your picking hand is established, you can focus on getting that classic “banjo sound” if your fret hand is cooperating. Some will stare at the music and only look at their fret hand when a problem arises. This kills their speed and overall rhythm. I feel that looking at the fretboard, especially when playing complex pieces (up the neck), helps with accurate finger placement, smoother transitions, and superior tone. However, it is very good to play and practice without looking at either hand. That builds the “feel” senses that help with accuracy as well. I actually made a separate video about that. I don’t think looking out is bad at all. I just feel that, establishing that fret hand accuracy is important to reaching that next level for beginner players. That being said, one thing I have learned from teaching the banjo for 13 years, is to always be open to new ideas and concepts. Thanks for reaching out and I hope I made sense with my jumbled writing! :-)
Took 400 times to take back my brain and learn without tab our brain doesn't want us to succeed its not our friend the brain likes complacency nothing new well my brain knows that I own you and I play better banjo for it we own are brain it does not own us seems weird but I proved it and I am very happy with my playing also a trick I learned is simply have the melody in your head and the on board computer our brain uses a trick to make you play the right notes weird but true thanks
This is definitely the hardest instrument in the world to learn. Been learning for almost 3 years now and still can’t play a song. Guitar is 1000x easier
I used to do the same thing, Shaun! Then I noticed it killing a lot of the tone while I was playing. Banjo Ben has anchor guides available. Try these out! store.banjobenclark.com/products/banjo-ben-s-finger-anchor-picking-guide-pack-of-5
I have a wooden slat spanning the rim close below the strings as a finger rest / support. So my fingers rest on that rather than the head. Gives my right hand a bit more altitude. Similar to Snuffy Jenkins pick-guard I think.
I'm exasperatingly disappointed. I was hoping to find tips to plant the pinky, keep the ring finger out of the way and be able to pick. I simply cant do it no matter how hard or long I try. My hand will not let me do it. I would have hoped that would have been at the top of your list.
Life long guitar player, finger style with no fingerpicks other than thumbtack, do not rest little finger on instrument, do just fine. Check out video of Django Reinhardt and take a look at his fretting hand, I imagine someone likely told him he'd never play guitar again. Well don't get frustrated and give up, just saying sometimes you have to develop your own methods.
Very informative. I’ve been playing 6 years and not looking at the music tabs is important. I use it as a reference but I just play even if it’s wrong it comes together after time. The key for me is play, play and play some more!🪕
Playing in front of others can be made easier if you’re self-conscious, head into the music store & spend an hour (or so) trying out different banjo’s 🪕😍😊👍‼️
