http://banjoblogger.com be a better banjo player Tue, 13 May 2008 14:11:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I was hanging around the Banjo Hangout this afternoon and read an interesting post about a video. What would make this video of great interest to banjo players, you ask? Great Banjo players, of course. Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Alan Munde, Sonny Osborne, Don Stover, and Bill Emerson and a few ... http://banjoblogger.com/youtube-classic-banjo-videos/ Minor chords are characterized by a sad or sorrowful sound, and they add a lot to a chord progression. I am going to dig into a bit of music theory to help you better understand minor chords, and how to use them. Let's take a major chord and turn it into ... http://banjoblogger.com/minor-chords-for-the-5-string-banjo-part-one/ The world has changed forever - music is distributed by downloading, and the days of going to your local record store and picking up a few albums are long gone. There are literally millions of songs available on the internet and Amazon.com is an excellent source for music in both ... http://banjoblogger.com/bluegrass-music-on-the-internet/ Way back in October, I talked about backward rolls in this post: http://banjoblogger.com/banjo-rolls-the-backward-roll/ . This time we are going to bring out a melody on the first string, and build on the techniques introduced in the first post. This first exercise has us picking the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and ... http://banjoblogger.com/banjo-rolls-backward-rolls-2/ A favourite of fiddlers,banjo pickers and guitarists alike, the Black Mountain Rag has certainly stood the test of time. This is one of those songs that just gets stuck in my head. Usually getting something stuck in your head is bad, but this time it is a good thing. If you ... http://banjoblogger.com/the-black-mountain-rag/ In the past I have written a couple of posts that talk about G licks, this time I have a three licks you can use when you are playing a measure of C. When I use the term C lick, I am just referring to a banjo lick that ... http://banjoblogger.com/c-licks-for-the-five-string-banjo/ We are all trying to become better banjo players - right? I know I'm always reaching for that next level. Sometimes though, it seems as if I am stuck and can't move ahead. When this happens I like to go back to the basics and just play some music and ... http://banjoblogger.com/a-great-way-to-improve-your-banjo-playing/ In an previous post, I introduced some banjo rolls that used the middle finger more.  This post puts the middle finger in the spotlight, and will force you to pay closer attention to the notes played by that finger. To get started, check out this post - http://banjoblogger.com/right-hand-middle-finger-exercises/ My first ... http://banjoblogger.com/right-hand-osborne-roll/ Tony Trischka is not only a great and innovative banjo player, but he also writes a fantastic book. The Complete 5-String Banjo Player is exactly what it claims to be; a comprehensive and indispensable reference book for the serious banjo player. If you are really serious about becoming a ... http://banjoblogger.com/great-new-banjo-book-by-tony-trischka/ What is a banjo bass run? Well thats simple - a bass run is a series of notes that connect two chords. Bass runs are used when playing backup, leading into a song and in banjo breaks. Now that you know what a bass run is: a series of notes that ... http://banjoblogger.com/banjo-bass-runs/