A complete guide to the world of the five-string banjo written for both beginners and more experienced players. Packed with over 120 how-to photos and 130 musical examples. 94 track CD included - hear and play along with every exercise and song. The only book to offer instruction in clawhammer, bluegrass, melodic, single-string, minstrel and classic styles. From Earl Scruggs’ driving bluegrass picking to the genre-busting jazz fusion of Béla Fleck and the multi-million selling movie soundtrack O Brother Where Are Thou?, the five-string banjo can be heard just about everywhere in American music these days. Banjo For Dummies is the most complete guide to the five-string banjo ever written. It covers everything you need to get into the banjo: including how to choose, tune and care for your instrument, developing a good playing posture, fretting your first chords and getting comfortable with the left and right hand picking patterns used for clawhammer and bluegrass playing techniques. You’ll then add the left hand, spicing up your playing with slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes for an authentic five-string banjo sound. From there, you’ll move on the play 19th century minstrel style, early 20th century classic style as well as try your hand at more advanced examples of bluegrass style. An in-depth chapter on bluegrass music explores Scruggs licks and techniques as well as melodic and single-string styles, with song examples. Also included is a banjo buyer’s guide, a section on music theory as applied to bluegrass and old-time music, an accessories guide (advice on cases, picks, straps, metronomes, computer aids and much more), information on how to find a good teacher, banjo camp or festival, chord charts, bios of twelve influential players, practice tips and much, much more! Banjo For Dummies is accessible and fun to read and it’s easy to locate just what you’re interested in playing. Included are 20 songs including several new compositions written by the author just for this book, including Reno Rag (single-string style), “Winston’s Jig” (Irish three-finger), and “Everyday Breakdown” (Scruggs style). All musical examples are played slowly on the accompanying CD, many with guitar and mandolin accompaniment. Bill Evans is one of the world’s most celebrated banjo players and teachers. He has taught thousands of people to play the five-string banjo in private lessons and group workshops literally all over the world. In addition to leading the Bill Evans String Summit, Bill has performed with Dry Branch Fire Squad, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka and many others and he hosts his own acclaimed banjo camp, the NashCamp Fall Banjo Retreat in the Nashville area. As an American music historian, he has taught at San Francisco State University, the University Virginia and Duke University. He has written a popular instructional column for Banjo Newsletter magazine for the last fifteen years and hosts three popular instructional DVDs for AcuTab Publications. To learn more about Bill, visit his homepage at www.nativeandfine.com. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.

Start picking the five-string banjo like a pro with this definitive guide to bluegrass banjo! Whether you’re an absolute beginner or an experienced player, Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies gets you started off the right way and is your road map for mastering today’s most popular traditional and contemporary banjo picking styles. Online audio and video clips combine with the book’s clear step-by-step instructions to provide the most complete – and fun - banjo instruction experience available anywhere! Bluegrass banjo has never been more popular and is heard today not only in country and folk music, but in jazz, rock and country styles. Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies provides everything you need to know to play just about any kind of music on the five-string banjo by getting you started with the roll patterns essential to Scruggs style picking. You’ll then add left-hand techniques such as slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs, play great sounding licks and perform classic tunes like “Cripple Creek” and “Old Joe Clark.” You’ll navigate up the neck on the instrument as well as learn the essential skills you need to play with others in jam sessions and in bands. You’ll even tackle contemporary banjo styles using melodic and single-string scales and picking techniques. Choose a banjo and accessories that are just right for you and your budget. Put on your fingerpicks, find your optimal hand position and start playing with the help of online audio and video. Explore the fingerboard using melodic and single-string playing styles. Accompany others in different keys with roll patterns and chord vamping techniques. Keep your banjo sounding its best with practical and easy set up tips. Bill Evans is one of the world’s most popular banjo players and teachers, with over forty years of professional experience. In Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies, he shares the tips, secrets and shortcuts that have helped thousands of musicians, including many of today’s top young professionals, to become great banjo players.

Uses the concept of a "virtual camp we call Blue Mountain Banjo Camp (BMBC), run by an invented camp director ... situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Appalachian Range,"--P. 8. Provides imaginative "interviews, workshops, and campfire conversations with Bob Altschuler, Bobby Anderson, Bob Carlin, Janet Davis, Wayne Erbsen, John Herrmann, Geoff Hohwald, David Holt, Adam Hurt, Steve Kaufman, Bill Keith, Brad Leftwich, James McKinney, Alan Munde, Ken Perlman, Pete Seeger, Rich Stillman, Tony Trischka, Pete Wernick, Todd Wright, and more."-- p.9.

A collection of over 200 great bluegrass, old time, country and gospel standards. Melodies are presented with standard notation and tablature along with lyrics and chords.Learn to play songs written and recorded by the giants of traditional American music: Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, the Osborne Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson and many more. Also included: step-by-step instruction on how to transpose any song to any key!The two CDs include recordings of EVERY song in the book with Bill Evans on banjo and vocals, Dix Bruce on guitar, mandolin, and vocals.

This book provides a sequel to Robert Ford's comprehensive reference work A Blues Bibliography, the second edition of which was published in 2007. Bringing Ford's bibliography of resources up to date, this volume covers works published since 2005, complementing the first volume by extending coverage through twelve years of new publications. As in the previous volume, this work includes entries on the history and background of the blues, instruments, record labels, reference sources, regional variations, and lyric transcriptions and musical analysis. With extensive listings of print and online articles in scholarly and trade journals, books, and recordings, this bibliography offers the most thorough resource for all researchers studying the blues.

People used to go window-shopping; now they go Windows shopping! Online shopping can save you time and money IF you know what you’re doing. That’s where 2005 Online Shopping Directory For Dummies comes in. The first part of the book covers buying from online auctions and ads and “Let the buyer beware” information, reminding you to check out the product or company, check shipping and handling fees, look for secure sites, and more. Then comes the fun part—a listing more than 1,500 selected sites. Get ready to browse—literally. This is more than a directory—it’s a Cybershopper’s dream, with: Sites grouped into 21 categories such as apparel, computers and electronics, babies and children, home and garden, health and beauty, food, malls and mega stores, travel, and more. Icons that rate each site by price, selection, service, convenience, and security A description of each site that includes the URL, company name, types of merchandise, and a paragraph about the e-tailer 2005 Online Shopping Directory For Dummies was written by Barbara Kasser, author of several books on the Internet, and an avid online shopper, and Frank Fiore, author of six eBusiness books and the Online Shopping Guide for About.com. Together, they created a terrific reference with: Extensively cross-referenced indexes so you can find products by company name, product name, keywords, or URL Tips on everything from how to find the best prices to what to do if you have a problem Sites you might never find on your own, like giftsongs.com, ducttapecreations.com, revengeunlimited.com, and more You won’t find shops like that at the mall! Whether you’re a bargain hunter, a collector of German beer steins, a radio-controlled airplane enthusiast, or just a typical shopper, with 2005 Online Shopping Directory For Dummies, you’ll find what you’re looking for plus things you didn’t know existed!

This is the story of a Banjo Picker, who roams the world ‘pickin’, and a-grinnin’, as a way of life. Performing in saloons in Canada, or shooting spaghetti westerns in Italy, to running the Don Ho Show out of Hawaii, to smoking cigars with President Nixon, this guy has done it all. From being invited by Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter for dinner in the Georgia Governors mansion, to a western hoe-down in the East Wing of the White House, to shivering naked in a padded room in an Insane Asylum, or can you believe it, performing on stage with Charley Manson. ‘Confessions of a Banjo Player’ leaves you breathless with disbelief while leaving you to ask, “Can these adventures, and miss-adventures, really happen to an ordinary person”? Yes they can. They did! So climb aboard, this trip should be fun, as well as informative.