Our method series starts out with simple, well-known melodies that almost everyone knows. When you take baby steps, you start in confidence.
We make learning fun, emphasizing ease and speed, so you can spend more time grooving and less time lesson-ing.
Banjo music evokes Nostalgia. It pulls on the soul via Old Time, Folk, Bluegrass and more. Today’s Five-String banjo hearkens its African cousins–the akonting, the halam, the jali ngoni–as well as showing off “New World” technology. Original banjos had three or four strings–including–in the U.S.–one short drone string. Old Time players use fingernails and thumb; Bluegrass banjoists play with picks on three fingers and their thumb. This African-based instrument has the deepest heritage in the United States, and that is why we play it. The songs ring on.
Our method series starts out with simple, well-known melodies that almost everyone knows. When you take baby steps, you start in confidence.
We quickly move to graspable versions of tunes drawn from African and African American traditions — Afrilachian, Down Home, Gnawa, Mande, Minstrel, Maroon, Old Time, Zulu and more.
We also include introductions to the rich history of the songs and their creators. You will play modern gems, and songs hundreds of years old, too. You’ll learn where they came from, and what they mean. Later volumes of Funky Banjo return to some of these same tunes, offering more complex playing techniques, and more in-depth knowledge.
The banjo, invented by folks forced to emigrate, was created to serve and support communities thriving despite an environment set up to deny and crush their humanity.
All that history–blessed and brazen, beautiful and brutal—is in the banjo’s DNA, in its music, as well as in the soul of the United States of America and beyond. To ignore or sugar-coat that legacy implies shame, and ignores the power of continued success against horrible odds, generation upon generation.
To become whole, both pain and triumph must be admitted, accepted, and their lessons incorporated. We know that toxins internalized and suppressed become disease. Purging this poison sets us all free. To not appreciate our successes is foolish vanity before the Creator. To admit to and cherish the healing this instrument gave to its inventors and successors is a truly great beginning, we think. So, if a song’s authentic lyrics talk about a Nigger, we’re not changing it to “Johnny” or “Boy”, or “Soldier”. We’re keeping it real here. It’s the only way to remember where we’ve come from, cherish what we’ve come through, have honest conversation, grow, and let go.
We have sent a 6-digit verification code to your email. Please enter it below to continue.
We have sent a 6-digit verification code to your email. Please enter it below to continue.