Absolute Beginners Banjo »

Bill Evans is the five-time Emmy Award-winning, nationally-renowned senior meteorologist for WABC, Channel 7 in New York City.  He can be heard on a regular basis on Radio Disney and ESPN Radio and has appeared on Good Morning, America and Live with Regis and Kelly.  Evans has received the Outstanding Meteorologist Award from the National Weather Service and has hosted the National Hurricane Conference.  Category 7 is his first novel.  Bill Evans and his family live in Connecticut.

The Absolute Beginners award-winning method has been designed to make learning the 5-string banjo easier than ever before! Step-by-step pictures take you from first day exercises to playing your first complete songs. Absolute Beginners Banjo gives you: An 'owner's manual' approach to the banjo; Practical advice and tips covering everything you need to know about setting up, playing and maintenance; A look-and-learn course that uses clear pictures to illustrate every step of learning; CD audio tracks to let you hear how things should sound, plus full-length accompaniments so you can play along!

CD Track Listing     4
Introduction     5
Practicing Tips     5
Types of 5-String Banjos     6
Parts of the Banjo     7
String and Things     8
Holding the Banjo     9
Tuning Your Banjo     10
Relative Tuning     10
Using an Electronic Tuner     10
Tuning to Other Instruments     11
Left Hand Position     12
Your First Chords     13
Chord Diagrams     13
The G Chord     13
The D7 Chord     14
Alternating between G and D7     14
The C Chord     15
Alternating between G and C     15
Let's Play!     16
Skip to My Lou     16
Man of the Circle Be Unbroken     17
Will the Circle Be Unbroken     17
Long Journey Home     18
The Right Hand     19
Picks     19
Right-Hand Positioning     20
The Alternating-Thumb Roll     21
Skip to My Lou (with alternating-thumb roll)     22
Reading Tablature     23
The Forward-Backward Roll     24
Man of ConstantSorrow (with forward-backward roll)     25
Using Roll Patterns to Accompany Tunes     26
The Pinch Pattern     27
Mixing Rolls and the Pinch Pattern     28
Skip to My Lou (alternating-thumb roll and pinch)     28
Skip to My Lou (forward-backward roll and pinch)     29
Finding the Melody     30
Skip to My Lou 30 (easy melody)     30
Skip to My Lou 31 (solo 1)     31
Skip to My Lou 31 (solo 2)     31
Let's Play with the Band!     32
Cripple Creek     32
Chord Dictionary     33
Congratulations     37
Additional Lyrics     38
About the Author     39
Discography     39