How to Play the 5-String Banjo by Pete Seeger

Smithsonian Folkways - FW08303

Format: CD, Album, Reissue
Country: United States
Released: 2014
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Folk, Instruction
[Tracklist]
01 A Basic Strum (01:09)
02 Now with the left hand (00:22)
03 Now with the index finger (00:56)
04 The Fifth String (00:43)
05 Now take that same song (00:25)
06 Hammering On (01:16)
07 Here's a little bit of the (00:21)
08 Pulling Off (01:10)
09 Well, now, if you study the (00:46)
10 Double Thumbing (00:49)
11 Now, for just one more time (00:23)
12 Now, not all songs, alfterall (00:55)
13 Here's the song. 'Hard Ain't It Hard' (00:28)
14 Frailing (00:59)
15 In the G tuning, you might try (01:02)
16 Now, frailing is the best way (00:50)
17 Three-Finger Picking (01:14)
18 Here's another devleopment of (01:01)
19 Here's the song, "Cindy" (00:21)
20 A Loud Strum (00:55)
21 Here is a variation of the above (00:48)
22 Three Micscellaneous Postscripts (01:06)
23 If you ever want to play a (00:46)
24 A roll is a special banjo effect (00:24)
25 3/4 and 6/8 Time (00:57)
26 Using this method, and a little (00:26)
27 For a more sustained effect (01:37)
28 Incidentally, this type of (01:13)
29 Now 6/8 time is the same (01:05)
30 Blues and Jazz (01:04)
31 Another common blues guitar (00:38)
32 Here's a sample blues passage (00:28)
33 Spanish and South American Guitar Techniques (00:50)
34 Here's one way to get a rhumba (00:55)
36 Here's still another way of (01:36)
37 This last pattern can be (01:00)
[Credits]
Pete Seeger (banjo)
[Notes]
Pete Seeger (1919–2014) was a national treasure who had a long and exceptional career as a folk singer and social activist. Overall, he appears on (or is otherwise associated with) an astonishing total of 123 Smithsonian Folkways recordings. In 1948, Seeger wrote a manual entitled How to Play the 5-String Banjo (originally self-published, the third edition was reprinted in 2013). Then, in 1954, Seeger recorded an instructional album on playing a 5-string banjo. The manual and the recording have influenced aspiring banjo players for generations. On the album Seeger explains and provides examples of basic tunings, strums, and techniques such as "hammering on" and "pulling off" and other aspects of playing. He covers the basics of a variety of styles, including "frailing," 3-finger, blues, jazz, Spanish flamenco, and Latin American rumba styles.