Banjo Primer Book for Beginners: with Online Video & Audio Access

The Banjo Primer Deluxe is an OUTSTANDING choice for beginner banjo players - even those that have dabbled in it already. I originally used a DVD course that was ok and tried youtube, but Geoff Hohwald's is a MUST. I am an experienced guitar player and always wanted to try banjo. This course starts out explaining everything you SHOULD know first (i.e. the parts of the banjo itself, how to attach a strap, proper posture, tuning, banjo care, proper positioning of your hands/fingers for correct technique and efficiency, etc.) Other courses will jump right in and have you picking away without taking the necessary time to give you this important education about the instrument. He also provides you with a fantastic set of tips on "how to practice" - these tips apply to any instrument and I wish I had these at my disposal when I learned guitar! Worth the price alone. Seriously. I learned so much faster and more accurately as well. My playing cleaned up and flowed naturally. The Banjo Primer breaks down learning the banjo in simple, easy to follow steps at a very slow and manageable pace. Then in small intervals he speeds each one up gradually. Bit by bit, note by note you then begin to piece together full measures in sequence until eventually you are playing an entire song from start to finish. Then, and only then, does Geoff challenge you with 5 different speeds of backing tracks to jam along with a bluegrass band. He proves that ANYONE (any age, gender or experience) can play the banjo and play it well. If you have the ambition and follow along patiently, there is no doubt you'll be picking away like a pro in a very short amount of time with this course. I still can't believe how inexpensive it is for what you get. Loads of fun! Highly recommended.

Wow great book has all the ways of placing hand on instrument and how to pick with each finger. And cords

An excellent beginner's book. Geoff's video instruction is outstanding and very user friendly. The CDs are adaptable to all playing levels as you progress. I use the drills and exercises every practice session, and my accuracy and speed are improving daily. Only one negative: this book is geared almost solely to accompaniment and not solo work; words are not included, hence you never get the feel for the song as it is supposed to be played. I began my banjo-playing journey at the age of 72 about four month's ago with Wayne Erbsen's "Bluegrass Banjo For The Complete Ignoramus." This book fills in the gaps left out of "Banjo Primer..." In my opinion, using these books in conjunction raises the rating of both to solid 5 stars.

I have been playing the jazz guitar (electric, bass) for 43 years now. I have no banjo background/experience. I got this book yesterday in Kindle format. The Kindle format comes with the video access to see the digital version of the DVD that came with the hardcopy version of the book. On the very first page of the Kindle book, there is a URL there. Just click that URL, and it will take you to a page where you need to enter your email address only once. I believe the email address is a token that matches to your amazon email address. Do not wait for Amazon to send you an access link. The link to access the video, as I said is on the front page of the digital version of the book. Geoff Hohwald, the author, is one tough instructor, and I like it. He's serious about what he wants you to do and stresses the importance of getting things right first before going to another section of the instruction. The book touches everything, from the posture, tuning, using the fingerpick, to reading the tablature (love this part)...AND it comes with the backing track bass and guitar mp3s (downloadable) to accompany your playing. The backing tracks some in three speeds- slow-med-fast. There's no need to read music notation as, from what I have seen so far, there are all in tablature format. I am only on the first 10 minutes of the video, and then I stop and read the Kindle book. It is important that you read the book and supplement it with the video or vise versa. But the book has a lot of info that really gets into the specifics and fundamentals of banjo playing. There are online banjo instructions sites out there; there's one that charges $250/month. Ridiculous. Uhh no thank you. This book should suffice as a good starting point to learning the banjo. For a guitar player like me, the transition or rather the learning curve is slightly easier to cope with because some of the fundamentals of guitar playing do apply to banjo playing... hand positioning, picking/plucking, posture, even tablature reading. But there are other basics in banjo playing that are completely different from guitar playing. The tuning is one thing which is completely different from your standard EADGBE guitar tuning. So all the blues scales, pentatonics, major, minor scales you know in guitar is out the window completely because of banjo's GDGBD tuning. And this is the beauty of learning the banjo, the learning to "walk-again" moment to me is a priceless experience. Get this book. This is all you need to get started with banjo playing. To a guitar player wanting to learn to play the banjo, this is the only book you will need. To someone with no experience in playing an instruments, guess what, this book is all you need to. Highly recommended!

Though the book is a slightly dated, the book is still relevant to learn from. The author, Geoff Hohwald has done a fantastic job of how the book is laid out and is extremely easy to follow. Learning to play from the book took me only 3 days and I was easily able to play the song "Boil Them Cabbage Down" from memory. I have no prior experience playing a banjo, except from noodling around with one from the local big box guitar store. The book only uses Tab format and not music notation. This makes far more easier to learn from as a background in music is not necessary. Book still includes the DVD to learn from and two music CDs with sample arrangements and background tracks to play along with. I have yet to use any of the digital media, but the book alone taught me. Love it, as for I have always wanted to play the banjo. This book is intended for pure beginners with no experience and for a regular size 5 string banjo, not a banjo-guitar, banjocita, banjo-ukelele, or some other different type of banjo.

I recently got my first banjo- I already play a little guitar and ukulele- and was looking for a beginning book that would allow me to learn banjo at my own pace. This book/video/CD is terrific! It starts out slow and detailed and progresses step by step until you are playing whole pieces in a matter of days. As a music teacher I am well aware that starting out with good habits is essential when learning a new instrument. The book and practice CD allow you to practice as much or as little as you want, while the video shows you exactly how to play correctly. I'm really enjoying learning and playing my banjo. My progress after only a week is amazing. Thanks for a wonderful product.

Idid not receive the dvd. The sleeve was empty when I received the book.

First off the key word is "beginner". Which means absolutely no experience in playing the banjo or even touching one until you start. If you have some experience or more and somewhat on the cusp of intermediate levels, this book is not for you. Now...for brand new beginners, this book with DVD and CD's, is one of the best I've come across. It tells you parts of the banjo, strings and tuning. The beginning exercises shows you how to hold the banjo and where and how to place your fingers. Roll exercises help get you warmed up and to get your picking fingers memorizing the strings when playing. The step by step process is done in the order one needs to learn seriously. Geoff always expresses to practice individual exercises before moving on. The book also teaches you how NOT to get into bad habits and go at your own pace. I have been learning the banjo for 3 weeks now, and I have progressed quite well using this book. Geoff also explains how practicing at your own pace will greatly improve your technique down the road and in the short time since I started I can safely say this is true. On another note, doing these exercises helps you learn to tune (even with a tuner) with other strings; how to put on a strap correctly and so on. Each new technique such as slides, hammer on's, chokes, pull-off's are explained and shown with 1 or 2 bar exercises each individually then incorporated into songs. I have several books on learning and I have to say this is one of the best. The DVD is a little clunky on some systems, however, I play them on a blue-ray with the CD's. Better sound anyway.

Online video wouldn’t work on iPad… I am updating my earlier review because the publisher replied. They provided a working link via email. Now I’ve had a few goes at adding 5 string 3-finger banjo to my repertoire… and tried several methods, including looking at random youtube videos. This is very clear and well-paced. The book and tab are completely useable in the Kindle edition… which is really nice, as I’ve looked at others where the tab is unreadable on Kindle. The videos are updated, and excellent. In summary, if you are serious about learning this style, or are returning to banjo having got nowhere before, just buy this… it is excellent value, and the best I have found. The tunes are relevant in sessions, and gently add technique as you work through the book and videos. There are other books Geoff Hohwald has produced that complement the instruction here with routines for practice etc, and you will likely end up buying a couple more because they are so handy. Best of all, they are all amazing value. I cannot stress this enough, based on my experience buying plenty of much more expensive material… I can say with certainty more expensive definitely does not guarantee you better instruction than this… this IS the best I have found.

Didaktisch sehr gut aufbereitetes Buch. Die Videos motivieren zum Lernen.

Excelente producto

The book is very good and easy to learn

A grwat book with DVD's that teaches you the art of banjo playing.... Like all instruments- practise makes for fun and increasing skills