How to Play the 5-String Banjo

Pete Seeger has sold many copies of his instructional manual How to Play the Five-String Banjo, and this recording provides some of the basics. Seeger notes that really all he has time to do here is, by analogy, teach the student how to mix and pour concrete, hammer a nail, and saw on the square, not give instructions on how to build an entire house. The banjo is a highly percussive stringed instrument, and Seeger concentrates on methods of getting sound out of it with terms he has invented himself, including "hammering on" and "pulling off," as well as strumming techniques. He is careful to point out which fingers on the hand should be used for particular sounds and how those fingers should be applied to the strings. Although the information is provided quickly on a disc that runs little over a half an hour, each point is one that the student will have to practice repeatedly to reach the speeds Seeger demonstrates. So, this is an album to listen to over and over, and Seeger even suggests ways of modifying a record player to get it to play particular sections of an LP repeatedly. ~ William Ruhlmann