Bill takes you through the two bluegrass banjo techniques that were added to Scruggs-style to create exciting bluegrass music from the 1950s to the present day. In melodic-style, you’ll explore the technique, theory, and repertoire (first developed by Bill Keith and others in the early 1960s) that allows you to play consecutive scale notes on different strings. In addition to the basics of the technique, Bill explores different keys and advanced melodic positions that players like Noam Pikelny, Tony Trischka, Béla Fleck, and most contemporary bluegrass banjo players use. In single-string, you’ll learn to play the banjo as if you were playing with a flatpick, using an alternation of thumb and index finger to play melodic lines. Bill starts with basic exercises and then explores scale positions based on chord positions in closed and open positions, in different keys, and up and down the neck. 

The course consists of an introductory lesson covering both styles, three lessons on melodic style, three lessons on single-string, starting, in each case, at the very beginning, and a final lesson covering both styles. In addition to learning repertoire and a variety of licks, you’ll come away from this course with a deeper understanding of melodic and single-string banjo that will undoubtedly add a whole new dimension to your playing.