Reading from the Mel Bay Banjo Method

from: The Banjo According to Danny Barnes with Danny Barnes

This lesson is part of the course The Banjo According to Danny Barnes with Danny Barnes.

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Roots music iconoclast Danny Barnes reveals his systematic approach to the banjo, with one-of-a-kind insights on improvisation, reading music, getting a good sound out of the banjo, rhythm and timing, and more.

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The Right-Hand Stuff

Danny talks about the other roll he thinks is important to practice and have in your repertoire, the 1 2 1 5 roll. The 1 2 1 5 roll allows you to move a melody up and down the banjo neck on the first string. Danny shows you how to do that on a tune like Alan Munde’s “Deputy Dalton” and how to practice the 1 2 1 5 roll with a metronome. He also shows you a variation that moves the middle-index finger alternation to the second and third strings (2 3 2 5) and third and second strings (3 4 3 5).

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Reading from the Mel Bay Banjo Method

In this lesson, Danny talks about the benefits of using Mel Bay’s Banjo Method, by Frank Bradbury, to work on reading music for the banjo. The tunes are from the “classic banjo” repertoire and the book includes etudes focusing arpeggios, scales, counterpoint, different keys, etc., all written for “C tuning,” in which the low D string is tuned down to C. Danny talks about the advantages of C tuning and plays one of the tunes in the book: “The Daily Double.”

"The Daily Double" (Available to subscribers)