Playing clawhammer banjo
Banjo playing has been a part of America's musical heritage since Joel Sweeney, an American minstrel performer, brought the modern banjo to popularity in the early 1800s. Banjo is typically associated with folk and bluegrass, though it can be found in popular country and western songs as well. Playing banjo songs can be a relaxing hobby or even lead to a musical career. Because banjo is so popular and music written for the instrument comes in a variety of skill levels, you can always find a suitable song to pick and strum.
Instructions
1. Select a piece of banjo sheet music to practice. Start with something simple and traditional. "This Land is Your Land," "Oh, Susanna" and "Amazing Grace" are easy songs for beginners.
2. Learn to read banjo tablature. While there are songs written in standard music notation for the banjo, you'll find that tablature is the preferred method of reading music in the banjo world. Tablature consists of a graph featuring horizontal lines representing banjo strings. There may be four lines or five, depending upon the type of banjo the song was written for. Numbers placed on the lines tell you which string and fret you need to play a note. Learning to read banjo tablature will make it easier for you to find plenty of songs to play.
3. Play the notes according to finger markings when they are present. Since banjo often consists of finger picking, banjo music uses letters to indicate specific finger patterns. T=thumb, I=index and M=middle.
4. Learn as many chord shapes as you can on your banjo. A lot of banjo songs have chords written over the top of the tablature. If you know chords by heart, it will be quicker for you to read through a piece of music by glancing at the chords and playing them from diagrams as opposed to reading fully notated chords.
