The Banjo Player's Songbook

Lovely book to spend plenty of days to work through

Buy this book. I have 50 or more banjo books this is one of the top 3 books I own.It is for clawhammer style not 3 finger style.A great songbook.

Nice easy banjo tab to follow, full of classic banjo tunes, from Cripple creek to Christmas songs, whatever style you play, from clawhammer to bluegrass there is something for everyone

only 3 or 4 chords in most of the songs not to much fancy banjo picking most songs I have never heard of. 288 pages well worth the money

This has most of the old standard favorite song we knew as kids. It arrived in good time and in good condition Thank you

Brilliant Book - loads of tunes to practise weather picking or frailing

Nice and easy songs to play for beginners and intermediates but shame there isn't a CD accompaniment.

We're having great fun with this song book

Starts with a generous selection of clawhammer accompaniment right hand patterns. The tab has chords identified and he has a nice selection of chord shapes for the various tunings used in the book; mostly open G. Brief selection of three finger picking (no two-finger picking) and plectrum strumming. This is a clawhammer book. No bluegrass rolls.The tab is basic melody oriented and quite shy of excessive embellishments which I consider to be a wonderful thing since they obscure the melody. It is best for a banjo player to make their own decisions and variations for that. Since the melody is clear and the clawhammer embellishments are obvious a finger picker (especially two-finger) could use the tab and put their own pinches and drone patterns.The tab makes extensive use of left-hand technique; hammer-on, pull-off and slide. There are also places where right hand drop thumb is appropriate but he doesn't mention it, though it is obvious in the tab. It is clearly not a technique book. It doesn't "teach" those techniques and the book is for someone with basic banjo skills which are best learned from an instructor of video anyway.It definitely shines as a song book with a wide selection of tunes appropriate for the banjo and some you might not think of as banjo tunes. The songs have lyrics which are great for ear players who won't be memorizing tab but just use it to get started on a tune and will remember the melody singing the lyrics. The fiddle tunes of course don't have words.I really, really like this book. Basic melody with chords and lyrics is exactly what I've been looking for. Something not typical in banjo books with some overdone arrangements. A book that can keep someone busy for a long time.A song book this large should be spiral bound but I don't have the heart to knock off a star for that.

Great book. Easy to read tabulature. A real variety of tunes, not just (but some of) the oft repeated stuff. Can keep you busy for quite a while learning all these tunes.

Mit diesem Buch habe ich Banjospielen gelernt! Hier stehen wirklich alle wichtigen Tunes drin. Sie sind verständlich dargestellt und haben mir das Banjolernen sehr erleichtert, weil man gleich ein paar bekannte Tunes einüben kann. Sie sind leicht nachzuspielen, klingen dennoch anspruchsvoll. Kann man ein paar davon auswendig, kann man in vielen Sessions schon mal mitspielen. Ein Buch sogar für Anfänger, aber auch für Fortgeschrittene, es begleitet mich jetzt schon viele Jahre auf meinem Weg des Übens und Lernens. Fast mein gesamtes Reportoire habe ich aus diesem Buch. Schade, dass es zweite Buch nirgendwo zu kaufen gibt.

excellent

If you are a banjo player and interested in playing old-time/clawhammer style and want a great anthology of songs, this is the book for you. The songs are tabbed (rather than classic notation) and given in the simplest form possible so that players can learn the basics of the songs and then throw in their own flourishes as they develop. The variety of music here is brilliant as well, as there are a broad swath of categories represented, from sea chanteys to classic hymns, even Jewish holiday songs! The editorial remarks in the intros to songs can also be quite humorous if you take the time to read them and I have let loose a good number of chuckles at the witty remarks therein. As far as song books go, this is the one I use the most and will be using it for many years to come. Highly recommended!