A complete guide to the world of the five-string banjo writtenfor both beginners and more experienced players.Packed with over 120 how-to photos and 130 musicalexamples.94 track CD included - hear and play along with every exerciseand song.The only book to offer instruction in clawhammer, bluegrass,melodic, single-string, minstrel and classic styles.From Earl Scruggs' driving bluegrass picking to thegenre-busting jazz fusion of Béla Fleck and the multi-millionselling movie soundtrack O Brother Where Are Thou?,the five-string banjo can be heard just about everywhere inAmerican music these days.Banjo For Dummies is the most complete guide to thefive-string banjo ever written. It covers everything you need toget into the banjo: including how to choose, tune and care for yourinstrument, developing a good playing posture, fretting your firstchords and getting comfortable with the left and right hand pickingpatterns used for clawhammer and bluegrass playing techniques.You'll then add the left hand, spicing up your playing withslides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes for an authenticfive-string banjo sound.From there, you'll move on the play 19th century minstrelstyle, early 20th century classic style as well as try your hand atmore advanced examples of bluegrass style. An in-depth chapter onbluegrass music explores Scruggs licks and techniques as well asmelodic and single-string styles, with song examples. Also includedis a banjo buyer's guide, a section on music theory asapplied to bluegrass and old-time music, an accessories guide(advice on cases, picks, straps, metronomes, computer aids and muchmore), information on how to find a good teacher, banjo camp orfestival, chord charts, bios of twelve influential players,practice tips and much, much more!Banjo For Dummies is accessible and fun to read andit's easy to locate just what you're interested inplaying. Included are 20 songs including several new compositionswritten by the author just for this book, including Reno Rag(single-string style), “Winston's Jig” (Irishthree-finger), and “Everyday Breakdown” (Scruggsstyle). All musical examples are played slowly on the accompanyingCD, many with guitar and mandolin accompaniment.Bill Evans is one of the world's most celebrated banjoplayers and teachers. He has taught thousands of people to play thefive-string banjo in private lessons and group workshops literallyall over the world. In addition to leading the Bill Evans StringSummit, Bill has performed with Dry Branch Fire Squad, DavidGrisman, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka and many others and he hostshis own acclaimed banjo camp, the NashCamp Fall Banjo Retreat inthe Nashville area. As an American music historian, he has taughtat San Francisco State University, the University Virginia and DukeUniversity. He has written a popular instructional column forBanjo Newsletter magazine for the last fifteen years andhosts three popular instructional DVDs for AcuTab Publications. Tolearn more about Bill, visit his homepage atwww.nativeandfine.com.Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementarymaterials are not included as part of the e-book file, but areavailable for download after purchase.