Old Time String Band Banjo Styles

An overview of the basics of old time string band banjo styles as played in the Southern mountains of the eastern United States for “seconding” vocal songs and fiddle tunes. These techniques are taken from commercial recordings made in the 1920s and early 1930s. Looks at the influence of classic and ragtime banjo styles on the string band genre and four performance styles: banjo style, guitar style, index lead and thumb lead. You’ll learn how to: play period-sounding banjo style backups, “double” the melody, use open D and E tunings, play short bridge riffs and hooks, backup songs in triple meter, more, including building a complete thumb-lead backup for the song “A Dark Road is a Hard Road to Travel.” Note/tab (some examples are in tab only). 63 pp.