home

This Website is a work in progress dedicated to the 5 string Bluegrass banjo. One of the main early founders of the 3 finger style was Earl Scruggs and the style is commonly referred to as 'Scruggs Style'. There are other picking styles and I will be adding some info covering these other approaches, such as Melodic (sometimes referred to as Chromatic or Fiddle Scale) Bill Keith and the late Bobby Thompson polished this style independently but it's commonly known as 'Keith Style'. Two more great pickers who have mastered the melodic style are Carl Jackson and Ron Block. Of course there are many more, too many to mention. Another style simplistically called 'Single String' style was developed and made famous by Don Reno and is also known as 'Reno Style'. The new Reno page will be dedicated to Don's unique approach to picking 5 string banjo. Most beginner banjo players will want to learn Scruggs Style as it is the most exposed and copied approach. A lot of innovative players over the years have mixed Scruggs style with Keith Style and come up with a seamless blend. Others have mixed all 3 styles successfully. In my opinion, Reno Style is much more involved than just single string guitarlike lines and more difficult to play than either of the other two styles. The upside is that the rewards can be much greater and comprehensive. Don Reno deserved far more recognition than he ever achieved and was a great innovator and a genius. Soon I will dedicate a big chunk of this website to the memory of Don.. It will be an ongoing work in progress and will hopefully grow large. On this modest website I will attempt to pass on any useful information pertaining to the 5 string banjo that I've acquired over the years. In doing so, I aim to make what was very difficult for me - a little easier for others just starting out or perhaps at a crossroads and requiring a little help. If that's the case and these pages help, then I'll be happy my contribution has proved to be of some worth.

In the main, this site is aimed at pickers who already possess a knowledge of the rudiments of how to play 5 string banjo and to intermediate pickers who would like to pick up a few new tunes, tricks, ideas etc. If you arrived at this site via means other than by accident, it is assumed you know the rudiments of banjo picking, e.g. You are able to tune your banjo, you can vamp a few chords and are familiar with the concept of Scruggs style right hand roll patterns. At a later date, I plan to put together some tutorials in the form of HTML documents for downloading. These would suit raw beginners who have little prior knowledge of banjo. Now, please check out the rest of the WebPages and thanks for visiting -

Those who have been regular visitors to this site will notice yet more changes... The color scheme and layout have changed again. Once again I've decided it was time to revamp the pages. I hope you find my new design to your liking... If you don't then I'm afraid you'll have to wait until I have another whim to make yet more changes. The layout could change overnight. Also, check back here for updates to the site content as I have more uploads planned.

If you would like to make any suggestions on the contents of this website, or would like to see something added to the pages, then please feel free to contact me. While you're here, it would be nice if you would take a moment to share your thoughts by making an entry in my Guestbook. Thanks.

Welcome