5 String Banjo Music & Song Books

This book presents more than 70 tunes in the unique highly developed clawhammer style known as "Round Peak" -named after the Blue Ridge Mountain, North Carolina community where it originated. While not intended for the absolute beginner, this book will benefit players at various experience levels.

Exact transcriptions of 21 tunes and breaks by one of the masters of bluegrass banjo.

A compilation of favorite solos on Irish, Scottish and New England fiddle tunes arranged for banjo by one of America's foremost clawhammer banjoists, Ken Perlman. Book with online audio link

Traditional Appalachian banjo tunes in tablature. With tunings and all basic right and left hand techniques: drop-thumbing, the galax lick, pull-offs, slide and plucking. Includes Online-Audio.

This book and online audio set is intended to be a tune repertoire book. It includes over 100 Old-Time festival favorites.

In this book, with accompanying CD, Ron Hughes presents 20 of his exciting 5 string banjo arrangements of a selection of Turlough O'Carolan's wonderful Irish airs, jigs and reels.

The melodic style is a beautiful three finger picking style which can be traced to the early 1900's and became a fully accepted style for playing the five-string banjo in the 1960's, and is today an integral part of the three-finger style of many banjo players at all playing levels. Plus, the songs arranged in this style are easy and fun to learn. Although the melodic style may sound impossible with all of those notes coming from it, surprisingly you will find that it is not that difficult to learn and no previous musical knowledge is needed. This course covers the melodic style from the very basics of this picking style to the advanced techniques and provides many fun toplay and well-known songs arranged in the three-finger melodic style for upper level beginning players through advanced level players. Includes access to online audio.

The Banjo Playlist: Blue Book is a fantastic selection of over 30 classic songs to play and sing, specially arranger for the beginner banjo player. Contains classics from Jonny Cash, Woody Guthrie and Bill Monroe, with a handful of more recent hits from Amy McDonald, Paolo Nutini and The Proclaimers. Includes full lyrics, strumming patterns and banjo chord diagrams. Suitable for 5 string banjo.

Old Time String Band Banjo Styles introduces the traditional, rural string band Banjo styles as played in the southern mountains of the eastern United States, which were used to “second” Vocal songs and Fiddle tunes during the Golden Age of recorded String band music, from the early 1920s through to the early 1930s.

A comprehensive repertoire book of fiddle tunes adapted for banjo, in easy to read tablature, by the renowned player and teacher of the 5-String Banjo, Tony Trischka. For the early picker to the advanced player, this book and its companion online audio will enable the player to learn by example and broaden their technical range.

Fiddle tunes have been adapted for Banjo since the early 1850's. The explorations contained here include a large collection of popular American fiddle tunes and a section of Celtic tunes played in the three major Bluegrass Banjo styles. These Bluegrass, Old Time and Celtic banjo traditions will expand the players' knowledge of the instrument, and deepen their understanding of bluegrass and traditional music.

All it takes is the thumb and index finger! This book allows you to explore this traditional, often easier way of playing the banjo: the original two-finger style. It covers thumb lead, up-picking, frailing/clawhammer (stroke style), and drop-thumb variation techniques and is presented in various tunings with easy to read tablature plus accompanying chord symbols and diagrams with audio tracks online for download or streaming. Includes over 50 songs in the bluegrass, old-time, country, folk and gospel styles. Audio is accessed online using the unique code inside the book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.

This comprehensive collection features over 100 note-for-note skillfully-crafted clawhammer banjo arrangements of old-time Southern fiddle tunes, in clear tablature - with suggested guitar chords at a wide variety of skill levels. It contains most of the tunes played in concert or recorded by author Ken Perlman and renowned Appalachian-style fiddler Alan Jabbour, plus over 50 more classic tunes from Ed Haley, Edden Hammons, John Salyer and many other iconic roots fiddlers. Also included: Instruction on basic and advanced techniques / Tips on improving your musicianship / How to play syncopated rhythms and melodies in clawhammer style / Frameworks for dealing with crooked tunes and modal tunes. Historical notes and picturesque backstories / Ken Perlman demonstrates all tunes and most musical illustrations on 124 online audio tracks *Online Audio Includes: 24 tracks featuring excerpts from recordings of the author performing with the virtuosic fiddler Alan Jabbour, to whom the book is dedicated.

Early American Banjo by Tim Twiss provides complete banjo tablature transcriptions of the instrumental solos that first appeared in standard notation in Buckley's Banjo Guide of 1868. This modern tablature edition of over 100 mid-19th century jigs, waltzes, polkas, hornpipes and reels provides insight to the transition between the African down-stroke technique, which preceded claw-hammer style and the newer, more refined plucking technique. James Buckley (1803 ' 1872), sometimes referred to as the 'Father of the Classical Banjo,  was one of the most prolific transcribers of early banjo music. His compositions and arrangements were performed on the minstrel stage, andhis scholarly discipline produced a lasting record of banjo music of his era. This repertoire collection includes easy tunes as well as more complex pieces suited for the concert stage. The player will delight in discovering how fresh and unusual some of this music sounds, even today 'all in modern banjo tab. While best experienced on a period reproduction, gut-string fretless banjo in a lower tuning, any 5-string banjo in C tuning (gCGBD) may be used to interpret this collection. Includes access to online audio.

This book opens an entire new world for the clawhammer banjo player. In Mel Bay’s Pawhammer Banjo, the banjoist will discover new realms in clawhammer play with the use of a technical extension called “pawhammer” developed by Steve Kahn. With this extension in hand, a banjo player will be able to play notes on higher strings after playing the middle- or index-fingernail stroke. This removes a longtime drawback in clawhammer play and allows the playing of not only many new bluegrass and traditional tunes, but the entire field of ragtime. Through meticulous technical descriptions, photos, and arrangements of fourteen tunes from both the bluegrass/traditional and ragtime fields—with seven favorites from Scott Joplin, including “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer,”—author Steve Kahn carefully teaches the new skills involved in “pawhammer” banjo technique.

22 favorites from the fab four arranged for 5-string Banjo in notes and tab, including: All My Loving • Can't Buy Me Love • Come Together • Day Tripper • Eleanor Rigby • Here, There and Everywhere • I Want to Hold Your Hand • Let It Be • Michelle • Paperback Writer • Penny Lane • Something • While My Guitar Gently Weeps • Yellow Submarine • Yesterday and more.

The distinctive sound of the 5-string Banjo is most usually associated with folk, country and bluegrass music...but this instrument can sound at home in lots of popular genres.

In this book you’ll find a superb collection of 20 favourite songs, all specially arranged to show off the adaptability of the Banjo.

Ho Hey and Wagon Wheel are naturals but you’ll also enjoy just how well hits by Ed Sheeran, Adele and The Who sound in 5-string Banjo arrangements.

Whatever your favourites, you’ll find plenty here to help you play, sing and extend your repertoire.

This volume of the Banjo Play-Along series features 8 traditional Country songs all expertly arranged for Banjo in TAB notation.

Complete with full lyrics and easy-to-read chord boxes, this songbook allows Banjo players to pick and sing along to 30 of Dylan's greatest hits, including All Along The Watchtower, Blowin' In The Wind, Like A Rolling Stone, The Times They Are A-Changin' and more.

The versions of the tabs presented here are neither overly simple nor particularly complex. Anyone with basic clawhammer skills should be able to play the tab as written or get close enough so they can create a satisfying version of each tune for themselves. Book with Online Audio Link.

Renowned instructor and Grammy nominee Bob Carlin is one of the best-known banjoists performing today. This book, an update of his 1983 classic with the welcome addition of a CD, teaches readers how to play 32 best-loved pieces from his first two solo recordings: Fiddle Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo and Where Did You Get That Hat?. Includes fantastic photos from throughout Bob's career.

Fiddle Tunes for Banjo Made Easy is a collection of must-know, easy-to-learn bluegrass instrumental standards. Ross records each song at three speeds and also includes a rhythm backup track.

With its wealth of information on how technique can be tastefully applied, Back-Up Banjo is the definitive book on the subject of banjo accompaniment.

Thirty-three gospel favorites written in tablature for G-tuning banjo. Each song has a melody tab and an accompaniment tab.

The First Jam series was created to give children and beginners of all ages a book of simple, common tunes to learn. These are standard “Jam” tunes in the Bluegrass/Old Time music styles. All the books in this series are written in the same keys; they can all be played together without any problems. So get your friends or family who play guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele, dulcimer or Dobro together, grab these books and start jamming.