Tuesdays, 6:30-7:45 pm, beginning March 11
$120.00 advance / $130.00
after March 6
Register online
Join Bill in this new class designed for absolute beginners of all ages! No prior experience on any stringed instrument is required to have an unimaginable amount of fun in this class!
Bluegrass banjo is the three-finger banjo picking technique developed by Earl Scruggs in the 1940’s that is an essential element of the bluegrass style today. In the hands of such modern virtuosos as Béla Fleck, Noam Pikelny and Alison Brown, bluegrass banjo technique is also the launching pad to play fiddle tunes, progressive acoustic music, Irish, jazz and classical music and just about anything else you can imagine!
Bill will take you from the very first steps of holding the banjo, fitting the strap, tuning and using finger picks before moving on to left-hand chording and right-hand roll patterns. You’ll soon master left-hand techniques such as slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs and chokes that will add spice to your playing and you’ll try your hand at banjo classics such as “Cripple Creek,” “Cumberland Gap,” “Banjo in the Hollow” and maybe even “Foggy Mountain Breakdown!” Along the way, you’ll not only learn to read banjo tablature but you’ll gain confidence using your ears to figure out songs on your own.
Bill will also show you techniques you can use to have confidence playing with others in slow jams and will introduce the basics of melodic and single-string style banjo.
Requirements: A five-string banjo, a banjo strap, a banjo capo, a thumb pick and two metal fingerpicks. Students are expected to practice at least 30 to 60 minutes per day up to four days a week in order to keep up with class assignments.
Bill Evans is the author of "Banjo For Dummies,” the world’s most popular banjo instructional book, and he has taught thousands of players from all over the world in a professional teaching and performing career that now spans over thirty-five years. Bill's instruction is hands-on and practical—he wants you to get out there playing as soon as possible and have fun doing it!
A well-known Freight performer, Bill has performed with Dry Branch Fire Squad, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Jody Stecher, Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick and Bangers & Grass, among many others. He has taught group banjo classes at many music camps across the world, including the California Bluegrass Association Music Camp, the Walker Creek Music Camp, and the American and Midwest Banjo Camps. His former students include Chris Pandolfi (The Infamous Stringdusters), Greg Liszt (Crooked Still, the Deadly Gentlemen), Jayme Stone, Wes Corbett (Joy Kills Sorrow) and Erik Yates (Hot Buttered Rum). He hosts six instructional DVDs for Homespun Tapes, the Murphy Method and AcuTab Publications and is the author of “Bluegrass Banjo for Absolute Beginners” and “Parking Lot Picker’s Songbook: Banjo Edition,” with Dix Bruce.
Bill’s 2012 CD In Good Company features Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall and 23 others performing Bill’s original music. This release was a #1 charting CD on folk and bluegrass charts and was named a “Best of 2012” CD by Pop Matters, Prescription Bluegrass, Kansas Public Radio and Folk Alley. Bill recently appeared on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor and has performed with the San Francisco Symphony. For more info about the class, email Bill directly at bill@billevansbanjo.com.
Visit Bill’s website at www.billevansbanjo.com
Visit Bill’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/BillEvansBanjo
Visit Bill’s SonicBids page at www.sonicbids.com/billevans2
