Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a good beginning tutorial for clawhammer style banjo and does assume the reader has no prior musical experience, just as the author states. However, like Pete Seeger's hallowed tome "How to Play the 5 String Banjo", Dan Levenson starts the student off in a tuning that will present him with challenges down the road. Seeger even states in the most current edition of "How to Play..." that if he had the time to revise his book one of the first things he would change would be to start off the student in "G" tuning. While this might seem like a minor detail it's just as agravating as the occassional book employing non standard tablature.
My recommendation for anyone (new or experienced) who wants to learn the instrument in this style would be to get Ken Perlman's "Clawhammer Style Banjo" AND the available DVD's that follow the text. While some reviewers have faulted this book as being a little too advanced for them, the videos do a wonderful job of presenting the technical material in a manner that provides easy access to the more comprhensive material. Levenson's book has videos available as well but his teaching methods, while undoubtedly effective, are somewhat unique. That isn't a put down as "Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch" is a good book, just not one you can grow with as easily as Perlman's.
Most students will wind up with a number of books anyway and it's often beneficial to have the same information presented in different ways. For some, "Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch" will undoubtedly be just the ticket to unlocking the frailing banjo's potential. For me, it was Perlman's book and videos.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Mel Bay Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch: A Guide for the Claw-less
Southern Appalachian native Dan Levenson and Mel BayPublications present Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch - A Guide for theClaw-less! This book teaches clawhammer banjo the way we play, not theway others say. It really begins as though you really have NOknowledge of how to play the five string banjo clawhammer style. Basedon Dan's innovative Meet the Banjo™ program (where Dan brings 15banjos and teaches players who may have never held a banjo), this bookassumes no prior experience. Beginning at the beginning, Dan presentsa brief history of the 5-string banjo then goes over the parts of thebanjo, holding the banjo, right and left hand positions and his basicclawhammer strum. Even the strum is broken down into the steps of thefinger and thumb. You are guided through the chords, the scale andthen the individual notes of each of 12 jam session favorite tunesfrom scratch. Includes 2 reference CD's with all exercises, tunes(slow and up to speed), and a fiddle version of each tune.
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