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The legendary Don Reno is revered in American bluegrass history for his improvisational flair, technical skills and good-humored personality. The Reno banjo style he created melds traditional bluegrass breakdowns with chord-based solos, percussive techniques and flamboyant single-string runs. Don taught his groundbreaking banjo techniques to his son, Don Wayne Reno, who now passes it on -- with lots of his dad's great advice -- to all aspiring players.
Don Wayne's warm, relaxed and very thorough analysis of some of the most requested Reno tunes will help you master the distinctive features of this marvelous style. His banjo lesson is like sitting down to learn a few tunes with an old friend as he guides you through the rolls, brush techniques, walk-downs and chord melodies that give Reno-style banjo its trademark sound. He even covers some fascinating back-up rhythm techniques, along with up-the-neck chord shapes and progrssions, tricks such as "the double roll" and the "snare drum sound," and more.
With his brother Dale on back-up guitar, Don Wayne teaches eight classic Reno songs: "Dixie Breakdown," "Banjo Signal," "Follow The Leader," "Double Banjo Blues," "Little Rock Getaway," "5 By 8," "Cumberland Gap" and the kick-offs to "I Know You're Married (But I Love You Still)" and "I'm The Talk Of The Town." The two Reno Brothers end this lesson with a great performance of "Charlotte Breakdown." He teaches this lesson on the famous 1934 Gibson Mastertone RB 3 Flathead with Flying Eagle inlay that his father received as a trade from Earl Scruggs in 1948. Don Reno played it on "Feuding Banjos" (precursor for "Dueling Banjos") and on all the great Reno and Smiley recordings. You won't find a Reno-style banjo lesson like this anywhere else!
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