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Learn to play banjo
 Learning to play the banjo used to be quite an adventure. When yours truly started out some 30 odd years ago you could barely even find a banjo, let alone any teachers or a decent amount of instructional material. In most cases you walked into your local music store and there was one entry level banjo hanging on the wall and a couple of banjo books in the print music section. Wow, talk about being alone in the banjo wilderness. Things have really changed. Now, no matter where you live, you can learn to play the banjo with some of the best banjo players in the business. Pickers like Bela Fleck, John Hartford, Pete Wernick, Tony Trischka and others provide a wealth of instructional material. The aspiring banjo player can start with the basics and move on to a variety of styles and levels of complexity. In fact, there is so much material available now it can be a little overwhelming if you are a beginning banjo player. We'll provide a little direction to help get you started.
I don't know squat about banjos. What do I look for in a banjo?
Please refer to "How To Buy Your First Banjo" for tips on banjo construction and banjo caveats.
It's a matter of style.
To keep things simple we can narrow banjo playing down to predominant styles.
1. Bluegrass Banjo - Comprised of a variety of banjo picking styles including three finger Scruggs style picking, two finger, melodic or a combination of techniques.
2. Old Time Banjo - If you like groups such as the Freight Hoppers or banjo players like Grandpa Jones or the old string band music you will hear a different picking style for the banjo that was the predecessor to the newer bluegrass style. Common variations include clawhammer and frailing.
3. Tenor Banjo - Tenor banjos are of the 4 string variety and are common to ragtime, Dixie land, and early stringed orchestra music. This is commonly referred to as plectrum style banjo.
What if I don't know how to read music?
Learning to read standard music notation can be pretty intimidating. Luckily, most banjo music is written in a notation called "tablature" and it is quite easy to learn. See the article "How to Read Tablature" for an introduction to this type of notation. With a basic understanding of banjo tablature and the broad selection of banjo instructional videos available you can arm yourself with the knowledge you need to teach yourself to play the banjo.
Bluegrass Banjo Basics
1. The primary tuning for banjo is the open g tuning. The strings are tuned from the 5th string to the 1st string in the following sequence of notes - g d g b & d. If you strum your banjo you will hear a "G" chord.
2. Be sure to wear finger picks. This can really feel a little weird at first but it is the finger picks that give the banjo it's volume and tone. You will need to wear a thumb pick and two finger picks. Thumb picks come in a variety of styles and what you choose comes down to a matter of personal comfort and preference. Finger picks are made of metal and come in a variety of gauges or thickness normally running from .013" to .025". The lighter gauges of .013" and .015" are recommended for frailing style banjo - the heavier gauges of .018" up to .025" are more common to bluegrass style banjo. The most popular gauge for bluegrass style banjo picking is the .018" or .020" gauge. Below you will see a illustration of how to wear finger picks.
3. In banjo playing you will hear players referring to "rolls". Rolls are the sequence in which the strings are plucked and really amount to patterns. When playing the banjo and using rolls you are playing a combination of melody notes and fill in notes. By combining the different rolls it makes it possible play a long sequence of notes containing the primary melody notes and secondary sympathetic notes. Gads, that sounds real complicated but it really isn't. Banjo players sound like they are picking a million miles per hour but, in general, they are playing a series of these rolls. Once you familiarize yourself with the common rolls they become second nature in your playing.
Here are some illustrations, in tablature, of the basic banjo rolls.
The Forward Roll 
The Backward Roll 
The Forward Backward Roll 
The Alternating Thumb Roll 
These rolls are the foundation of Scruggs style banjo picking. Of course, when you are hearing the banjo being played there are a lot of other techniques being applied like slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and chokes which are beyond the scope of this introduction to banjo. But, here lies the foundation of bluegrass style banjo playing.
Some recommendations to get you started playing the banjo.
If you are a rank beginner the following resources are a great way to get started.
 Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus
The simplest bluegrass banjo book ever written. It can teach anyone to play, we promise! Includes instruction CD with 99 tracks. This best selling book really provides a painless and fun way to learn bluegrass banjo.
 First Lessons Banjo
First Lessons on Banjo is an ultra-easy instruction manual for beginning five-string banjo played in the three finger style in G tuning. It can be used by those with no previous experience with the banjo or music of any sort. It is so basic it can be used even by small children. The book features very detailed descriptions of even the most basic aspects such as wearing the picks properly, the correct picking motion, and noting the strings properly. These are aspects that are so basic most manuals skip over them.
 Clawhammer Banjo For The Complete Ignoramus!On the 30th anniversary of the publication of the original book, Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus, Wayne Erbsen has completely rewritten this banjo classic, and now it’s even better! Clear and humorous instruction.
 Get Rolling - An Ultra-Easy, No-Fail Introduction to Bluegrass Banjo
Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick gets total novices to play good banjo music almost immediately. With only two chords, Pete has newcomers strumming and accompanying ten bluegrass standards.
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