The Banjo Encyclopedia is a comprehensive, in-depth banjo instructional tool that covers the many intricacies of bluegrass banjo playing, including numerous topics that may have been overlooked in banjo instruction to date. The Banjo Encyclopedia can take a student from the beginning, to intermediate, and right through to more advanced styles of banjo playing. Ross Nickerson uses his many years of experience helping hundreds of aspiring banjo pickers by offering the banjo student an opportunity to learn in a practical, straightforward manner. This wide-ranging banjo instructional book will focus on many techniques that will help every aspect of a banjo player's musicianship while simplifying many subjects in the learning process. The downloadable audio with 99-track recording will enable the student to learn easily by hearing author Ross Nickerson demonstrate each song, and perform many of the banjo licks and phrases included in the book slow, and up to tempo. The audio download available online includes anadvanced song section with a full bluegrass band accompanying Ross along with additional intermediate songs for the student to learn. The Banjo Encyclopedia is undoubtedly one of the most complete five-string banjo books on the market today and a must for every banjo player's collection. Includes access to onlineaudio

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. the slow speed is ideal for hearing the notes clearly and being able to play along in rhythm; the medium speed is a perfect goal for the beginning and intermediate student while the faster speed demonstrates what the song can sound like with a hard, driving push. the tablature is large for ease of reading and includes accent marks for melody notes where needed. Ross also provides tips and suggestions for each song to save you valuable practice time. These are tips on the more challenging spots that Ross has learned firsthand from teaching these privately for many years. In addition, there is a whole page of instruction on learning the chords to the song, how to play the song using only the chords, chord charts written out for each song and tips for memorizing and playing without tab. Fiddle Tunes for Banjo Made Easy is not just another tab book; it covers all the bases and gives you a realistic balanced approach for learning the songs the EASY way.

A collection of over 200 great Bluegrass, Old Time, Country and Gospel standards. Melodies are presented with standard notation and tablature along with lyrics and chords.Learn to play songs written and recorded by the giants of traditional American music: Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, Flatt & Scruggs, Ralph Stanley, the Osborne Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson and many more. Also included: Step-by-Step instruction on how to transpose any song to any key!The two CDs include recordings of EVERY song in the book.

Easy to play five-string banjo arrangements of twenty-four Children's favorites by banjo master Ross Nickerson. Not only are these songs fun to play but from an instructional standpoint they are perfect for helping you develop the ability to bring out the melody in the bluegrass banjo style. Accenting the melody within the steady rhythmic roll of banjo playing is one of the biggest challenges facing banjo students and these familiar melodies are ideal for your development of that skill. Each song is arranged and performed using proper three-finger bluegrass technique. the arrangements are carefully designed to bring out the melody, but easy enough for a beginner or intermediate player to learn quickly.The tablature in the book is large and easy to read with accent marks for melody notes, as well as right and left-hand fingering indications. This book is not simply a tablature book! Children's Made Easy for Banjo also features instruction on learning the chords to each song, chord progression charts for each song, special learning tips for each arrangement, a full page of advice on memorizing the songs and more. Also, in the instructional section of the book Ross includes a page of suggestions on the best use of practice time and how to develop the skills needed to succeed with each piece. Children's Songs Made Easy for Banjo features a high quality studio recorded CD of all the songs played at three speeds and a bonus track of Ross performing improvised versions of several of the songs in the book.

Gospel Songs for Banjo Made Easy is a collection of gospel favorites arranged for bluegrass 5-string banjo. The arrangements stay true to the classic three-finger Scruggs style techniques with the melody skillfully woven in. On the 68-track CD, Ross plays each song at three speeds with a rhythm track for each song to practice along with. The tab is large and easy to read with accent marks for melody notes. Chord charts for each song are also provided to give instruction on how to play through the songs using only the chords Ross also writes out tips and suggestions for each song, which is not normally seen in song books. This should give you a significant head start by having the most challenging spots pointed out to you before you even get started. In Gospel Songs for Banjo Made Easy. Ross Nickerson brings all his knowledge from years of teaching privately and writing books to help you learn these fun to pick classics, the EASY way!

Easy to play five-string banjo arrangements of twelve Christmas favorites by banjo master Ross Nickerson. Each song is arranged and performed using proper three-finger bluegrass technique. the arrangements are carefully designed to bring out the melody, but easy enough for a beginner or intermediate player to learn quickly.The tablature in the book is large and easy to read with accent marks for melody notes, as well as right and left-hand fingering indications. This book is not simply a tablature book! Christmas Music Made Easy for Banjo also features instruction on learning the chords to each song, chord progression charts for each song, special learning tips for each arrangement, a full page of advice on memorizing the songs and more. In the instructional sections of the book Ross draws on his many years of experience teaching students privately to anticipate and point out the most common obstacles and challenges with each song. This section also features a page of general advice that includes suggestions on the best use of practice time and how to develop the skills needed to succeed with each piece. Additionally, Christmas Music Made Easy for Banjo features a high quality studio recorded CD of all the songs played at three speeds including a backup rhythm track to practice along with. Also included is a page entitled Advice on using the CD and Rhythm Tracks to help ensure that the student fully utilizes the audio recordings to learn the songs more efficiently and with greater ease.

Gospel Songs for Banjo Made Easy is a collection of gospel favorites arranged for bluegrass 5-string banjo. the arrangements stay true to the classic three-finger "Scruggs style" techniques with the melody skillfully woven in. on the 68-track CD, Ross plays each song at three speeds with a rhythm track for each song to practice along with. the tab is large and easy to read with accent marks for melody notes. Chord charts for each song are also provided to give instruction on how to play through the songs using only the chords Ross also writes out tips and suggestions for each song, which is not normally seen in song books. This should give you a significant head start by having the most challenging spots pointed out to you before you even get started. In Gospel Songs for Banjo Made Easy. Ross Nickerson brings all his knowledge from years of teaching privately and writing books to help you learn these fun to pick classics, the EASY way!

Welcome to Gospel Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo. After many years of requests by you and the publisher, I have made this collection of Gospel favorites available to those of you who play the clawhammer banjo style. 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.Should you find you need an instructional book, please get my Clawhammer Banjo from Scratch book with companion CD's (MB20190BCD) and the corresponding DVD's which are also available from Mel Bay. You may also wish to see Jack Hatfield's Old-Time Gospel Banjo Solos (MB96755BCD) for 3 finger bluegrass/Scruggs versions of many of the tunes presented here.

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