Beyond Bluegrass Banjo (book/CD)

Publisher: Berklee Press
Etudes and Ideas for the Modern Banjo Player

Play and improvise with more expression and freedom in bluegrass and related styles. These ideas, exercises and etudes will help you expand your palette of improvisational and compositional techniques and sounds. Develop your versatility over the fingerboard, and master rhythmic ideas on the banjo. The CD features demo and play-along tracks performed by an all-star bluegrass band!

You will learn to build solos using techniques such as:
• Recognizing a melody's defining notes, and using them in new contexts
• Reharmonizing chords and changing modes
• Breaking down, rearranging, and varying melodic and rhythmic cells
• Arranging melodies in different registers that span the full length of the fretboard
• Drawing from chord forms, tetrachords, guide-tone lines, and other constructs

“This book opens up new vistas on the banjo, particularly useful for advanced players” Tony Trischka, Banjo Great