Skip to main content

How to Play the 5-String Banjo

Pete Seeger
How to Play the 5-String Banjo

Pete Seeger (1919–2014) was a national treasure who had a long and exceptional career as a folk singer and social activist. Overall, he appears on (or is otherwise associated with) an astonishing total of 123 Smithsonian Folkways recordings.

In 1948, Seeger wrote a manual entitled How to Play the 5-String Banjo (originally self-published, the third edition was reprinted in 2013). Then, in 1954, Seeger recorded an instructional album on playing a 5-string banjo. The manual and the recording have influenced aspiring banjo players for generations.

On the album Seeger explains and provides examples of basic tunings, strums, and techniques such as “hammering on” and “pulling off” and other aspects of playing. He covers the basics of a variety of styles, including “frailing,” 3-finger, blues, jazz, Spanish flamenco, and Latin American rumba styles.

Liner notes provide background information, a complete transcript, and musical notation.

Track Listing

icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
101
A Basic Strum Pete Seeger 01:09
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
102
Now with the left hand Pete Seeger 00:22
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
103
Now with the index finger Pete Seeger 00:56
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
104
The Fifth String Pete Seeger 00:43
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
105
Now take that same song Pete Seeger 00:25
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
106
Hammering On Pete Seeger 01:16
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
107
Here's a little bit of the Pete Seeger 00:21
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
108
Pulling Off Pete Seeger 01:10
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
109
Well, now, if you study the Pete Seeger 00:46
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
110
Double Thumbing Pete Seeger 00:49
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
111
Now, for just one more time Pete Seeger 00:23
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
112
Now, not all songs, alfterall Pete Seeger 00:55
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
113
Here's the song. 'Hard Ain't It Hard' Pete Seeger 00:28
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
114
Frailing Pete Seeger 00:59
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
115
In the G tuning, you might try Pete Seeger 01:02
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
116
Now, frailing is the best way Pete Seeger 00:50
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
117
Three-Finger Picking Pete Seeger 01:14
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
118
Here's another devleopment of Pete Seeger 01:01
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
119
Here's the song, "Cindy" Pete Seeger 00:21
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
120
A Loud Strum Pete Seeger 00:55
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
121
Here is a variation of the above Pete Seeger 00:48
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
122
Three Micscellaneous Postscripts Pete Seeger 01:06
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
123
If you ever want to play a Pete Seeger 00:46
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
124
A roll is a special banjo effect Pete Seeger 00:24
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
125
3/4 and 6/8 Time Pete Seeger 00:57
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
126
Using this method, and a little Pete Seeger 00:26
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
127
For a more sustained effect Pete Seeger 01:37
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
128
Incidentally, this type of Pete Seeger 01:13
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
129
Now 6/8 time is the same Pete Seeger 01:05
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
130
Blues and Jazz Pete Seeger 01:04
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
131
Another common blues guitar Pete Seeger 00:38
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
132
Here's a sample blues passage Pete Seeger 00:28
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
133
Spanish and South American Guitar Techniques Pete Seeger 00:50
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
134
Here's one way to get a rhumba Pete Seeger 00:55
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
136
Here's still another way of Pete Seeger 01:36
icon-circle-play svg-new-pause-button
137
This last pattern can be Pete Seeger 01:00