How Hard Is It to Learn Banjo? (Beginners’ Challenges and Useful Tips)

How Hard Is It To Learn Banjo

How Hard Is It To Learn Banjo

The banjo is a unique musical instrument that is a member of the string family, like the guitar. A couple of things that separate it from the guitar is its unique sound and how it is played. All it would take is one-time hearing it being played and you will understand why there is a pretty strong following for the banjo. However, there is a reason why it can be difficult to play the banjo, unlike a traditional guitar which is played by strumming the strings or plucking with a pick. The banjo is actually played using two different methods; 3-finger or clawhammer.

How Hard Is It to Learn Banjo?

Beginners’ Challenges and Useful Tips

  • Not having enough time

Learning how to play a musical instrument such as the banjo does take time. If time is a problem, there are some ways that you go about learning how to play banjo online. This type of arrangement can be done using a smartphone and done anywhere you have reliable Internet access.

  • Choosing the best banjo for you

There are a number of different types of banjos that you can choose from. If you are on a tight budget you can also find places online that offer refurbished musical instruments at a reasonable price.

  • Choosing between the two common playing styles; 3-finger and Clawhammer

The most popular style of playing the banjo is the three-finger method, which is, in fact, the easiest method to use. The three-finger method uses the thumb and the first to fingers. The clawhammer style is a much more laid back method which tends to make it much slower when it comes to learning how to play the banjo.

4 Methods For Learning How To Play The Banjo For Beginners

Banjo with Tony Trischka

A very popular way to learn how to play the banjo online for beginner to intermediate is by signing up for a membership to a website that offers banjo lessons on video. One of the more popular websites that offer this type of service is called ArtistWorks.com. This website brings its members together with some of the most well-known artists in the music industry. The creators of the site brought more than 200 professional musicians and inviting them to create and upload to its massive library of video-based lessons.

One of the professional artists you will find in the library is Tony Trischka who is a well-known banjo player who has been playing and recording music since the early ’70s. He has been nominated numerous times for Grammy Awards and other music awards. He has also been part of a number of music groups over the years playing the banjo.

2) Udemy Banjo Online Training Courses

Udemy Banjo

A relatively new way to learn how to do things online these days is by signing up at one of the many online universities. These websites offer a wide range of courses much like you would find at a traditional brick and mortar college or university. One of the more popular of these online websites that offers training courses to learn how to play the banjo is a site called Udemy.com.

Udemy.com offers several different training courses that are specifically designed to help people to learn how to play the banjo in their homes at their own pace. These video-based training courses offer all of the course material on easy to follow video format. All paid students will have full access to all course material 24/7 as long as they have reliable Internet access. This method is one least costly of the four methods that we have included in this article.

3) How-To Videos Online

Most people know that the Internet is one of the best places to learn how to play the banjo or anything that they have never done before. One of the reasons why is that all you need to do is simply type a few words in the search box on a website. There are many places to go on the Internet to find videos that show exactly how to do most anything you might want to learn how to.

YouTube.com is the largest and most popular of all online websites with more than a billion video clips. By visiting the free website you have full access to the many billions of uploaded videos. By simply entering learn to play the banjo you will see multiple videos that fit with your keyword that you entered. You will find that there are videos that match your skill level from basic to advanced and everything in between.

4) One on One Tutoring Lessons

People have been using one on one tutoring as a means for learning how to play musical instruments like the banjo. This was normally accomplished by finding professional music teachers and instructors that either has a studio, work out of their home or those who offer to come to your home in order to tutor clients. Unfortunately, today’s fast-paced lifestyle that many people have, finding time to learn how to play the banjo can be very tricky.

In a good time, technology has come to the rescue and there are a couple of ways that you can still take advantage of one-on-one tutoring by using your computer or smartphone with video chat technologies like Skype and Apple’s Facetime app. This type of arrangement makes it much easier to schedule lessons that fit in with your busy schedule. It also means that you could be learning from a well-trained banjo player that could be living halfway around the world from. Unfortunately, this will likely be the most expensive option that we will present in this article.

The Difficulty and Hardness of Learning Banjo

Learning how to play the banjo does not have to be a problem, however, there are some people that do face challenges in their lives that can make it a bit difficult to learn to play. Fortunately, today’s advanced digital technology and the Internet have made it possible to minimize or totally eliminate many of the challenges that have scared people away from learning to play the banjo. We hope that we have presented some very valuable information in this article that helps you out.

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