We will learn to play banjo by ear.
What you should already know coming into this class: How to tune your banjo, how to put on your picks, how to do some basic rolls on the banjo–forward roll, backward roll, alternating thumb roll (also called “square roll”)—and how to make a first-position C chord.
You can find this information many places but I do offer it on my Murphy Method New Beginning Banjo DVD Vol. 1, available at our website murphymethod.com. (Available in a download too.)
It will be helpful, but not necessary, if you can play a song or two without looking at tab or a book.
I teach all my banjo lessons by ear, so we will not be using any tablature or written music of any kind. This may seem scary at first, but I will explain everything we do note for note, very slowly and we will all do MANY repetitions together. You are welcome to record the class.
What we will learn: We will go over all the rolls to start with, then we will jump right into learning our first song. It will probably be Banjo in the Hollow, but it could also be Boil Them Cabbage Down. That depends on what the class already knows. We will learn to play the “vamp” chords to the song we learn. And we might practice trading breaks. There is never any pressure for you to play solo, unless you want to. We will do much group playing.
As the week goes on, we will learn how to do some basic improvising on the banjo, playing simple rolls in the three main chords, G, C, and D. Some of these songs might be “Blue Ridge Cabin Home,” “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” “Worried Gal,” “Do Lord,” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
We may learn how to use a banjo capo, so please bring one.
Supplies to bring: Banjo, strap, picks, extra strings, banjo capo, recording device if you want to record.
Looking forward to working with you. I love to teach beginners!!!
Instructor Bio
Murphy Hicks Henry, from Winchester, Virginia, has been playing and teaching bluegrass banjo for over forty years. She is the developer of the Murphy Method, a line of “by ear” instructional DVDs for bluegrass music, and is one of three women featured in the book Masters of the 5-String Banjo. For over twenty years she wrote the monthly column “On the Road” for Banjo Newsletter, and she published her own quarterly newsletter, Women in Bluegrass, for eight years. She has been writing the monthly “General Store” column for Bluegrass Unlimited since 1987. She is the author of Pretty Good for a Girl: Women in Bluegrass (University of Illinois Press), and is currently working on a biography of Maybelle Carter.
Murphy served on the International Bluegrass Music Association Board of Directors for four years and received the IBMA Print Media Personality of the Year award in 1997, and the Distinguished Achievement Award in 2015. She earned her Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies from George Mason University in 1999. She was the Guest Artist at Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Week in 2014.
Murphy has been married for 46 years to mandolin player Red Henry. For years she and Red made their living playing music in the band Red and Murphy and Company. When their two children, Casey and Christopher, joined them the band became Red and Murphy and Their Excellent Children. The group recorded six LPs and numerous CDs and cassettes which feature many of Murphy’s original songs, including the feminist bluegrass anthem “I Ain’t Domesticated Yet.” Casey and Christopher are now well-known bluegrass musicians in their own right, and both have taught at Augusta Bluegrass Week. Casey and Murphy now run their own Murphy Method banjo camps three times a year in Winchester. These camps include a Women’s Banjo Camp in July.
Check out Henry at Augusta in 2014: