Banjo | Bill Evans | Advanced | Period 1 | Week 2 (July 13-18, 2025)
This class will explore the two most important elements of three-finger banjo beyond Scruggs style that are used by many contemporary players today. Melodic style is the banjo style associated with Bill Keith and is the primary way that banjo players often play fiddle tunes note-for-note using roll patterns with melodic positions. Single-string techniques have been used by everyone from Don Reno to Bela Fleck and involve an alternating thumb and index approach, finding consecutive notes in much the same way as a lead guitarist or mandolin player. We’ll begin with the fundamentals of each approach, exploring the different right-hand picking and left-hand fretting techniques used with each way of playing. We’ll move on to unlock the secrets of the fingerboard along the way as we find scales all up and down the neck using both techniques, based around chord shapes and melodic positions. And we’ll play some great tunes in each style in a variety of keys! This is a “hands-on-and-let’s-pick” class, so come ready to play! Detailed tab will be given for everything covered in class. For questions about course content & prerequisites, please email bill@billevansbanjo.com.
About the Instructor
Steve Martin Banjo Prize recipient and American Banjo Museum Hall of Fame member Bill Evans is one of the most experienced bluegrass banjo teachers in the world, having taught thousands of players of all ability levels over fifty years of teaching experience at music camps, workshops and one-on-one lessons. Bill is the author of Banjo For Dummies and hosts nine video instructional projects for Homespun Music, AcuTab Publications and the Murphy Method. He also teaches five online courses for Peghead Nation and continues to teach one-on-one Zoom lessons to students from all over the world. He learned directly and has collaborated with such banjo greats such as Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ben Eldridge, Bill Keith, Bill Emerson, Alan Munde and Tony Trischka. As a performer, Bill has recorded and toured with Dry Branch Fire Squad, Dan Crary, Alan Munde, David Grisman, Peter Rowan and the California Bluegrass Reunion, among many others. You can learn more about Bill by visiting www.billevansbanjo.com or www.youtube.com/BillEvansBanjo.