Banjo | Bill Evans | Advanced | Period 3 | Week 2 (July 13-18, 2025)
Supporting others effectively in jams and in bands is at the heart of great banjo playing and, in this class, we’ll explore the various ways that banjo players play great back-up. We’ll cover the secrets of down-the-neck, driving forward roll backup as well as up-the-neck techniques based around chord positions (you know – those great things that Earl and J. D. play behind singers!). Along the way, we’ll cover many of Scruggs’ classic up-the-neck back-up licks and we’ll explore fiddle tune and instrumental back-up, playing back-up in different keys, slow song and country back-up, contemporary song back-up and more. 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.