Banjo | David O’Dell | Intermediate/Advanced | Period 2 | Week 3 (July 20-24, 2026)
Using more advanced techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs, and drop thumb, students will explore versions of fiddle tunes that include most of the melody notes while maintaining a solid clawhammer rhythm. The course will emphasize tunes from some of the more “note-intense” West Virginia fiddlers such as Frank George, Glen Smith, and Bobby Taylor.
About the Instructor
David O’Dell is a native West Virginian who has been playing traditional music for more than 40 years. He plays banjo, fiddle, guitar, Appalachian dulcimer, mandolin and upright bass. David has won just about every banjo contest in the state and has taught workshops at the Augusta Heritage Center and Allegheny Echoes in Pocahontas County. He serves as the president of the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville, WV, where he is also a professor of chemistry at Glenville State University. David performs regularly for square dances and concerts throughout the state with the Mack Samples Band, the MacAbre Brothers amongst other groups.