Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo: Revised and Enhanced Edition

I started to play banjo or tried to play banjo in the year of 1969. My uncle got me this book and a record that you could get with the book. After a period of about two years I was playing 5 string banjo like Earl Scruggs, well almost. To make this story short, this still is a great system to learn banjo. Everett Boxdorfer

Earl Scruggs HAS to be the MOST imitated musician on the planet; when you consider all the 5 string banjos being made in the world, and HOW they are going to be played by the people purchasing them. Granted, some will be played in the traditional Clawhammer/Framming/Drop-Thumb styles which predated Bluegrass by several decades....but the remaining 99.99% will almost certainly be played in the 3 finger style of Earl Scruggs, the author of this nearly 40 year old book. Although many of today's modern 5 string banjoists have expanded the idiom somewhat, into the 'chromatic' or 'melodic' realm and attempt arrangements of jazz and new-age pieces adapted for the instrument...it is STILL the playing of Earl Scruggs that remains as the foundation of it all. The book is well written, well illustrated, easy to follow, and the accompanying CD (or tape) with it is a special treat with Earl himself, speaking each step of the way (in his pleasant down-home North Carolina accent) This book and CD will get the aspiring picker up and running in a very short time, as Earl starts with the tuning, then the basic fingerpicking patterns, which in combination, and with speed added, will develop into some very good sounding music...played by YOU! You absolutely CANNOT go wrong with this book...millions of copies have already been sold worldwide. What many people don't know, is that Earl is also an incredible fingerpicking guitarist with a style all his own. I would like to see him publish a book of his guitar stylings--I'll be the FIRST to buy a hardcover of it.

I bought this book a few months ago. I know nothing about music or musical instruments, so I decided to take lessons at the local music store. The instructor said he uses the "Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo book for his lessons, so I was already prepared for the class. With his help, the book is going much faster and I love it. It is written in tablature as well as musical notes. I am playing the forward and backward rolls and can play "Cripple Creek" pretty well. I bought a set of metal fingers (which is a must) It's a tough instrument to play and takes a lot of effort and lots of love for the banjo. Nobody loves the banjo more than Earl Scruggs. If you truly want to learn to play, his book is the best.

I absolutely love this book. I've had it for a short time, but I'm just amazed at all the content and learning it has to offer. What better way to learn the technique of Bluegrass Banjo than from the master himself, Earl Scruggs. The book has a lot of great features. It offers different methods and playing, and all the technical things a banjo player needs to know in order to really play his or her best. The tabs are my favorite. All of Scruggs's best songs are tabbed to his exact notation by himself. If you feel you're a pretty good banjo player and you feel comfortable, get this book to help your playing ability soar. Scruggs even shows you how to make your own D-Tuners, which I'm gonna try very soon. I definitely give this book 5 stars because it is well worth the money and is an asset for a banjo player to have handy for the rest of his life.

I strongly recommend "Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo" to anybody interested in learning the banjo, or other string instruments for that matter. It has a clear, common sense approach to learning music that is useful to all musicians. The book has helped many of my friends and me to become accomplished banjo players. However, as one of the other reviewers pointed out, it does contain a few errors in the tablature. There is a cassette tape associated with this book, which I highly recommend purchasing, if available. It contains music for each tablature being played by Earl Scruggs starting at the beginning of the book. This will help smooth out any inconsistencies in the tablature and will teach the importance of good timing and sticking to the melody. Very few people can match Earl's perfect sense of timing on the banjo.