Beginner Banjo Videos

Playing the D major scale on the tenor banjo. First play the notes slowly with simple down strokes and then slowly work up to playing the notes with up strokes and down strokes. This will get easier with lots of practice. The notes in the D major scale are as follows: d e f# G A B C# D. The next stage will be to play the climbing scale as demonstrated below, which will take time to perfect.

Note: The key of D major has two sharp notes namely f# and C#

Notes for practicing the climbing scale in the key of D major

Climbing…

d   e   f#   d   |   e   f#   G   e   |   f#   G   A   f#   |    G   A   B   G   |   A   B   C#   A   |   B   C#   D   B   |   C#   D   E   C#  |   D

Descending…

E   D   C#   E   |   D   C#    B   D   |   C#   B   A   C#   |   B   A   G   B   | A   G   f#   A   |   G   f#   e   G   |   f#   e   d   f#   |   e

The 2nd video shows the pick grip and how I play up/down strokes very lightly and with a relaxed hand.

Using the same notes on the D scale play along to this March ‘The Dawning of the Day’. The second video is played as an up tempo march.

Playing the low G major scale followed by the high G major scale. This will help position your right wrist behind the tail piece as an anchor point as you will be picking across 4 strings. The notes played from the 4th (bass) string are as follows: g a b c d e f# G this is called the lower G scale. The notes played on the high G major scale are as follows: G A B C D E F# G’

Note: The key of G major has only one sharp note namely F#

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Some more videos to practice

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