Pete writes:

I'm glad you're finding the DVD helpful. It happens I disagree with the learning approach of learning "songs" (meaning lead arrangements in Scruggs style) first. I think rhythm playing should be taught first, with good chording, and then a person should join in with bluegrass jamming, at slow speeds.

Unfortunately, most instructors don't teach anything about jamming, nor do they facilitate jams. They instead teach people to "recite" tablature, which I assure you is only a fraction of what it takes to learn to actually *play* the style.

The fact that you've gotten discouraged doesn't surprise me, because I think the kind of teaching/learning you've done so far tends to be a dead end, especially because it doesn't lead to successful jamming. Now that you're oriented more toward jamming, I hope you have a better time.

The purpose of this DVD was not to show a variety of banjo techniques, but to give you the opportunity to play along. As I teach on the video, playing backup just means doing whatever you know how to do that will follow the chords and the beat, and sound good in context of the jam. You don't have to worry about duplicating what I do. As you learn more techniques on the banjo, your playing will develop variety, like what you see me doing. That will come from your other study of the banjo.

Any roll at all, if timed right with the rhythm, should sound fine. One roll that's easy to synchronize to the beat is the TITM roll (alternating thumb). This is the roll I suggest the viewer use when playing along with my introductory video Get Rolling. It sounds good, and is pretty easy to do and to link to the beat.

I hope you'll take some time to look at the beginners materials on my web site, as they try to point novice players in the directions I feel are most productive and satisfying for a person trying to learn to play enjoyable music.

Pete