Ask Dr. Banjo:
How important is it to know songs?

<<Basic>>

Susie writes from Indiana, before attending a jam camp, asked:

Many of the songs in the songbook (and on the pages you sent me) I don't know since I come from more of a folk-music background. I have a lot of bluegrass CD's but not many of them have these songs on them. How important is it to KNOW the songs v.s being able to play along with?

Pete writes:

Good question, Susie. The answer is: It's much more important to know how to play along with a new song than to know many songs. Naturally, it’s good to be familiar with popular bluegrass songs, for easy and confident playing when they come up. But there will often be unfamiliar songs, and the ability to quickly learn the chords and melody is a very useful skill.

Pete

“Ask Dr. Banjo” was created to encourage banjo education. Please feel free to contact me (Pete@DrBanjo.com) with any questions, and I’ll try to answer it on the next “Ask Dr. Banjo”. Also, check out the additional instructional material available on the site.