Introducing “BANJO BREAKTHROUGHS”
Since launching the Breakthrough Banjo course in Nov. 2014, I’ve been delighted and humbled by the stories I’ve received from members.
Stories of folks doing things they didn’t previously think possible, like learning to play by ear, attending their first jam, or learning their first musical instrument later in life.
And giving people the tools to do things like this was the whole mission of Brainjo to begin with!
To give people the tools needed to do things with music they never would’ve believed they could do.
I also know how inspiring these stories can be for folks wanting to achieve similar things, so from time to time I’ll be bringing those stories to you.
EPISODE 1: Zachary Taylor
A Clear Path, Breaking Tab Dependency, and a Thumb that Drops
Up first in the Banjo Breakthroughs series is Zachary Taylor, a 21 year-old 5-string enthusiast who’d been trying his hand at clawhammer banjo for about 3 years before joining the Breakthrough Banjo course.
Zach On Breaking Out of the Tab Rut
Like so many folks, Zach had relied heavily on tab in the early going, and somewhere along the way realized that memorizing tabs would only take him so far. He’d reached a point where he felt stuck in a rut, but the way out of it wasn’t clear:
“So simply put, the Breakthrough Banjo Course has finally allowed me to progress in a clear and linear fashion, which has, in my honest opinion, helped me more as a musician than any other of the resources I’ve come across and tried in almost 3 years of playing banjo.
“I’ve learned more, and in a fraction of the time that it used to take me to learn far less. The backing tracks have also been extremely helpful in learning the true timing of songs and in learning to play without being completely reliant on tablature.“
On Finally Conquering Drop Thumb!
Zach’s other main struggle, a common story in the world of clawhammer learning (my goal is to make it much less common!), was learning how to drop thumb:
“I only wish I had heard of this course sooner because clearly it can take anyone at any skill level and effectively teach them.. Not just to play songs, or tunes, but to create music and really grow.”