“I cannot stress how many times I had tried and failed at Drop Thumbing until I went through the Breakthrough Banjo Course…Now it actually feels natural and I can hardly believe it.”
– Zachary Taylor, Breakthrough Banjo member
From Awkward and Intimidating to Effortless and Natural
In a recent survey, Breakthrough Banjo members were asked if there was something they’d previously been frustrated by that they’d overcome in the course.
The most common answer: DROP THUMB.
Drop thumb is one of the most versatile techniques for the clawhammer banjoists, yet many players often struggle with it.
Some had struggled for months, some for several years, and some had just plain given up on it.
It doesn’t have to be that way!
In fact, as I wrote in this recent article on the subject, drop thumb is no more difficult than any other aspect of clawhammer banjo playing.
The secret, of course, is in HOW and WHEN it is taught.
(RELATED: Are You Ready To Learn Drop Thumb?)
There’s a reason drop thumb is the primary focus of the second module in the Breakthrough Banjo course. I want you to learn drop thumb early on, so that, just as it did with Zachary and so many others, it will transform from something awkward and intimidating to something natural and effortless.
(BREAKTHROUGH BANJO: Click here to learn more.)
Drop Thumb Drills BONUS
(PICKING EXERCISES And WORKOUT TRACKS)
To further increase your odds of drop thumb success, I’ve recently created the Drop Thumb Drills, a set of picking exercises plus the accompanying Drop Thumb Workout practice tracks.
These exercises and the accompanying two sets of practice tracks (each 20 min. in length) are designed to give you the most efficient and effective way to practice drop thumb, whether you’re learning it for the first time, or reinforcing your skills.
The Drop Thumb Drills and Workout Tracks incorporate the following Brainjo principles:
- Progressive Difficulty. The progression from slower to faster tempos, as well as simpler to more intricate picking patterns, allows for the sequential accumulation of skill.
- Immediate Feedback. The practice tracks use a “call and response” system, allowing you to compare your playing to the desired result as you go.
- Optimized for Learning Time. As discussed in Episode 5 of the Laws of Brainjo, the optimum time for practicing a novel skill (or for a single, focused practice session) is about 20-25 minutes.
Join Breakthrough Banjo today (just $7 for the first month) and you’ll get access to the entire Breakthrough Banjo course contents, as well as the Drop Thumb Drills and Workout tracks bonus right after you join.
My mission is to make it so that one day you look back and wonder why you ever thought drop thumb was hard (as always, if I fail in that mission, please let me know, and you get your money back).
"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'm so loving your course. Haven't been this excited about something in a long time. I'm naturally a slow learner, but I have stubbornness, and now your course on my side.