Pete Wernick, a.k.a. Dr. Banjo, has long been regarded as one of the pre-eminent banjo instructors in bluegrass music. His book, Bluegrass Banjo, published in 1974, has sold over 200,00 copies and taught thousands to become banjo pickers over the last 30 years. Together with Tony Trischka, he compiled the reams of information offered in the massive volume, Masters of the 5 String Banjo, with interviews, photos and information on 68 popular banjo players.
Pete has also released a number of instructional videos, focusing primarily on helping new players get started and learn to jam with one another.
His newest, Bluegrass Banjo Backup, has just been released from Homespun Video. It is designed for new pickers, and includes footage from his previous Bluegrass Slow Jam and Bluegrass Jamming DVDs. After showing video from an actual jam session, Pete describes the techniques, lick and patterns being employed, which are also found in the included tab booklet.
The new Wernick DVD can be ordered directly from Pete’s web site, or from Homespun, which also features a couple of bits of sample video.
