Peghead Nation has announced a new 8-part banjo workshop series with Bill Evans, focusing on Melodic & Single-String Banjo, starting this weekend online.
Bill tells us that all levels of skill and experience are welcome for these live sessions, which will include ten hours of instruction over eight Zoom workshops. Four will be dedicated to melodic style, and the other four to single string, both difficult hurdles for a lot of new players. Those registered for the course will not only be able to attend each live session with Bill, they will also have access to the workshop videos in perpetuity.
Melodic & Single-String Banjo starts on Saturday, January 22, at 1:00 p.m. eastern, and will run every other Saturday through April 30. The two week break between sessions allows students some time to work on the material presented before the next class.
Evans says that he has prepared these sessions so that students move from simple to more complex material as the classes run.
“One big difference between this course and watching videos on YouTube is that this is an organized, systematic approach taking you from the very beginning to some of the most advanced exercises and tunes in each style in a step-by-step way that will help players of all levels to use these styles to make their own music. If you’re a beginner, you’ll learn how melodic and single-string styles work from the ground up (and this approach, unlocking how each style is conceived, will also help more advanced players). And for intermediate and advanced players, as we progress through these lessons (four for each technique), we’ll negotiate different keys, using melodic cross-string positions and single-string scale positions and tackle more advanced tunes.
The live lessons provide a Q&A concluding each 75-minute session, but I’m available to take questions in between our live sessions – and there’s always the recorded sessions (which are of a higher quality than the Zoom feed) to access at any time.”
Full course registration costs $200, including tablature for songs and exercises, less than the cost of eight private lessons with an instructor.
Bill prepared this video trailer to explain what will be covered.
To register, visit the Melodic & Single-String Banjo page at Peghead Nation.
