The Murphy Method Blog

Beginning banjo students frequently ask, “In what order should I go through the DVDs?” (Although I’ll have to admit, the question is usually phrased using my favorite bluegrass grammar, “What order should I go through the DVDs in?”) Regardless of how the question is asked, it’s a good ‘un.

I found myself answering it several times this past weekend at the IBMA FanFest. So many times, in fact, that I decided to finally post the answer on the Blog!

My own approach to the order of the songs has changed over the years as I learn more about teaching, and especially as I learn more about teaching adults.

So here is my highly recommended Beginning Banjo Track.  You will notice that I skip around on the DVDs, but always stay with the Big Three: Beginnning Banjo Vol 1 and 2 and Misfits. These are your foundation.

First the list (in case you don’t want to read any further), then the explanation.

Banjo in the Hollow
Cripple Creek
Boil Them Cabbage Down (low break)
Boil Them Cabbage Down (high break)
Cumberland Gap
I Saw The Light
Do Lord
Worried Man
Two Dollar Bill
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
John Hardy
Old Joe Clark
Foggy Mountain Breakdown (high break)
Lonesome Road Blues
Fireball Mail

Learning all these songs (and being able to play them) should take you at least ONE YEAR, possibly TWO YEARS. Don’t rush it!!! And learn your chords!

Now the explanation:

I almost always start with these three songs, because they are so easy:

Banjo in the Hollow
Cripple Creek
Boil Them Cabbage Down (low break)
Boil Them Cabbage Down (high break)

Then it’s either

Cumberland Gap
or
I Saw The Light

Some folks HATE Cumberland Gap and I see no need to torment them with it. But if you can stand it, it’s good prep for other up-the-neck songs.

Then, for many adults, I go right on through the rest of the Misfits DVD:

Do Lord
Worried Man
Two Dollar Bill

(You can skip “Do Lord” if it’s not a song you know!)

I use these songs because most people have heard them and, frankly, they are pretty easy. The downside (as so many students inform me!) is that they do sound very much alike. But my point in choosing them was just that: they use many of the same licks which, if you learn them in order, you can just plug in. It also forces you to practice those same licks over and over, so they really stick in your head! Then I teach a new lick in every tune.

After that, I pop back to Beginning Banjo Volume 1 for

Foggy Mountain Breakdown
and
John Hardy

Then for some students it’s on to Beginning Banjo Volume 2:

Old Joe Clark
Foggy Mountain Breakdown (high break)
Lonesome Road Blues
Fireball Mail

You may notice that I have left out “Salt Creek.” I don’t teach that too much anymore. Not because the song itself is too hard. It’s not. But the CHORDS are too hard. They are tricky and fast and not many beginners (or beginning intermediates can handle them). And now I almost always  introduce learning to chord (vamping) at an earlier stage.

And since my students are learning their chords earlier, I have also had really good luck moving them to the Improvising DVD after Beginning Banjo Vol. 1 and Misfits. My student Bob, now a two-year veteran, has just finished all three of those DVDs and is moving on to lick substitution, a step-by-step technique Casey and I are in the process of developing. (Oh yeah, there will be a DVD!) I am really excited about that!

After the Big Three, you can go in many directions. We’ll take up an Intermediate Banjo Track in a future blog, but right now I really need to finish my latest Charlaine Harris book, Dead As A Doornail!

PS Bluegrass Now magazine was kind enough to profile me in their very first online edition. Check it out. I’m sure Casey will add a link here! [Unfortunately, you can't see Murphy's article unless you subscribe to the magazine. If you ARE a subscriber, the link to her article is this one ---but you'll have to log in.]