Mel Bay's Back-Up Banjo Spiral-bound – January 1, 2002

This is the best banjo book ever. Backup banjo is the heart and soul of group playing. Don’t get me wrong, when the banjo takes a break you can “showboat”, but you need to learn how to play backup while other instruments are taking there break or during vocals. This book will not only teach you backup, but also the different roll patterns, breaks for some songs, and most importantly- etiquette while other people are playing. I could listen to Janet Davis talk all day, but she is an excellent teacher and a fantastic banjo player. I bought this for a friend who was wanting to learn how to play. I purchased my own copy about 12 years ago. I learned more from this book than all the other books and videos combined. Just make sure you get the one with the enclosed cd’s. It is crucial that you hear how it’s supposed to be played. The rest is up to you! Shave and haircut….two bits.

Janet Davis is an amazing teacher. I must agree with some reviewers that in order to play the full speed versions you better drink 3 cups of coffee and you better know the notes (or tab) because after practicing without listening to the full speed version and then trying to play the full speed version I feel like i'm slow and get kind of discouraged, but hey if it was easy it wouldn't feel as rewarding when you play. I may have rambled on there a bit but I assure you the book is worth the price tag. I also own her melodic style book which is very enjoyable and adds another dimension to the typical bluegrass sound.

This book is so popular and difficult to get hold of that I was glad I found a used version in excellent condition from Amazon. I've found Janet Davis's playing style and instructional materials to be perfectly suitable for moving up from the intermediate level of bluegrass banjo picking. There are enough variations and examples of backup riffs that can be played over tunes and songs I already know, that I'll be going back to this reference for years to come. I'm really glad this version is spiraled too. It is nice to have music that lays flat on the music stand.

All instruction books by Janet Davis are first rate. She really knows how to teach and write an instruction book. I own most all her courses and recommentd them highly. I would no problem purchaseing any of her publications. Note: the CD version of this book is no longer available. Audio and video files are now availble online.

Ms. Davis lays everything out about playing backup in this book. It is a pretty good confidence builder, too. Spiral binding is nice. She also lays out movable chords pretty well and provides practical backup "licks" that are tasteful and useful for many songs.

I was very satisfied

A bluegrass banjo player spends ~90% of her time playing backup, but backup gets little coverage in most books. This book has the most helpful and thorough coverage of backup banjo that I have ever seen, and the CDs are excellent as well. Highly recommended.

Pretty good book for laying out backup with the banjo. Arrived pretty quick as well.

This is a very good follow up to You can teach yourself banjo, the techniques are explained well and it has more tunes that are well known, which helps with the learning process, I would recommend this book to those people who want a natural progression from the beginners book.

am learning banjo and would rather learn back up so i can join in more great book for a learner because it carries you forward i like it

Exactly as ordered, competitive price- very happy. Janet Davis is a great tutor and the Mel Bay range all seem to follow logical formats that allow steady, fun learning

Excellent buy i have just started to learn the banjo and my teacher advised me to buy this book.Some excellent back up riffs and clear concise discriptions and learning passages.I would recommend this book to any learner.

After her ' teach yourself banjo' this is an intense set forward. Some intricate picking required.