Is the banjo more difficult to learn than guitar? Are there any sites for beginners?

Answer 1

For me, seriously, the 5-banjo was easier for me to learn because there are less strings to worry about, and it is tuned to an open G chord, which makes chord positions much easier than with the guitar. The hardest thing about learning to play the banjo is the right hand movements. Whether you are learning clawhammer style or threefinger style, it might take a little while learn the technique, but once get it down, then you won't even have to think about it. And if you are going to play traditional bluegrass, you will catch on very quickly because that is a very easy style to play. As you progress and if you want to learn more complicated banjo styles, you will want to look up Bela Fleck. He is sooooo awesome. The stuff he plays with his band, The Flecktones, is more like jazz, but he has a lot of contempoary bluegrass out there, too. Check out his Drive album-very awesome stuff. I learned to play the guitar after I learned to play the banjo and it seemed like it took forever to learn to use the 5th and 6th strings, and the bar chords are a lot harder; they don't come naturally for anybody. As for some links, go to

www.banjohangout.org

www.musicmoose.org

Some other interesting banjo info can be found at

wwwbanjonews.com -I definately reccomend the Banjo Newsletter to any who play the banjo. No matter what your style or level, it will have something you can use.

I play mostly the various threefinger styles, but I also play a little clawhammer as well, so feel free to e-mail me if you have any more questions. I would love to help.

Answer 2

Banjo Vs Guitar

Answer 3

Though the instruments are similar and both are fretted alike, there is a great difference. First, banjo is tuned differently. A 5-string (most popular) has a high string on top of strings that go from high to low (bottom to top, strings are tuned progressively lower until you get to the 5th, which is tuned higher). The fifth string also doesn't start at the same place the other four do. Also, in banjo, you have to learn finger rolls with your right hand whereas with guitar you pick or strum - or you can use rolls. More options, more strings, less headaches. So in other words, I think the guitar is basically easier. You can transfer to banjo later if you learn the basics on guitar but it's harder the other way round.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Learning to play a banjo is easy once you get the fundamentals of guitar playing down. I had been playing guitar for seven years before I bought my first five-string (electric) banjo. I was playing the instrument almost immediately, partly because I play fingerstyle.

A person using a straight pick on the guitar might have difficulty switching over to a thumbpick on the banjo.

Additionally, forming some of the banjo chords require the wrist to contort differently than from guitar chords.

I cannot recommend any sites for the banjo. I learned before personal computers came out.

Answer 6

Banjo is not harder but it is as hard. I learned to play finger style guitar first then went to the 5 string bluegrass banjo that's tune in open G. I think that the banjo is simpler to learn because the guitar was more changes and the banjo more rolls than the other.

Answer 7

I play both banjo and acoustic guitar. I don't think banjo is necessarily any more difficult to learn than guitar. If you already play guitar then you're already familiar with the concept of chords and noting on a fretted fingerboard. The left hand (the fretting hand) is a bit different from guitar, because the banjo is tuned differently from guitar, but not harder. The right hand is where it gets a bit tricky. If you want to play 3-finger Scruggs style bluegrass banjo (think "The Theme from The Beverly Hillbillies" or "Foggy Mountain Breakdown") you'll find it takes some time to learn the 2-fingers+thumb rolling picking patterns and get really fluent with them. Also, a lot of bluegrass is played really fast and getting good enough to pick that fast takes quite a bit of time and practice. Start SLOW and focus your attention on picking clean and clear, with good tone and solid timing. Practice with a metronome -- SLOW. Speed will come when you master the basics. A lot of beginners make the mistake of trying to play fast before they get those basics mastered and their playing suffers as a result -- they acquire bad habits that make it difficult to keep good time, their tone is lousy and their playing is sloppy.

Check out www.banjohangout.org -- its a really great discussion forum for all levels and styles of banjo playing. Lots of excellent advice from experienced banjo pickers,, free tabs, a "Sound Off" section where members post sound recordings of their playing for you to listen to, and more. Enjoy!

Answer 8

I bought my son a guitar a few years back and just got him this book at barnes and noble with a CD included. It was in the kids section, but the mix of the book showing the chords and the CD he actually was able to learn and he was only 7. So rather than online you may want to try your local book store.

Answer 9

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/awLUc

its best to just get a guitar book

Answer 10

sorry,benjo no play yet,guitar play was very long time ago.hard on benjo? mumm, may be.easy on guitar,at lease i can find this my way,yes to me in a way.thank you