Contact Us
Hello, If you are wanting to contact me the quickest way to reach me is via email. You can email me anytime at ryan@banjoexpert.com. I’ll do my very best to respond quickly! You’ll probably have a reply within an hour or two.
You can also make a trip to north central Missouri if you want, just let me know your coming so my wife and I can pick up the house 
Feel free to call or text as well. My number is 317-459-8865.
You can click here to become a premium member to get all of our premium banjo lessons
Thanks so much for visiting our site. I hope you’ll make yourself at home.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice job on the book Ryan. Your lessons are great but sometimes we just need to lean on a tab. Thanks for including it for members.
My answer to you is this; the picking hand is the MOST important. Probably 90% of banjo playing is the picking hand. I wouldn’t worry about not using all of your fingers too much. If you get discouraged look up “Barry Abernathy” on youtube. He’s one of my heros and plays very well with his left hand. Thanks Ryan
Hi Ryan, new to Banjo. Been practicing daily about 6 months and discovering that my fingering confidence on the neck is primarily with my index and middle finger. I’m afraid I am developing bad habits relying on those two fingers more than my ring and pinky fingers, especially on slides, pulloffs, hammerons, etc. As I progress (very slowly) I am realizing my speed and control is being hamper by not using the correct finger on the neck on more complicated songs. Is there anything that would help me know which finger on the neck while learning songs?
I will look into that. Sounds like a very interesting tune. Thanks for your kind words. Feel free to write me anytime. Thanks, Ryan
Hi Ryan… Love the site. I been pickin’ for about 15 years now and I like stealing some of your licks on occasion. I have a request for you to do “Matterhorn” if you don’t mind.
Thanks Gary, I will go back and look at that lesson. I may need to add the tabs. We have been going back to lessons and adding tablature since we didn’t have them all in the beginning.
Hi there:
Just joined and looking forward to getting better at my playing the banjo. I never did get into learning the rolls. I thought that if I just play the songs I am practicing the rolls. I think I am wrong. I want to start learning them now by heart. I see you have a lesson the the 3 rolls, however, no tabs so I can practice without the computer. Can you help me there or tell me where to get the proper rolls on tab so I can practice them.
Thank you for your help and this site.
Gary
I’ll put it on our list. Thanks so much.
Hey ryan been a while been working alot of hours could you possibly do a lesson on the martha white theme thanks james creasy
I am not familiar with TransKirber but I’ll have to look into it. I am currently working on tabbing out all of the other lessons but will take me some time. I can assure you that there will be tab for each lesson in the future. Thanks, Ryan
Joe, thanks so much for your kind words. I’m very glad to hear that you are continually working to be the best banjo player possible. Keep us updated on your progress as an advanced player. Feel free to write me anytime. Thanks, Ryan
Ryan
Is there any way that I can use TransKriber with the lessons?
Also, will tabs be available for all songs?
Thanks.
Hi Ryan,
I don’t play the banjo in our current band, but played the banjo for many years previously. I am always looking for ways to stay clean and fast on my banjo. When I came across your site, I hesitated joining for awhile thinking that it was a site for just beginners. I could have never been so wrong ! You have a great web site and well worth the money. Your web site made me realized how sloppy that I had become over the years on pull-offs, bends, etc. I would highly recommend your site to banjo players of every level.
Al, thanks for the question. The most structured and fine tuned way to learn the banjo is via our webcam lessons. Basically you and I would meet once a week online via webcam and we would form a banjo lesson specifically to you and your skill level on the banjo. That is the best solution. Our Premium Membership is where you will immediately gain access to all of your video banjo lessons. You would then be able to watch any video on the site; however, they are made for all members in mind and not specifically designed for just one person. When it comes to style, I teach you how to 3 finger pick a 5 string banjo. It’s what I would call bluegrass style. If you listen to some records of J.D. Crowe or Earl Scruggs you would get a good idea of the styling. Hope this helps. Look forward to having you as a member.
Hi Ryan,
I play guitar & some bass in an informal Celtic band but would love to add the banjo sound to the mix. I just purchased my first banjo last week and need some structured lessons for guidance.
I can’t view the members area yet, so do you have a lesson plan(s) that starts from “step 1″?
Do you have/use a particular style? Is there a particular style you would recommend for Irish & Scottish music?
Thanks,
Al
I’ll put it on the list. That’s a great song and I would have never thought of it. Thanks for the request!
When you get time, I’d like to see “Darlin Corey” done.
Thanks Mike
Hello, thanks for the question. I have checked both Cripple Creek and Pike County Breakdown / Ending videos that you suggested in your personal email. Both are streaming just as they should. I even loaded both of them simultaneously and neither of them stopped once during the stream. Both videos streamed over double the speed of the play time. They are working great. I’m using a 4 year old mac and at&t connection. My guess is that you have a less than optimal connection. This is usually the problem for people. Quite often they think they have a good connection when in reality they are unable to stream hd vids. You might try your local library or a friends house with a better connection to view the difference. Thanks. Have a great day.
Ryan,
I contacted you last week. Still unable to stream videos. Things stream from YouTube and other sites but, Premium Member downloads still don’t work for me.
Thanks,
L.Smith
Pamie, hello this is the first message that we have received from you. Make sure that you are emailing ryan@banjoexpert.com when trying to send us a message. I’ll update your account for you. Thanks
Hello and I hope all is well. I have left several messages and I haven’t got a response back.
My trouble is that I payed the 40.00 membership and I lost my msn account. I forgot my password and to get the new one the msn is onfile. Can you help me? My new email is taylorlanespa@gmail.com and if needed my phone number is 9045911683.
JDA, hello have you been able to sign in successfully. If not let me konw. I would say that the tuning peg needs to be tightened. You can usually do this with a small flathead screwdriver. You should see the screw right at the end of the peg where you would tune it. Thanks so much. Ryan
I’m sorry I’m not fluent in spanish. I often wish that I was.
hi ryan,I need a banjo teacher but my english is limited.you speak spanish?
Hello Ryan, I’ve tried to download your latest videos but I keep getting a ‘not signed in’ message and directed to a sign-in page. I complete this but to no avail, still can’t download (but am logged in enough to contact you).
Wonderful work, great site (I promise to do better this year). One question I have though – on tuning, the fifth string is fine but then drops out of tune slightly when I start playing. How can I resolve this?
Kind regards
James.
Ryan: I have paid my lifetime membership but seem unable to enter the site. Attempts to change my address and my password have failed. Help! Don Gluckman
Rodney,
Hello, thanks for the comment. If I understand what you’re looking for then you should be able to find it by clicking this link. This is a leather supply store. Let me know if you are unable to find what you’re looking for. Thanks, Ryan
Hello Ryan,
I am wondering Ryan if you can help me? I have a nice banjo strap but i have a adjustable hole on both ends. I cant seem to find the gold pins that allow me to lock the strap together at each end. Can you suggest whaere i can buy them and what is the name of them> You know it looks lika a gold button that allows you to loop the strap through and back then line the holes up and push a button through to lock the strap. Thanks Ryan
Rodney Thompson
I agree with you that you, no doubt, can be a good banjo player. 95% of banjo playing is in your picking hand! Bile them Cabbage is where I would start for a one finger at a time song. There will be many that you can play in the future. Keep me posted on your progress and I’ll put up a video for you soon. Thanks
hello ryan my name is troy i love playing the banjo ive been playing clawhammer style for awhile now and can play ok but but i can only play licks that i make up that sound good tome in my head and other kicker is i only have my pinky on my fretting hand i know i can do it ive watched barry not sure how to spell his last name but he is from bluegrass band moutain heart and i see he does it with his disabilty so im sure i can but i was wondering if u could find me or have some easy tabs that i can learn that i can fret with one finger and maybe ones but a diff way of fretting them thank you so very much if you can help me out
Troy
Brian, Hello thanks for the email. At this time I don’t have a dvd but I’ve been told many times to get one together. I guess I need to do just that. As for now all of my lessons are here on the site and can be streamed via the internet. Make sure that you have at minimum signed up for our e-zine (newsletter) because this is where I will post it when it does become available. Thanks so much! I’m very glad to hear from you and would love to help you get a little tune under your belt. Thanks Ryan
Ryan
Have been looking on the net for lessons. Very interested in yours so i trust you can steer me in the right direction as i have no idea at all how to play banjo nor where to start. I feel something basic to start with as i am 69 years of age and just want to strum some sort of tune to amuse myself in retirement.Teach me some thing siple. Most important i only have dvd players so i must have DVDS(most important)
Trusting to hear from you soon
Yours Faithfully
Brain Golding
Marlene, hello thanks for the question. You definitely need to find some picks that fit you well. You usually can adjust the fingerpicks to fit your fingers with a pair of needle-nose pliers and a few minutes of time to work with it. The thumbpicks are not very adjustable. Usually what you buy is what you get as far as sizing. I would try the medium dunlop picks as you mentioned. I remember them being way too small for me I know they make them pretty small and snug. Not sure about a small size, however that is a good idea. I would order a few different kinds to see what you like best. I order all of my supplies from fqms.com. You might check them out and see what you think. Thanks Ryan
Walt, hello thanks for the question. Are website is set up to accommodate banjo players of all levels. I have experienced that when students reach somewhat of an intermediate level that they tend to branch out in many different ways. Our beginner lessons are all titled in ways that you can choose to watch videos that cater to your needs. We have a 1- 10 series for beginners that will walk you through 10 videos that you will need to watch in order if you are a beginner. Once you have a few songs under your belt then your free to choose videos as you wish. Thanks for the great question! Hope to see you on the member’s side
Hello Ryan,
Are your lessons set up in a way which will bring you from a beginner to an accomplished player? Do you have, for example, lesson 1 through whatever which builds on previous skills and lessons learned? Thank you. I am looking for a structured plan that insures growth through learning all techniques and ever increasing “harder” songs. I also want to learn to read and write tablature.
Walt