The Great American Banjo Company

Bridge placement is important to get the best sound out of your banjo. The intonation is improved by having the bridge in what is called the “sweet spot” on the banjo head. This is actually easy to do as a banjo has a floating bridge (it is held on by the tension of the strings) and Read more…

The great thing about instructional material today is that you can find it in whatever format you enjoy using! With the advent of the stop/go DVD, you can back it up and listen to whatever portion you need to, innumerable times! It’s like having your own personal workshop instructor who never tires of showing you Read more…

Admired and feared, improvising has sometimes been shrouded by mystery and misunderstanding.   New banjo students are often baffled by top players who pick beautiful streams of notes but never the same way twice on a given song. The Secret Probably the most important “secret” of improvisation is “familiarity with your instrument.” The player who Read more…

A Brief History The first banjos were all open back.  Around the turn of the 20th century, jazz bands with trumpets, trombones, saxophones, tubas, and a bass drum needed a rhythm instrument with more projection.  So, according to some historians, they took the fifth string off of five string banjos, put a reflective cover on Read more…

Ben is a founding member and banjo player of the Chicago based band Henhouse Prowlers. In 1999 at age 23, on a whim, he bought a banjo at the legendary Old Town School of Folk Music, and has not looked back. This is a first hand telling of some of his recent adventures and becoming Read more…