Anyone Can Play Banjo - Deering Needs You!

by Jamie Latty

Did You Know that Banjo is the Easiest Instrument to Learn? 

Forgive us...Of course you do...You already play banjo, right? And we are thrilled that you do!

Here at Deering, we are in constant awe at the number of people who do play banjo. The last few years, as you may imagine have left us more awestruck than ever as it seems that everywhere we look, we see banjo. It is so exciting to see and I know that after nearly 40 years, Greg and Janet Deering are incredibly proud to finally see the banjo shake off its old stereotype and break down all manner of barriers that have held it back.

But as amazing as this is, we believe that there are still so many people in the world who are yet to experience what Greg affectionately refers to as "the magic" of banjo. There could be any number of reasons for this, but we have one theory in particular that stands out as being a prominent cause...

...the misconception that banjo is hard to play.

That you have to play to a Scruggs like standard to be taken seriously as a banjo player is something we hear very regularly. Yet the same expectation isn't as prominent with other instruments. Guitarists are not under the illusion that they have to be the next Jimmy Page to justify their desire to want to learn. In the same way, aspiring uke players are quite happy playing three chords without living in fear that if they can't imitate Jake Shimabukuro then their future as a musician is destined for failure. Yet we hear all the time that people can't play banjo it because its too hard.

Deering Needs You!

We can overcome this way of thinking but we need a little help from our friends, namely you!

Whether you are a seasoned veteran with chops to rival Bela Fleck , or a newcomer to this wonderful instrument, we think you will agree that the banjo is in fact very easy to play. We believe it. So much so that we made the video above featuring real Goodtime banjo owners who recently paid a visit to the factory to talk about why they play banjo. We will be pushing this (and a few other) videos in the coming weeks, but this is where you come in. Not only do we want you to watch it, enjoy it and tell us what you think, we need you to go one step further...spread the word!

How Can You Help?

You can email the link to people or if you are on Facebook or Twitter, share it with your "followers". You can post it on message forums. Or if you simply want to shout over your neighbors fence, you can help make this video be seen by many many more people. Banjo truly is a wonderful instrument that everyone should experience. We are glad that you decided to give it a try. As you will see in the video, all you have to do is strum it. You dont have to be afraid.

Thank you all for reading.

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