Product Review

Picking up where DVD One left off, Mike Seeger continues his in-depth lesson/demonstration of predominant banjo styles of the 19th and early 20th century. Volume Two focuses on two- and three-finger techniques, some of which are the foundation for contemporary three-finger style. Each segment features a complete performance of a song or tune, comment on its style and source, and detailed split screen instruction for playing it. You'll also see close-up views of each of the nine banjos used. The enclosed booklet includes tabs, a banjo discography, how to choose and set up a banjo, and much more.

Songs include: Flop Eared Mule (up-picking double-note style); Lost Gander (thumb-lead with extensive use of harmonics); The Sailor and the Soldier (a variant of the previous technique); American Spanish Fandango (from 19th-century parlor banjo repertoire); Got No Silver Nor Gold Blues (Uncle Dave Macon minstrel style); We're Up Against It Now (arpeggio technique); That's What Old Bachelors Are Made Out Of (waltz-time back-up techniques); The Last of Callahan (fiddle tune); Lady Gay (Dock Boggs's style).

The material presented here is based on Mike Seeger's Grammy-nominated Smithsonian CD "Southern Banjo Styles."