Alright, for Christmas this year I'll be wanting a 5 string banjo, however there are a few things I'm interested in knowing.

1) Will I need a teacher? Or is it an instrument easy to teach yourself or just mess around on until you find a play style? (Keep in mind I've played guitar for a year now. (Not that great at it, but I'm not terrible.)

2) Should I go to Ebay or Craigslist to find one, or find an online dealer? There is one music shop near me but the only banjo they ever had was a 6 string.

3) What should I get with the banjo? Specific straps, finger picks or tuners?


I'm not googling this because I like to get opinions from people who are actually slightly intelligent, unlike Yahoo Answers where you get any jackass with a keyboard replying.

1: Depends on your style...clawhammer you could probably learn from online tutorials. Bluegrass, probably not.

2: Go to a face to face dealer, get a real banjo, don't get a pussy one. If you spend more money you will probably be more dedicated to actually learn it. If you talk to a local music guy he might give you a free lesson to get you started and help you out...you want to stay good friends with these people cause they can help you. Summary: visit often, make friends.

3: If you are going to play bluegrass style then you need fingerpicks, clawhammer then no, just grow out your nails a bit. You don't really need a strap, you don't need the resonator either really, I play mine without one. Use a tuner from the internets, don't really need to get one, but they are useful when you are away from CPU.



First and foremost, its obvious you need to figure out what style you want to play.

I recommend clawHAMMER, because it sounds cooler, and well its fucking easier.

1: Depends on your style...clawhammer you could probably learn from online tutorials. Bluegrass, probably not.

2: Go to a face to face dealer, get a real banjo, don't get a pussy one. If you spend more money you will probably be more dedicated to actually learn it. If you talk to a local music guy he might give you a free lesson to get you started and help you out...you want to stay good friends with these people cause they can help you. Summary: visit often, make friends.

3: If you are going to play bluegrass style then you need fingerpicks, clawhammer then no, just grow out your nails a bit. You don't really need a strap, you don't need the resonator either really, I play mine without one. Use a tuner from the internets, don't really need to get one, but they are useful when you are away from CPU.



First and foremost, its obvious you need to figure out what style you want to play.

I recommend clawHAMMER, because it sounds cooler, and well its fucking easier.

thanks for the help. I prefer bluegrassy type of Bela Fleck though.

Yeah, I know that I should go face to face, and I'm buddies with the guy who owns the shop, however they never have banjos (except for the occasional 6 strings, which I'm not interested in).

I'm not googling this because I like to get opinions from people who are actually slightly intelligent, unlike Yahoo Answers where you get any jackass with a keyboard replying.


Good thing you came to TOTSE then.

Good thing you came to TOTSE then.

Still better than Yahoo.

Still better than Yahoo.

You'd be surprised...

You'd be surprised...

Wiki Answers (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_healthy_to_ejaculate_under_the_age_of_13_by_ force_of_rubbing_your_penis_back_and_forth=) is the best.