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I'm playing for a bit longer, I got my goodtime in spring 2020. Even though I still consider myself a beginner. Yet people with an untrained ear think I'm a banjo wizard (because I can play basic rolls and some cool licks). I still struggle a lot with accuracy, rhythm, and playing with others. Sometimes I just have to remind myself that I once also was an untrained ear and 2020 me would have been amazed about 2024 me. Your videos are very valuable, probably for yourself but definitely for other players (like me). Progress is sometimes slow, but it's always there!

This is exceptional! Not only the dedication and effort that you e clearly put in but the clarity and quality. Keeping time is one of the harder skills to master and also the easiest to ignore. I find in my own practice without backup or a metronome to keep me honest, I’ll keep increasing the tempo. With an instrument like the banjo and the way we play it, it can be very easy to speed up and slow down in tunes. Looking forward to seeing how you go from here!

FYI 5th string sounds out of tune

Sorry my english is not the best. i am 16 and ive been playing for 4 years taught myself to play and i'm now playing gigs everywhere, and i think back on how many opportunities i wouldn't have had if i had'nt started playing. Practice goes a long way, and also does playing with other people that are better than you. you learn a lot from playing songs with others even if you can't play a break you can still back them up, and its worth more than any practice ive ever done on my own. also on your wrist position, for it to be more comfortable and easier to play when you get to playing faster tunes, your wrist should be a little more parrallel to the banjo and make sure your picks are mostly hitting the strings square to get an even and fuller sound from your banjo. I met Junior Sisk 2 weeks ago and talked to his banjo player Tony Mabe and it is incredible how he can pick as a blind guy. He told me some of the most valuable tips i would have never really known about from the internet. If you ever want to hear about some of them just ask me. Practice makes almost perfect, but don't forget to add some soul to your playing. Great playing and ill follow your playing.

Nice you're really improving! Sounds good too! So happy for you bro 🙏🪕

Thor

Very well done. I’m 120 hours in to this so far. I started off 3 years ago with Jim pankey but life got in the way and picked it back up and started all over again with Eli, I completed his 30 days and got myself a teacher and I’m really improving every day. Everyone who begins this journey must make time every day and never give up hope. Love this channel and I will be following your brilliant journey from over in England.

You were at 499 so I had to subscribe. I just found you a day ago and I think I started right about the same time as you. I'll definitely check in and implement some of your methods of practice.

I honestly think getting a teacher an absolute must. The first 2 lessons really helped me more than 30 days of banjo. It’s all about making sure you’re holding the banjo correctly and fretting the proper way. You won’t get that on RUclips and you will pick up bad habits. That’s my opinion

I try to leave the string longer and cut it after I have wound it in the peg. I have stuck the string straight into my fingertip accidentally. Doesn't hurt much but it isn't pleasant either :)

Nice job. One tip is in regards your 2nd to 3rd fret slides on the 3rd string. Earl would typically bend the string up a quarter as he slides so you get a slightly sharper slurred sound rather than a flat slide as you appear to be doing. Check out Eli Gilbert’s video on the matter - will give you a more authentic scruggsy sound.

Hey Mark, Mike, your instructor here. Awesome video. Everything you said is right on the money, especially regarding making real progress through the power of doing something daily, even if it’s only for a short amount of time. I hope more and more people get exposed to your journey through your videos. The value of being able to experience it with you is so deceivingly high. You are doing a huge service to those who have the capacity to glean the magic from being exposed to the ACTUAL PROCESS of not just how to become great at something, but also how to significantly expand as a person and experience the hidden gifts that life has to offer. You are going to become a great Banjo player and it’s going to happen a lot quicker than one might think.👍

There is something I've noticed watching myself practice: I'm always looking at my right hand rather than my left hand on the fretboard, as almost everybody else does. As if I'm concentrating more on my rolling rather than my fretting. I do it all the time. I wonder why that is and if it affects my playing or improving. Does anybody else do this?

Let me know if you have ever drawn blood changing strings. I seem to manage to do it every time.

❤watching you and listening to your testimony has convinced me more that interest and determination can bring one a long way in achieving one’s goal. Covid restrictions gave me a reason to persevere coz there was no way to run. Eli Gilbert thought me discipline, Banjo Ben, D Benette, M Hedding (sp) thought me creativity, J Pankey thought me not to be too tough on myself. I listen a lot to Kruger, Kristin Scott Benson, the Backwood Bluegrass and several others. I do not read tabulatures but listen a lot. How I wish some of these Nechvilles, Deering and Gold Tones are available in my country (where Banjo is hardly head of). I’d work a fortune to get a low-end of one of those beautiful banjos. A lonely Banjo freek from Malaysia here.

Super great you are on your way ! Left hand perfect ! You gonna hate yourself 3Years from now when you take on up temp challenging tunes and realize you’re right hand not set very good ! Check out the masters J D /Sonny /Earl ! I wish you the best ! U have paid your beginner dues ! Thanks 🙏

The more you play, the more you'll recognize similar licks from song to song and instantly start picking up new songs, great progress, keep it up, I been picking 45yrs and still learning new things every jam session!! 😁👍👍

Your fretting is pretty good. Have u played any other chords instrument before? Im 2 weekes in doing about 1 hour daily. My right hand skills are getting better but Im concerned about my left hand. Good job!

Nailed the B part! 👏

What a great use of time. Love the sound of the banjo and wish my hands would allow me to pick one up. Great job and keep up the good work!

Beautiful story about the Eli autograph. I too started with him. Followed gim religiously. One day I'll write to him to tell him the impact he had on me

I can't wait to reach that level of cleaness and timing. I'm 7 months in although I haven't been practicing much lately. It's been so darn hot in Rome right now it's driving me mad. I hope to recuperate in September. My biggest flaw is to rush into things instead of doing them slowly and precisely. I have to constantly remind and force myself to slow down

At first playing slow was easy because I couldn’t play any faster. Now, I’m constantly trying to reign myself in from practicing too fast. It’s a struggle for certain.

The progression and improvement is real, nicely done. I'm 7 weeks into banjo 🪕 lessons and it's a struggle but I love the sound, even when I play it. My introduction to banjo class has touched on 2 finger, clawhammer and now 3 finger styles. I've signed up for the next 8 week course of Clawhammer. Onward.

You're becoming much more consistent. It's good to know I'm not the only one that talks to himself when performing a challenging task. Which model of Nechville banjo are you thinking of gifting yourself when you achieve 1000 hours?

That’s so inspiring! As great as the music was, to me the greatest part was the joy in your face after each song. You have much to be proud of. Well done Sir and keep up the great work!!

Fun thing about tuning up the B string to C off and on... it will break the string eventually. You will retune over and over and then Boinggggoingg! Made me jump the first time it happened. C tuning is really nice, brings out a deeper tone to the bottom string which sounds really cool. From your perspective on that nice open back banjo, it probably sounds great.

Nice to hear that Wayfaring Stranger with a little bit of that cool bounce to it! Awesome! Everything sounded really great, and we can only wonder what that 1100 video will be like :)

Great job Mark, you’ve really come a long way!! Keep going!

The most impressive thing about this to me is that you had the discipline to practice things that slowly and precisely as a beginner. As someone who plays several instruments it's a very good habit and one that I struggle with. This channel is a very cool idea!

Great job Mark, your hard work and dedication is paying off for sure and you are an inspiration to us here on this channel please keep it going if possible! What jam track or backing track are you using?

Great progress! at what speed/BPM are you playing foggy mountain breakdown? Im also learning banjo and sort of on the same level as you, so i like to try and keep up with your progress!

great practice advice! thank you for this!

I’m 70 hours and so far so good. I’ve found if I play really really slow I remember where to pick and put my hands. Then just speed it up bit by bit

Howdy mark. If you will allow me to give you some advice. First. Do not hammer 2-3 on the second string with your ring and middle. Big mistake. Use your first and second finger. Almost never on the banjo do you use your ring finger for hammers. Secondly, in foggy mountain breakdown, in the Em section, the first note ,where you slide from 1-2 on the fourth string, it is a common mistake to make that two notes. The slide from 1-2 should be a single note. However how your doing it isn't "wrong"..even earl himself in his later recordings made it two notes, but if you go back and listen to the original Bonnie And Clyde recording it's one note and I personally think it sounds the best. ❤❤

Before I figured out that I had to "zoom in" and practice those parts I couldn't do very well, I played some songs a hundred times. Each time repeating the same bad part just as bad as the time before. I find just one or two measures are sufficient at a time. Any bigger than that and you fall back into that same play it badly habit and gloss over the errors..

Hi, Mark! Thanks for yet another video. What do you reckon is an appropriate sized loop (if there are any)? 2 measures? 4? I'm making your same mistakes, too fast too long.

Don''t worry about "doing it again" because you will be playing these songs forever. Think about it as that you are getting better each time you play these songs. You will never stop learning something new about your playing or these songs. If you are having fun, that is all that is important. Not setbacks, they are improvements. Your foggy mountain breakdown is sounding better each time I hear you play it. This time with a power and tone improvement :)

Nice! I am at this exact stage right now.

Yes!! Such a great discovery - and one you'll always remember now! You're one step closer to mastering that banjo now. I love the point you made about learning an instrument: it's not only about learning new songs, but learning how to utilize the instrument the way it was intended to be used. Such a powerful comment and one I've never thought about. I love your organizational skills with the tabs, haha! I'm generally a very organized person, but my tab sheets are so wrinkled, written on, and coffee-stained at this point... (At least they are all together on a nice stack, facing the correct way, lol). How amazing that one of your staff members used to play bluegrass fiddle, that's sweet and you two gotta jam! Fingers crossed that she pulls through for the jam session :)

Hello Mark, i have been keeping notes also for practice sessions of the things that i need to focus on, practice with a purpose makes sense, our time is valuable and continue keeping the positive attitude!

I'm really enjoying the content. It's really interesting hearing an adult beginner's perspective on learning an instrument. I started learning the banjo just under a month ago, but I've been playing the guitar since I was 10 years old and there is quite a bit of carryover from the skills I've gained learning that instrument. I was listening to a recording of Pete Seeger's "Goofing Off Suite" (I'll include the link below, it's a really cool piece of music) and something he said in the beginning made me think of this channel. While he was tuning his banjo he said that in order to learn an instrument you have to be able to goof off. I realized that over the years, there were many times that a certain technique or piece of music finally "clicked" while I was simply screwing around and having fun with the guitar. Do you ever just lay on the couch and goof off with the banjo? Not "practicing" anything in particular, just having fun and seeing what sounds you can get out of it. If so, do you think it's helped at all? You clearly think deeply about the learning process and the way you practice, so I'm interested in your thoughts. Here's the Pete Seeger recording I mentioned earlier: ruclips.net/video/IcrnDriolV0/видео.html

That’s dedication your putting into your instrument , fantastic to see and hear.

Great video and fantastic playing. Jimi Hendrix is most definitely inspirational and I really enjoy watching Paul Davids channel, he’s nice and laid back yet throughly watchable. Thank you !

Hey Mark, you are doing great. I've been on this road for 10 years! For me, the best thing was to start playing with other people. I realized that playing your break is only 10% of what you might do in jam. Backup is so important and once you learn all the parts of a bunch of songs you can mix and match to build up solos on the fly. Keep it up!

Congrats on 500 hours! That's some dedication that a lot of folks don't have. Figuring out the most efficient way to practice is such huge progress and a major step forward, so good for you! I too play so much better when I warm up with older songs first and then try to tackle the new song I'm learning. I've started getting a little bored with my practice sessions, playing the same old songs over and over again, so I just recently started practicing a little differently...one day I will play all the old songs but I'll focus mainly on increasing the speed. The next day, I'll play the same old songs, but I'll focus more on not accidentally muting the strings with my fretting hand. Some days I focus on increasing the volume (I play quietly). This technique keeps practicing a lot more interesting for me, and I get less frustrated because I'm trying to perfect ONE thing and not ten at once, lol. Congrats again, I'm glad to be part of your journey and it's awesome watching you become an amazing banjo player. By the way, that little extra half hour of practice each day makes a huge difference, wow!

ive only played for about 2 months now but i dont think i could quit, learning banjo might be one of the most satisfying things ive ever done lol, i practice for hours ever single day and thats not an exaggeration

If I played an hour and a half a day, my family would murder me in my sleep, haha! Grats on your progress so far!

Congrats! It's definitely good to practice on different instruments when possible. It helps your technique be more adaptable and flexible and less rigid.