by Wayne Erbsen

Book with Instructional CD $19.95

At Last! A bluegrass banjo book for the true and absolute beginner that won't confuse the heck out of you!!! This FUN book is guaranteed to help you learn to play bluegrass banjo. (How many books come with a personal guarantee by the author?) Includes instructional audio CD with an 99 tracks! 9" x 12", 64 pages. Don't yet have an instrument? Let Wayne help you pick out the perfect banjo for you. Contact him at banjo[at]nativeground.com

Here, in a nutshell, is the essence of this book: Virtually ALL other beginning banjo books on the market today first teach you several complicated rolls or fingerpicking patterns and then ask you to memorize their note-for-note arrangements of tunes. With this approach, it's difficult for the struggling beginner to distinguish the melody from the other notes, and what's worse, it's next to impossible to improvise, or make up your own arrangments to songs. For most beginners, this system does NOT work.

Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus! is different! Instead of starting with complicated rolls or fingerpicking patters, "The Ignoramus" first teaches simple MELODIES. For each of the 23 easy tunes, only the melody is tabbed out. No rolls. The student then learns how he or she can easily play all 23 tunes using only the simplest roll ("the pinch"). They gradually learn to play the melody using any or all of seven rolls. After teaching banjo for over forty years, Wayne Erbsen promises that his melody approach to teaching bluegrass banjo works. In fact, he guarantees it! Be sure to read the comments below from happy folks who have bought his book.

You WILL learn to play:  Bile ‘Em Cabbage Down, Blue Ridge Mountain Blues, Columbus Stockade Blues, Down the Road, Groundhog, Little Maggie, Long Journey Home, Lynchburg Town, Man of Constant Sorrow, My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nine Pound Hammer, Palms of Victory, Pass Me Not, Poor Ellen Smith, Pretty Polly, Put My Little Shoes Away, Red River Valley, Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms, Shall We Gather at the River, Wabash Cannonball, When I Lay My Burden Down, When the Saints Go Marching In.

Dear Banjo Picker: I'm currently working on a series of books on jamming in bluegrass style on banjo, mandolin, fiddle, and guitar. This will be the perfect follow up to Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus. If you would like me to contact you when this book becomes available, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   Please let me know what instrument you're most interested in learning to jam on. If you have suggestions as to what you'd like to see in this book, by all means, let me know!!! Thanks, Wayne Erbsen

Customer Reviews:

"Best damn banjo book I've ever read!" Ryan Costello

"I purchased Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus, and I can't begin to tell you how awesome it has been! Thanks so much for such a fun and EFFECTIVE teaching method!" A. Adams

"Thanks for the great book. The history, humor and ease of learning makes it the best one I have ever bought." --Brian McCallum

"I am the proud owner of 'Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus.' What a great learning tool." --Greg Strickland

"This is a great book for a beginner learning bluegrass on their own. It makes SENSE of how the rolls work around a melody. Wayne Erbsen has a real talent for simplifying and explaining how to play the banjo." Linda Sisson

"The book came, and I was playing literally in 20 minutes. Amazing, but yet understandable. My wife was even amazed. Very very well done!!! Easy to understand, and giving immediate results. You have a real winner here. Great book." P Coplin

"Your method of teaching in the Ignoramus book is nothing short of amazing. My friend told me it took him years to brake himself from the chains of tab and do what I'm doing after a few short months. I can't thank you enough." D. Braught

"Great banjo instruction book! There may be hope yet!" T. Varnell

"I really like your book. It is as clear and concise a book for the beginner as I have found, and I have a number of them. It's a work you should be proud of." A. Huffman

"Thank you again so much for showing me the way to bluegrass bliss." Ryan N., Blacksburg, Virginia

"I just love Wayne's easy paced and relaxing instructions...his books are the bees knees in making you want to learn." C. Vann, Australia

"Just received your instructional book yesterday and I am playing Bile Them Cabbage Down already. Wish I would have known of a book like this in the 70's when I had my first banjo. Breaking the music down into sections was all I needed to grasp how to play. I cannot wait to learn slides and other methods." Thank-you! Gloria K.

"Your book is the first to help me see how the melody and the rolls work together, and how I can put my own little arrangements together early on. Thank you! You’re right – I do believe you could teach a frog to play the banjo – because you’re teaching me!"  John English

"I love Wayne's method of teaching!" Sally Wingate, banjo teacher

"Thanks for the simple things you've produced. The banjo would still be settin' in the closet if it wasn't for you." William Figley

"I really like this book. I was able to pick out a few songs within minutes of picking up the banjo for the first time." Lois Loucks"

"Thanks for creating 'Bluegrass Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus.' It is the only book that I have been able to complete." Steve Blake

"Great book for beginner players. This book is just plain excellent. I have learned so much from this book. Well done Wayne!" Janice Hamilton

"I feel so fortunate to have found your wonderful instruction book." Fred Rich