Banjo For Beginners

The single easiest aspect about learning banjo is chords. There are only three shapes for major chords. For information on the tab format, see this article on rolls. But instead of T, I or M, it will list which finger to fret with. I=index, M=middle, R=ring, P=pinky. For example

In this example, you would fret the 3rd string on the 2nd fret, using either the middle.

Notes on Technique: When fretting, your left hand SHOULD NOT hold up any of the weight of the banjo. Your left hand should be able to move freely up and down the neck without the banjo shifting. This way later on you can play much faster. Also, the banjo neck should be in the air and not parallel to the ground. An ideal angle is around 45 degrees. Look at photos of Belá Fleck playing while sitting to get a good idea of the proper angle.

Barré Chords

This would be an A. G is the last on the major scale, so it loops back to A. (ABCDEFG is the whole scale). If you were to fret the 4th fret with a bar, it would be a B. The first fret is G#/Ab (lowercase b= flat, so Ab= A flat), and the 3rd fret is A#/Bb.
The way that I fret bar chords is placing my index finger across the frets, and pressing on that with the middle finger.

F Chord Shape

This is an F chord. Move it up two frets and its a G chord. Another two frets (four total) and its an A.

D Chord Shape

And you have a C chord. G, C, and D are the three most important chords to learn starting off, because there are so many songs in the key of G. Those are the three major chords with Open G tuning.

Later on I’ll write an article on how to do minor chords, but for now just focus on strumming major chords. When you get comfortable with that, try rolling chords. Happy Picking!