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Bluegrass Banjo with Tony Trischka

Master the banjo with Grammy-nominated bluegrass icon Tony Trischka
  • Elevate your banjo playing skills, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
  • Master techniques in 3-finger/Scruggs, melodic, & single-string styles
  • Expand your repertoire of bluegrass standards & tune arrangements
  • Learn essential improvisation techniques & deepen your understanding of music theory
  • Receive personal guidance directly from Tony along every step of your learning journey
Bluegrass Banjo: Learn more about Tony's course
  • Elevate your banjo playing skills, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
  • Master techniques in 3-finger/Scruggs, melodic, & single-string styles
  • Expand your repertoire of bluegrass standards & tune arrangements
  • Learn essential improvisation techniques & deepen your understanding of music theory
  • Receive personal guidance directly from Tony along every step of your learning journey
Select a Plan:
BONUS: Save 50% on any ArtistWorks course, plus access our Ear Training Workshop & Basics of Home Recording Course for FREE with code "CHEER50"!



What's In This Plan?
  • Unlimited Access to Lessons
  • Unlimited Access to Video Exchange Library
  • Unlimited Video Submissions to Teacher
  • Music Theory Workshop
  • Backing Tracks across Instruments
  • VIP Bonus Content
  • 100s of banjo lessons at your own pace
  • All levels and styles of playing welcome
  • Slow Motion & Looping on videos
Experience the Power of Video Exchange Learning®
Video Exchange Explained: how you'll connect with Tony
  • Get personalized video feedback directly from Tony
  • Watch and learn from 13,000+ interactions that Tony has shared with his other students
  • The most supportive way to master the banjo online
Tony’s Online Banjo Course: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Level of Player
  • 12 sections covering introductory methods to advanced techniques, tunes, & more
  • 500+ multi-angle video lessons for optimal learning and fretboard understanding
  • 50+ professionally recorded play-along backing tracks to accompany the lessons
  • Tablature, notation and supplemental materials included
About Tony Trischka
  • Progressive bluegrass pioneer who’s inspired countless musicians over an impressive 40+ year career
  • Awarded the United States Artists Friends Fellow in 2012 in recognition of his contributions to American music
  • Received multiple Grammy nominations and IBMA awards as both an artist and producer
  • 17 critically acclaimed records as a bandleader to date and nearly a dozen more as a guest artist or producer
  • Written 15+ books on banjo instruction and has taught at ArtistWorks since 2009
Try Free Sample Lessons

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Here's What Our Students Are Saying
Banjo Lessons

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Level 1: Beginner

Welcome to the School
Working on Right Hand Separation of Notes
Playing with Others Part 1
Beginning Hammer-Ons Part 1
Beginning Hammer-Ons Part 2: “Shady Grove”
Holding The Banjo
Playing with Others Part 2: Beginning Back-up
Tuning the Banjo
Playing with Others Part 2B: Rolling Backup
Intro to Chords G C D7
Playing with Others Part 3
“This Little Light of Mine”
Right Hand Position
Left Hand Position
Reading Tablature
“Ode To Joy” Preamble
“Ode to Joy”
“Bucking Horse”
“Ode to Joy” - Part B
“Soldiers Joy” (Aunt Bertha Robinson Version)
Finger Picks
Finger Picks - Additional Tips On Placement
Pick Placement
Alternating Thumb Roll Exercises
Forward Rolls: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
“Raise a Ruckus” by Eric Weissberg -NEW!
Mixed Rolls: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
The Slide: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
"Skip to My Lou" - Down the Neck
Palming The Banjo
How to Practice
Osborne Roll: The F Chord - “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Osborne Roll: “Boil Them Cabbage Down” Variation on 5th Fret
Osborne Roll: Fingering
Osborne Roll: “Sourwood Mountain”
D Chord
Note Emphasis
“Michael Row the Boat Ashore”
“Penny's Farm”
"Go Tell Aunt Rhody"
“Wildwood Flower” Key of C
“Wildwood Flower” - Version 2 - Down the Neck
Practice Techniques & Reaching Goals
“Old Joe Clark” Osborne Roll
Osborne Roll: “Cluck Old Hen”
"Chicken Reel" -NEW!
“The Watermill”
“Spanish Fandango”
Important Reminders From Tony
Call For Videos
Separation of Notes
Hitting the Head with the Picks
Keeping a Positive Attitude
Using the Capo
Metronome
Beginning Hammer-Ons Part 3: “Mole in the Ground”
Tone
Right Hand Distance From The Bridge
Pull-Offs Part 1
“Buffalo Gals”
Pull-Offs Part 2: 3-2
Pull-Offs Part 3: “The Old Cat Died”
“The Old Cat Died” - Up the Neck
Pull-Off Etude 1
Pull-Off Etude 2
Choking the 2-3 Slide
2-3 Hammer-On Instead of 2-3 Slide
“John Hardy”
“You Are My Sunshine”
3/4 Time: “Down In The Valley”
Standing Position
Ear Training: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken”
Finding the Melody: “When the Saints Go Marching In”
Record Yourself
Up the Neck Part 1: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Up the Neck Part 2: “Skip to My Lou”
“Old Dan Tucker”
"Groundhog" -NEW!
“Jesse James” by Eric Weissberg -NEW!
"Blackberry Blossom" - Barre Positions
Changing a String
Working on Speed
Roll with No Name - “Old Joe Clark”
Roll with No Name - “Shortnin' Bread”
Roll with No Name - “Cripple Creek”
“Cripple Creek”
“Cripple Creek” - Up the Neck
Chords
“Lil' Liza Jane” and the 2-3 Hammer On
“Red River Valley”
Straight Time vs. Bounce Time
“Shortnin' Bread”
Interchangeable Slides and Hammer-Ons
“Bury Me Beneath the Willow”
G Major Scale 3 Ways
Submit a Placement Video
Other Student Submitted Tunes: Beginner

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Level 2: Intermediate

Working on Right Hand Separation of Notes
D Tuning: You Know More than You Think You Know -NEW!
"Sunrise Expansion" -NEW!
Travis Style - “Freight Train” -NEW!
Melodic Style - “Molly Bloom” by Alan Munde -NEW!
Backup Off Beats - 3 Different Ways
Sixths: “Dark Hollow” by Sammy Shelor -NEW!
"Loch Lomond" in Double C Tuning
Fancier Backup
Ideas for Composing on the Banjo -NEW!
Earl's Backup for “My Little Girl in Tennessee”
Single String - “New Bedford” -NEW!
Earl’s Backup for “Doin My Time”
Playing in Bb without a Capo - “Sally Goodin” -NEW!
Earl's Backup for “Cripple Creek”
Playing in Bb without a Capo - “New Camptown Races” -NEW!
Backup in D Without a Capo
“Long Journey Home” Developing Solos (with Bill Evans)
JD Back-Up
Important Reminders From Tony
“Little Birdie”
Earl's Backup for "Cripple Creek" - 1st and 3rd Backup
“Banks of the Ohio” - Down the Neck
Earl's Backup for "Little Darlin Pal of Mine"
“Banks of the Ohio” - Up the Neck
“Wildwood Flower” - Up the Neck Version
"The Old Spinning Wheel" -NEW!
Foggy Mountain Breakdown Roll
"The Crawdad Song"
“Train 45”
“John Henry” by Ralph Stanley - FMB Roll
“Jesse James” Double Banjos (with Bill Evans)
“Man of Constant Sorrow”
Chordal Inversions: Barre - F - D
“Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms”
Harmonics
“Grandfather's Clock”
Roll Variety Hour Fun Fiesta
Bridge Placement
Endings
Hot Licks (with Bill Evans)
“Don't Get Trouble in Your Mind” - Key of C
“Michael Row Your Boat Ashore” - Key of D
3-0-2 Lick - “Black Mountain Rag”
Practice Techniques & Reaching Goals
Index - Middle - Index Exercise
Intermediate Hammer-Ons
“Bill Cheatham”
“Bill Cheatham” Hammer-On Etude
“Lonesome Road Blues”
Earl's Downward Thumb Rake
Earl Scruggs: “The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band”
“Wildwood Flower” - Earl Scruggs Version
“Lonesome Road Blues” by Earl Scruggs - Down the Neck
“Shortnin' Bread” by Earl Scruggs
Earl's Syncopation
20,000 Leagues Under the Banjo - “Old Joe Clark”
20,000 Leagues Under the Banjo - “John Hardy”
20,000 Leagues Under the Banjo: “Cripple Creek”
11 Ways to Leave Your Level
“Happy Birthday” (Key of G)
Transposing 1: “I'll Fly Away” (Key of G)
Transposing 2: “I'll Fly Away” (Key of C)
Transposing 3: “I'll Fly Away” (Key of D)
"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" - Bobby Thompson - Part One
"Bury Me Beneath the Willow" - Bobby Thompson - Part Two
“Bury Me Beneath the Willow” - Key of F
"Bye Bye Blues" by Allen Shelton -NEW!
“Shady Grove” (Modal)
“Sally Goodin” Position
The Diggy Diggy
Developing Scruggsy Solos
“Worried Man Blues”
“Worried Man Blues” - Up the Neck
“Salty Dog” by Ralph Stanley
“Sandy Boys”
“Sandy Boys” - Version 2
“Sitting On Top of the World”
“Sitting On Top of the World” - Up the Neck
“Shenandoah” - All Forward Rolls, All the Time
Pull-Off Etudes: "Cripple Creek"
“Swanee Jig” Pull-Off Etude
“Cindy” by Pete Seeger
Improvisation
Free Improvisation
Scruggsy Improvisation
“Whoa Mule”
“Cacklin' Hen”
Keith Tuning Pegs - Part 1: Setup & Use
Keith Tuning Pegs - Part 2: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Keith Tuning Pegs - Part 3: “Silverado Trail”
Melodic Style Part 1
Melodic Style Part 2
Melodic Style - “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Melodic Style - "Devil's Dream"
Melodic Style - "Sandy River Belle"
Melodic Style - "Sore Fingers Hornpipe" - Version 1
Melodic Style - "Sore Fingers Hornpipe" - Version 2
Melodic Style - "Black Mountain Rag"
Melodic Style - "Turkey in the Straw" (Jerry Garcia Arrangement)
“Blackberry Blossom”
Melodic Style - "Skip to My Lou" (Key of C)
“Redwing”
Melodic Style - "Redwing"
“Sweet Georgia Brown”
Melodic Style - "Sweet Georgia Brown"
Melodic Style - “Big Sciota” - Down the Neck
The Bodacious Blend: Scruggs & Melodic - Introduction
The Bodacious Blend: Scruggs & Melodic - “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
The Bodacious Blend: Scruggs & Melodic - “Oh Susanna”
The Bodacious Blend: Scruggs & Melodic - “9 Pound Hammer”
Melodic Style - Key of C - Etude
Melodic Style - Key of C - "Oh Susanna"
Melodic Style - Key of C - "Billy in the Lowground"
Pentatonix - G Pentatonics -NEW!
Pentatonix - D Pentatonics -NEW!
Pentatonix - C Pentatonics -NEW!
Pentatonix - Pentatonic Chords -NEW!
Pentatonix - Pentatonic Etude -NEW!
Pentatonix - "Wild Geese Fly Over the Bronx" -NEW!
Moveable Lick Pattern: 2 Frets Apart
“Little Rabbit”
More Metronome Work
Theory - Scales
Theory - Chords
Theory - Major Chords
Theory - Minor Chords
E Minor Part 1: “Pretty Polly” (Down the Neck)
E Minor Part 2: “Pretty Polly” (Up the Neck)
E Minor Part 3: “Red Rocking Chair”
Bluesy Solo
Chord Extension Theory
Transposing
Melodic Style: “Skip to My Lou” (Key of D)
Chords in Proximity
“Roving Gambler”
Fiddle Tunes in D Part 1
“Old Molly Hare”
Fiddle Tunes in D: “Arkansas Traveler”
Fiddle Tunes in D: “Chinquapin Hunting”
Fiddle Tunes in D: “ Fox Chase”
Lead-Ins
“Nine Pound Hammer” Improv
Bela Single String Concepts - Getting Started
Single String Part 1
Single String Part 2
Single String: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Single String: “Bill Cheatham”
Single String: “Arkansas Traveler”
Single String: Chordal Approach
Single String: “Green Fields of America”
Single String: "Arkansas Traveller" - Don Reno
Single String Finger Leaps
“Remington Ride” by Don Reno
3 Finger Single String - Exercises
3 Finger Single String - “June Apple”
3 Finger Single String: “Three Toed Rabbit”
“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
Travis Style Part 1: “Yankee Doodle”
Travis Style Part 2: “Buckdancer's Choice”
Travis Style “Edgy”
“Red Haired Boy” Version 1
“Red Haired Boy” Version 2
Arpeggios in G
Arpeggios in C
Arpeggios in D
“Great Big Taters in a Sandy Land”
Blues Etude
Composition Part 1: Noodling
Composition Part 2: Numbers
Composition Part 3: 30 Seconds to a Minute Part 1 - “Napa Scramble”
Composition Part 4: 30 Seconds to a Minute Part 2
“Happy Birthday” (Key of C)
Sixths
Thirds
Thirds Exercise
Thirds: “John Hardy”
Bill Keith - Thirds Meet the Osborne Roll
“Danny Boy”
“Golden Slippers” - Up The Neck
“Golden Slippers” - Down The Neck
Hammer-On Etudes
Slide Etudes
“Soldiers Joy”
“Rickett's Hornpipe”
Diatonic Chords
“Sugar Coated Love” & Honky Tonk Licks
Tuning to D
D Tuning Part 1
“Ruben” - In D Tuning
“Shortnin' Bread” - in D Tuning
D Tuning Part 2: “Hand Me Down My Walking Cane”
D Tuning Part 3: “Soldier's Joy” 1
D Tuning Part 4: “Soldier's Joy” 2
D Tuning Part 5: “Liza Jane”
Double C Tuning
“Liberty” in Double C Tuning
“Cumberland Gap” Alternate Tuning
“Cumberland Gap” Alternate Tuning - A Part Variation
Full Diatonic Chords - Part 1
Full Diatonic Chords - Part 2
Other Student Submitted Tunes: Intermediate

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Level 3: Advanced

Working with Limitations - "The 3rd String Etude" -NEW!
Pentatonic Arpeggiated Chords -NEW!
Working with Limitations - "The 5/4 Waltz" -NEW!
Working with Limitations - "Nikolai's Jig" -NEW!
Working with Limitations - Old Time F Tuning -NEW!
Working with Limitations - Highest to Lowest -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - Thirds -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - Chromatic Scale Pattern -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - Béla's Break on John Hardy -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - New Grass Revival Lick -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - Early Béla Blues Scale & Exercise -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - 80's Exercise -NEW!
A Potpourri of Early Béla - "Major Honker" -NEW!
Playing in the Key of E without a Capo -NEW!
Bela Rhythmic Subdivisions
TT Tidbits - Part 1
TT Tidbits - Part 2
“Sailor's Hornpipe”
Advanced Triplets - Part 1
Advanced Triplets - Part 2
Advanced Triplets - Part 3
Advanced Triplets - Part 4
“Heavy Traffic Ahead”
Other Drones - Part 1: 3rd String Pattern
Other Drones - Part 2: “John Hardy” Using 3rds
Other Drones - Part 3: Rhythm Variation
Other Drones - Part 4: “John Hardy” Using Rhythm Variation
Other Drones - Part 5: “Cripple Creek”
Other Drones - Part 6: “Cripple Creek” Variation
Other Drones - Part 7: 4th String Pattern
Other Drones - Part 8: 3rd and 4th String Pattern Etude
Other Drones - Part 9: Pinch Pattern Variation
Other Drones - Part 10: "Cripple Creek" A Part Variation
Other Drones - Part 11: "Cripple Creek" B Part Variation
Other Drones - Part 12: 1st and 3rd String Pinch Pattern
Other Drones - Part 13: "9 Pound Hammer" Useful Pinch Lick
Other Drones - Part 14: "John Hardy" Using 6ths
Other Drones - Part 15: 1st and 3rd String Pinch Pattern Variation
Other Drones - Part 16: "John Hardy" Using Chromatic Pattern
Other Drones - Part 17: Middle String Pedal Pattern
Other Drones - Part 18: Middle String Pedal Pattern Etude
Melodic Scale Patterns
Single String Scale Exercises
“The Hee Haw Theme”
Don Reno: “When You and I Were Young Maggie”
“Sally Johnson”
Backward Alternating Thumb Rolls
Shelton Roll 1: “Boil Them Cabbage Down”
Shelton Roll 2: “Salty Dog”
Shelton Roll 3: Ending Lick
“The Danny Thomas”
Advanced Scale Techniques
Improvisation Technique: Ron Cody
Four in a Row 1: “John Hardy”
Four in a Row 2: FMB Lick
Four in a Row 3: Etude
Four in a Row 4: “Salty Dog”
“Blackberry Blossom”
“Salt River” - Key of A - No Capo
Drop C Tuning: “Espanoletas”
”Cattle in the Cane“ - Key of A - No Capo
Double Forward Roll
Transposing: “Turkey in the Straw” in G and C
“Death March”
E Flat
E Flat: “Whiskey Before Breakfast”
Advanced Improvisation
“Cherokee Shuffle” - Noam Pikelny's Break
“The Band Beautiful”
“Plantation Symphony”
Bela Arpeggio Technique
Bela Scale Technique
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Bach Violin Sonata
Bela Bartok - 6 Miniatures #1
“Allegretto” by Stravinsky
“Chorando Em Sao Paulo”
Mixolydian Mode
Aeolian Mode (Sixth)
The Dorian Mode - Part 1: The Dorian Scale
The Dorian Mode - Part 2: Dorian Etude 1
The Dorian Mode - Part 3: Dorian Scale Pattern in 3/4 Time
The Dorian Mode - Part 4: Dorian Etude 2
“Devil's Dream” - Variations
“Old Joe Clark” (Advanced)
Playing in the Key of E Without a Capo
Other Student Submitted Tunes: Advanced

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Old Time Fingerpicking

New Tuning: Calloway
Dock Boggs Part 1: “Pretty Polly”
Dock Boggs Part 2: “Coke Oven March”
Dock Boggs Part 3: “Sugar Baby”
Dock Boggs Part 4: “Cumberland Gap”
Snuffy Jenkins Part 1: “Cripple Creek”
Snuffy Jenkins Part 2: “Wood Pile”
“Black Jack Grove”
“Tom Dooley” by Pete Seeger
“Bucking Horse”
“Soldiers Joy” (Aunt Bertha Robinson Version)
"Marching Jaybird" -NEW!
"Jonestown Blues" -NEW!

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Classic Style Banjo

Picking In The Parlor- Classic Style Banjo
“Watermill”
“Home Sweet Home”
“This House Is Haunted”
“Plantation Symphony”
“Washington Post March”
“Onion Rag”
“Rattling Clog”
“Pauline Waltz”
"Banjoisticus"
“Prairie Breezes”
"The Hurricane Rag" -NEW!

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Clawhammer

“Chinquapin Pie”
“Boatin' Up The Sandy”
“Last Chance”

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Celtic Tunes

“Sheebeg Sheemore”
“Kinlock of Kinlock”
“A Stranger in Cork”
“The Golden Castle”
“Saint Patrick's Day”
"Loch Lomond" in Double C Tuning

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Playing Backup

Playing with Others Part 1
Playing with Others Part 2: Beginning Back-up
Playing with Others Part 2B: Rolling Backup
Playing with Others Part 3
Backup Off Beats - 3 Different Ways
Fancier Backup
Earl's Backup for “My Little Girl in Tennessee”
Earl’s Backup for “Doin My Time”
Earl's Backup for “Cripple Creek”
Backup in D Without a Capo
JD Back-Up
Earl's Backup for "Cripple Creek" - 1st and 3rd Backup
Earl's Backup for "Little Darlin Pal of Mine"

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40 Warm Up Exercises

40 Warm Up Exercises

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30 Day Challenge

30 Day Challenge - 2017 (Archive)
30 Day Challenge - 2018 (Archive)

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Earl Jam Tunes -NEW!

"Brown's Ferry Blues" -NEW!
Earl Jam - "Cripple Creek" -NEW!
Earl Jam "Lady Madonna" -NEW!

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+Music

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