Phill Gibson on Banjos and Bluegrass

That question surely pops up in every beginning banjo player’s mind. It’s very natural to want to see progress happening as we practice and improve.

I think I started thinking of myself as a banjo player on two different levels. Starting with the last one first, it was when I had learned Cripple Creek, The Ballad of Jed Clampett and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. I learned them all pretty close to each other, so there is no ambiguity in my mind as to when it actually happened. Not a particular day, but definitely a certain two or three week period that late spring of 1977.

But the first time – a different way of thinking about the question – was before I had ever touched or owned my old Lark 5-string. It was during chapel at Freed-Hardeman University (Freed-Hardeman College back then) when Pickin’ Apples got up to present a bit of bluegrass entertainment that fateful day. I remember well hearing Tim Alexander play Flint Hill Special. I thought to myself: ‘That’s it – that what I’m going to learn to play!’ And I also remember not knowing much at all about the details of a banjo, but I did know and own one thing very important: that I would do however much practicing it took to learn it.

Nowadays, as I teach banjo and mandolin to students, I see the same eager approach to learning in most students. They also want to see progress just as I did; a sort of payment for services (i.e, practice) rendered. So to that end, I usually start saying someone is an official banjo player after they can go through their first song without an error or a break in rhythm.

And that’s a big, happy day for someone!