Learn to Fingerpick the Banjo
Please allow the video 5-10 seconds to fully load.
Are you a beginner?
If you are, and you're new to the site, take a look at the beginner's page.
It's packed full of the most fundamental steps you need to take to start playing banjo songs.
Click here to view the beginner's page.
You can also use the navigation on the left to jump to some great easy songs for beginners to play.
Wearing Picks
Most players wear picks on the fingers and thumb of the right hand to make it easier to play. Wearing fingerpicks gives you more power, a brighter sound and the potential to play more quickly if you want to.
Most players wear a plastic thumbpick and two metal picks on the Middle and Index fingers of the right hand.
Banjo finger picks consist of two parts – a band that goes round the finger (or thumb) and the blade part that you play with. The blade part goes on the opposite side to the fingernail.
Everybody’s fingers are different, so you may need to try several different types of picks to get a good feel. The metal picks can be reshaped to give a better fit.
Click here to learn more about banjo picks.
Hold the Banjo Comfortably
It’s important to find the most comfortable position for you to play the banjo. The best way to do this is by moving the banjo around in your lap, and especially pointing the neck at different angles until you find what’s right for you. It’s a good idea to push the neck forwards slightly to make it easier for the right hand. You can try varying the height at which you hold the neck.
Click here to get more help holding the banjo.
Find a Good Right Hand Position
Keep the Right Hand relaxed while you play. Keep the wrist straight or slightly arched, don’t let the wrist sag. You will need to move the banjo around until the right hand feels comfortable.
You will be resting the Pinky and Ring finger on the head (skin) of the banjo for stability. A lot of people find it difficult to keep both fingers anchored, if this is you, just rest the Pinky. A lot of top professional players only rest the Pinky.
It’s good to rest both Pinky and Ring finger if you can, this may take practice. It took me ten years to get it right!
Which Finger to Play With?
The thumb and first two fingers of the right hand are used to pick the strings, this is called ‘Three finger picking.’ The other two fingers rest on the head of the banjo to give stability and support.
The Middle finger normally plays the first string – although you can play other strings with it if you want.
The Index finger normally plays the 2nd and 3rd strings.
The Thumb normally plays all the strings.
Fret some strings with the Left Hand
The open strings sound great on the five-string banjo. However you’re going to want to play different notes by pressing the strings against the frets with the Left Hand. A standard banjo neck has 22 frets, so that’s a lot of options!
Don’t worry though, you only need to fret the strings in four basic fingering position and you can play an incredible number of songs. You will be using the following hand positions:
The 1st string is fretted on the 2nd fret
The 2nd string is fretted on the 1st fret
The 3rd string is fretted on the 2nd fret
The 4th string is fretted on the 2nd fret
With these simple fingering positions, plus the open strings, you can play a G major scale and thousands of songs.
Click here to learn more about fretting the strings.
Learn More about Banjo Fingerpicking
Fingerpicking is the most popular way to play the five-string banjo and especially the Scruggs style. When you play slowly it’s possible to use any combination of right-hand fingering you like, including using the same finger over and over again, and that makes it quite easy to play a few simple songs on the banjo in the key of G major. Playing the melody of a well known song is a great way to get started on the banjo. Click here to access some free video lessons.
But to get the quicksilver rolling sound of Bluegrass banjo you need to pay much more attention to the fingering. ‘Fingering’ means the choice of which right hand finger (including the thumb) to use for which note, and the sequence or order in which you play notes with the right hand is very important too. This is called a ‘roll’ pattern and the choice of rolls is key to getting the distinctive banjo picking sound that many beginners want to achieve when they first take up the banjo.
Of course it’s possible to play many other styles of music with fingerpicking technique on the banjo including Classical and Old-Time fingerpicking styles. Some old 2-finger picking styles are very popular and it’s possible to replicate the sound of those old styles with three finger picking techniques as well. Jazz was traditionally played on the four-string but it’s possible (although difficult) to play Jazz on the five-string as well. Bill Keith and Bela Fleck are the leading pioneers of fingerstyle jazz banjo. There’s a resurgence of popularity of Blues played on banjo nowadays and it’s possible to play blues with both the fingerpicking techniques and the frailing techniques.