Learn to Play Foggy Mountain Breakdown

Foggy Mountain Breakdown, from the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ is one of the most famous pieces of music ever played on the 5-string banjo.  It was written by my hero, Earl Scruggs, and originally recorded way back in 1949.

This tune created a sensation when it first hit the public consciousness.   Nobody had ever heard anything like it!  Played at breakneck speed, it sounds like nothing else.

Thing is, it’s a lot easier to play than it sounds.   I’ve produced a series of teaching videos breaking it down one note at a time, and playing at a medium slow pace. The course is carefully structured so that you learn the music in short sections.  Once you have learnt all the sections, it’s easy to put it all together because every section starts on the RH Thumb.

Obviously it’s going to take a few years of practice to play it like Earl, but this is the best place to start.

If you’re a confident learner, or if you’ve played another musical instrument like the guitar before, you should be able to pick it up easily.  If you’ve never played an instrument before, or like to learn more slowly, I recommend playing some of the other songs in the Banjo Academy first.  The Academy teaches you all the basic skills you need, one song at a time. Once you’ve learnt enough of the songs in the Academy, you should find it easy to step up to playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

The course consists of five videos, total running time 47 minutes.

1 – Intro. See part of this video at the top of this page.

2 – Opening roll section. A modified Forward Roll. I break this down so slow anyone can learn it! The Forward Roll is one of the most important basic skills of Bluegrass banjo, you will use this in many other songs.  The Forward Roll in Foggy Mountain Breakdown is slightly different. In fact you will modify it three different ways to play the opening section of this tune.  Total running time 17:18

3- E minor half time. The catchiest part of the song is also the easiest part to play!  It’s at half the speed of everything else.  You only need two fingers of the left hand to play an E minor chord.  You will play a slide, followed by a Mixed Roll.  The Mixed Roll is also something you will use in many other banjo songs. Total running time 14:45

4 – Cannon lick.  One of Earl’s most recognisable licks.  This is one of those little bits of spice you hear a lot in Bluegrass banjo playing.  Once you learn to play this, you can use it in a lot of other songs. Total running time 11:32

5 – Double D lick.  This is also played in Duelling Banjos. It’s one of Earl’s most instantly recognisable licks.  You can hear this in a lot of his songs, especially at the end of a line. Total running time 5:25

Remember, this is a lot easier to play than it sounds – especially when you play slowly!  Everything in this course is demonstrated very slowly, and you will only be learning just four or five notes at a time.  We will play each little sub-section of four or five notes together (very slowly) to help you build confidence.  There are video bookmarks so you can easily replay the section you are working on as many times as you need.

This excellent course of video lessons is currently only available in the Banjo Academy.