Mike Seeger plays "Sailor and Soldier" from his Homespun lesson Southern Banjo Styles Vol. 2

Enjoy this performance excerpt of "Sailor and Soldier" from Mike Seeger's three volume lesson Southern Banjo Styles (Vol. 2).

Picking up where Volume One leaves off, Mike Seeger continues his in-depth lesson/demonstration of predominant banjo styles of the 19th and early 20th century. Volume Two focuses on two- and three-finger techniques, some of which are the foundation for contemporary three-finger style. Each segment features a complete performance of a song or tune, comment on its style and source, and detailed split screen instruction for playing it. You’ll also see close-up views of each of the nine banjos used. The enclosed booklet includes tabs, a banjo discography, how to choose and set up a banjo, and much more.

Songs include: Flop Eared Mule (up-picking double-note style); Lost Gander (thumb-lead with extensive use of harmonics); The Sailor and the Soldier (a variant of the previous technique); American Spanish Fandango (from 19th-century parlor banjo repertoire); Got No Silver Nor Gold Blues (Uncle Dave Macon minstrel style); We’re Up Against It Now (arpeggio technique); That’s What Old Bachelors Are Made Out Of (waltz-time back-up techniques); The Last of Callahan (fiddle tune); Lady Gay (Dock Boggs’s style).

The material presented here is based on Mike Seeger’s Grammy-nominated Smithsonian CD "Southern Banjo Styles." You can find the full lesson at https://www.homespun.com/play/hs_banjo15.