Search  for anything...

Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo: Revised and Enhanced Edition | Complete Banjo Method Songbook with Online Audio & Video | Over 40 Bluegrass Songs Sheet Music for Beginners | Learn Scruggs-Style

  • Based on 783 reviews
Condition: New
Checking for the best price...
$43.90 Why this price?
Holiday Deal · 80% off was $219.99

Buy Now, Pay Later


As low as $10 / mo
  • – 4-month term
  • – No impact on credit
  • – Instant approval decision
  • – Secure and straightforward checkout

Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.

Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayTomorrow. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Free shipping on this product

This item is eligible for return within 30 days of receipt

To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.


Availability: In Stock.
Fulfilled by Amazon

Arrives Sunday, Dec 21
Order within 23 hours and 24 minutes
Available payment plans shown during checkout

Protection Plan Protect Your Purchase
Checking for protection plans...

Description

Learn Banjo from the Legendary Earl Scruggs Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo: Revised and Enhanced Edition is the ultimate guide for beginners learning the Scruggs-style 5-string banjo. This best-selling method has helped thousands of aspiring banjo players get their start. Earl Scruggs, the legendary banjo virtuoso, has designed a comprehensive learning experience that includes updated lessons, over 40 songs, and more practical exercises to develop your banjo skills. Step-by-Step Banjo Instruction for Beginners This guide covers everything from banjo history, banjo tunings, and Scruggs tuners, to reading music and tablature, and right-hand rolls and left-hand techniques. Perfect for beginners, it takes you through the basics of learning the banjo, progressing to more advanced techniques and solos, all with easy- to-follow instructions and clear illustrations. Comprehensive Audio & Video Support Included with this edition is online access to audio tracks and video tutorials, allowing you to listen and play along with over 60 examples of Earl Scruggs demonstrating key techniques. The PLAYBACK+ feature allows you to slow down the tracks, change the pitch, set loop points, and more, enabling you to practice at your own pace. Perfect for Banjo Enthusiasts and Music Teachers Ideal for both individual learners and music teachers, this comprehensive method is a must-have for anyone learning the banjo. Whether you’re playing for fun or aiming to master the Scruggs style, this book and its online resources will ensure that you learn and play with ease. Songs Included: American Made-World Played Ballad of Jed Clampett Blue Ridge Cabin Home Cripple Creek Cumberland Gap Earl’s Breakdown Foggy Mountain Breakdown Ground Speed Home Sweet Home Hot Corn, Cold Corn John Henry Lonesome Road Blues Nashville Blues Reuben Sally Ann Yonder Stands Little Maggie and many more. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hal Leonard


Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2005


Edition ‏ : ‎ Pap/Com


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 200 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0634060422


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 27


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 0.59 x 12 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #55,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2 in Banjo Songbooks #2 in Banjos (Books) #5 in Banjo Accessories


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, Dec 21

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

  • Klarna Financing
  • Affirm Pay in 4
  • Affirm Financing
  • Afterpay Financing
  • PayTomorrow Financing
  • Financing through Apple Pay
Leasing options through Acima may also be available during checkout.

Learn more about financing & leasing here.

Top Amazon Reviews


  • American Made; World Played
Format: Paperback
Every banjo picker born after 1940, and every fan, student or performer of bluegrass music owes Earl Scruggs (1924 - 2012) an outstanding debt. Few musicians have ever accomplished for their particular instrument what Scruggs did for the 5-string banjo. He developed an extraordinary playing style from a suite of syncopated rhythmic devices that plucked virtue from the instrument's acoustic limitations, firmly established the banjo's role in the bluegrass ensemble, and revitalized the popularity of the instrument, in eclipse since the advent of swing music and electronic amplification in the early 1930s. Principal in his legacy is the instructional work "Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo". Written in collaboration with Dr. Burt Brent (who wanted to expose the "anatomy" of Scruggs style) and Warren Kennison, Jr. (who transcribed the songs and exercises into tablature), the book was originally published in 1968 by Peer International Corporation and revised in 2005. The Hal-Leonard edition includes an audio CD of 60 lessons presented by Earl himself. In addition to practical lessons for playing the banjo, the book includes a treasury of autobiographical anecdotes, a recapitulation of Scruggs' career and valuable information about the instrument itself from "Getting Acquainted With Your Banjo" to "How to Build a Banjo". There are detailed instructions for maintenance and repair, as well as intricate descriptions of optional banjo hardware, such as Scruggs tuners, capos and 5th string hooks. Louise Scruggs (Earl's wife) contributes a "Brief History of the 5-String Banjo". There are lucid, well-illustrated chapters on the elements of musical structure, chords, inversions, tunings, and tablature. And there is of course a "Song Section" featuring the rudiments of 44 tunes recorded by Scruggs that Earl invites us to "try playing". The heartbeat of the workbook is "Exercises in Picking", a 32-page section, supported by the audio CD, that provides as fine a starting point for the fledgling player as there is to be found anywhere. Atop each final measure in the practice exercises rides the laconic direction "Play many times" where the word "many" represents a value lying somewhere between 100 and 1,000,000. Earl's music is pervasive. You may not recall when you first heard it - perhaps it was "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in "Bonnie and Clyde" - but you have Scruggs licks dancing in your head, as do we all. In his 2004 liner notes for the album "The Essential Earl Scruggs", Bela Fleck writes, "He creates the impression of a nonstop cascade of notes... His playing is so technically advanced, still you can hear the mud and dirt, wood and metal, flesh and bone... We're all still trying to sound like Earl." From his debut on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry" program in 1945 until his last days, this plainspoken genius from the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina never stopped amazing the musical world. With the aid of "Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo", future musicians will forever be able to locate bluegrass at its roots to cultivate their own artistry. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2012 by Phil Wernig

  • Buy It, Use It, Mark It Up, and Dog Ear It!
Format: Sheet music
Part commentary and history, but mostly instruction, Earl's book (and it's often called just that) is about as much a standard work for the Banjo as you can find. You can actually learn to play with this book, but unless you also have access to a teacher or some other means of accessing the phrases and tunes, preferably with the capability of controlling their speed without varying pitch, YOU REALLY NEED TO BUY THE VERSION THAT INCLUDES THE CD! You can buy it either way. I didn't, and regretted it quickly. I think so much of this book that I spent a couple of hours digging in my storage unit to find it - unsuccessfully - and so I am buying it again (we're in the middle of a move). Probably the Kindle version this time. While Scruggs style is hardly the only way to play or learn Banjo, just about all bluegrass starts with it, if not directly, then as a variation or in reference to a difference. Hence you'll run into comments like "Earl does it THIS way, and I change ...", or "if you want another variation, see Earl's book ..." or "the reason Earl does this is way is ..." Etc. The format is somewhat unusual, being a mix of text and tab. On one hand, it can *appear* to be less organized than it is. On the other, it makes good reading on its own. There aren't many books in the sheet music category where you can say that! If I have one criticism, it's that it may progress too rapidly for some beginners. I believe in hard challenge when learning an instrument - I play several - but people also need variety. When pressed too hard in music instruction, one of several things happens: 1) The student gets discouraged and gives up, or 2) settles for sloppy, or 3) starts dabbling too far ahead and picks up bad habits. So Scruggs, in my opinion, is best used with a teacher, as a supplemental volume in another instruction program (including online instruction), or when the student has non-trivial experience with other instruments. Very highly recommended ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2015 by New England Yankee

  • He REALLY did "write the book" on Banjo playing!
Format: Paperback
Earl Scruggs HAS to be the MOST imitated musician on the planet; when you consider all the 5 string banjos being made in the world, and HOW they are going to be played by the people purchasing them. Granted, some will be played in the traditional Clawhammer/Framming/Drop-Thumb styles which predated Bluegrass by several decades....but the remaining 99.99% will almost certainly be played in the 3 finger style of Earl Scruggs, the author of this nearly 40 year old book. Although many of today's modern 5 string banjoists have expanded the idiom somewhat, into the 'chromatic' or 'melodic' realm and attempt arrangements of jazz and new-age pieces adapted for the instrument...it is STILL the playing of Earl Scruggs that remains as the foundation of it all. The book is well written, well illustrated, easy to follow, and the accompanying CD (or tape) with it is a special treat with Earl himself, speaking each step of the way (in his pleasant down-home North Carolina accent) This book and CD will get the aspiring picker up and running in a very short time, as Earl starts with the tuning, then the basic fingerpicking patterns, which in combination, and with speed added, will develop into some very good sounding music...played by YOU! You absolutely CANNOT go wrong with this book...millions of copies have already been sold worldwide. What many people don't know, is that Earl is also an incredible fingerpicking guitarist with a style all his own. I would like to see him publish a book of his guitar stylings--I'll be the FIRST to buy a hardcover of it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2006 by Bill Turner

Can't find a product?

Find it on Amazon first, then paste the link below.
Checking for best price...