Upon purchase, you’ll receive a file containing a link to instructions which expires in 24 hours. Feel free to email camerondewhitt@gmail.com if you have any issues.

Fretless banjos can be so lovely to hear and so fun to play, but some find the freedom of a smooth fingerboard to be intimidating. How do you play in tune? Why don’t the notes speak the same way as a fretted banjo? How do you play in a jam on a low-tuned banjo—do you really have to relearn all the tunes you know in a different tuning? Over the course of four sessions we’ll answer these questions (and many more), learn exercises specifically designed for fretless banjo, and apply our new knowledge and techniques to some familiar tunes (and maybe some songs, if y’all want).

Workshops will take place online on Wednesdays 9/9, 9/16, 9/23, and 9/30 from 5:30-6:45pm Pacific via Discord (it’s not that different from Zoom, I promise, and it’s better for keeping track of workshop materials). After signing up, registrants will get a downloadable .html file (openable in your internet browser) with a link to instructions. The download link expires 24 hours after purchase so I recommend downloading it right away. Workshops will be recorded and posted in the Discord server.

Participants should have access to a fretless 5-string banjo for this workshop series. It does not particularly matter which kind! You can bring a gourd, a tackhead on a wooden rim, or a more modern banjo with hooks. It can have a metal-plate, wooden, or partially-fretted fingerboard, and both nylon and steel strings are welcome. We’ll discuss the possibilities and limitations of each of these types of fretless banjos and accommodate our arrangements and exercises accordingly. All skill levels are welcome to sign up, but I’ll gear my teaching materials to participants who are already comfortable playing hammer-ons, pull-offs, drop-thumbs, and slides on a fretted banjo.