Briggs Banjo Instructor of 1855

BRIGGS' BANJO INSTRUCTOR OF 1855, was the first "...scientific & practical method for an instrument which has been ever considered a mystery unlearnable, & for which music has never before been written...", according to the 1855 publisher. Containing sections on the rudiments of music, precise instructions on how to hold, tune, strike, & finger the banjo, & a collection of truly American instrumental music, it ranks as a primary source of a 150-year old tradition of the five string banjo. The contents of this method give an excellent view of the mid-19th century art of banjo playing, presenting in many cases the first transcriptions of such standards as Old Dan Tucker, Boatman's Dance, Old Zip Coon, Yankee Doodle, etc. "The publication is nothing less than foundational banjo history as well as fundamental to understanding its performance techniques. Many of the selections can be played without the use of the fourth string, implying their origin in the preceeding era of the gourd three string...It is perhaps as close a documentation as one can get to the music of African-Americans who played upon its prototypes."--Joseph W. Ayers, publisher 1992 edition. Available from Tuckahoe Music, P.O. Box 146, Bremo Bluff, VA 23022, 804-842-3573.Briggs, Thomas F. is the author of 'Briggs Banjo Instructor of 1855' with ISBN 9780963359308 and ISBN 0963359304.