Essential advice from master musicians

As noted in the update added earlier today to the BIB item of 7 Jan., tomorrow (Tues. 12 Jan.) at 6.00 p.m. ET/ 3.00 p.m. PT, Deering Live will be repeating the 48-minute video masterclass given last week by Jens Kruger. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session, designed to serve as a follow-up lesson, in which Jens will respond to queries submitted by viewers.

Last week's video was the first in Jens's 2021 series of banjo masterclasses, and can now be watched on the Deering website and also on YouTube. It falls into two equal halves, of which the first deals with learning how to play what you hear - this can be seen as fundamental for any player. The second - on the construction of melodies - seems at first more narrowly technical, but viewers should not neglect the 'trick' that Jens describes in the last quarter of the video.

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Deering also released on Friday a further video lesson in Hank Smith's banjo instruction series, 'Active listening' (also on YouTube. Far from being just for banjo players, this is a vital skill for any instrumentalist, any band member, any would-be record producer or music critic, or indeed anyone who listens to music.