Having played the guitar for 15+ years, I had been toying with the idea of learning the banjo for some time. I finally made the decision to purchase one. I needed a resource to teach myself, and I found that this book came highly recommended by banjo players. Since I was looking to learn to play "Scruggs-style," it just made sense to buy the book.

The book is simply great. As someone who already knew quite a bit about playing a stringed instrument, I was able to bypass the first 50 pages or so and start where I needed to. What is really nice is that the CD contains Earl playing through all of the exercises. This was of great help to me to hear how things are "supposed" to be played.

Another great feature of the book are the extra chapters detailing Earl's life, the history of the banjo and how to build your own instrument. This definitely puts this great American instrument in a new perspective for me.

The only downside to this book is that the CD does not contain the songs at the end. One must buy additional CDs to hear the songs. It would have been nice to have another CD included with the package, to make it a "one-stop-shop," if you will.

All in all, a great book for the banjo player who understands some basics of the instrument and is looking to become proficient. ( )

The simple review is this: If you want to play bluegrass banjo, you must buy this book. Period.

(It probably shouldn't be your first book, tho. Better to get comfortable with your instrument first with a true beginner's book. But this book is essential for any banjo player--young, old, new, or experienced--who wants to learn Earl's style of playing.) It's a considerable improvement over the earlier editions of the book. For the most part, I recommend NOT paying the extra money for the CD, and instead spend your money on a copy of Foggy Mountain Banjo and Foggy Mountain Jamboree. (They're far more valuable and contain all the songs most people want to play anyway.)

Whoever did the transcriptions must have spent AGES doing so and most likely had Earl's help in the process because they're so darned accurate--sometimes frustratingly so. In places it's almost a record of what Earl's fingers did, rather than what notes he played. For example, grace notes that your fingers would hit automatically anyway while moving from one hand position to another. Such details can be confusing and frustrating to a relative newbie on the banjo because they're hard to duplicate intentionally. The few errors I have found in the tablature are generally typos and not errors in transcription per se.

My biggest complaint about the book is that I wish it had more in it--more songs and more of Earl's breaks from songs that are partially transcribed in the book (For example. in Flint Hill Special, the second-to-last break is omitted in the book, as well as the first couple measures of the final break.) I have no doubt this was done primarily to save space, to make sure songs fit neatly on the page, etc., but I still wish they were there. The partial and omitted breaks are the only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. ( )