Pete Wernick (“Dr. Banjo”) announces the release of a two-hour instructional DVD, Make Up Your Own Banjo Solos, Vol. 2, (Homespun). Volume 2 is a follow-up to the acclaimed* Volume 1, released in 2009. This is Wernick’s tenth video for Homespun, all based on his extensive teaching experience starting in 1964. Wernick pioneered bluegrass music camps in 1980 and has hosted over 100 such camps.
The new DVD teaches banjo pickers how to create convincing solos in common but challenging keys such as D, C, and F without a capo, and playing “up the neck” in the key of G. Wernick shows how to combine melodies and banjo roll patterns to apply to any song.
In the video, Wernick explores nine bluegrass standards, taking each song’s melody and showing how to weave it together with rolls for a full arrangement highlighting the recognizable tune. The addition of appealing licks, bluesy variations and other embellishments are demonstrated to give solos polish and interest.
The DVD gives close-ups of both hands, and a printable tablature booklet makes every note clear. Songs include: Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms, Colleen Malone, Angeline the Baker, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, New River Train, and others.
Wernick might be the best-known bluegrass teacher on the planet. His instructional materials have sold over half a million copies. Pete has performed and recorded hundreds of solos with Hot Rize, Country Cooking, FLEXIGRASS, Pete & Joan Wernick, Steve Martin, and most recently, Long Road Home, his Colorado bluegrass band whose debut CD Live at eTown Hall was released in January, 2010. His decades of banjo teaching experience inform his ability to show clearly and concisely how players can create their own workable solos, without tablature.
