Happy Picking! All Things Banjo Podcast

Join the 'Happy Picking!' Podcast for Episode 9... ...where we discover the surprising history of the song 'Banjo in the Hollow' and discover how this song become the BIGGEST bluegrass song of all time. The history of the song takes us from Missouri to California and the surprising links between The Dillards, Earl Scruggs and The Andy Griffith Show. Stay tuned in and hear how the c...

This episode of the 'Happy Picking!' Podcast on Sheffield Banjo Lessons is a good one! Today we get to have an open and honest chat with one of the great personalities and educators of bluegrass and the banjo. We catch up with Ben Clark and listen to his story and journey in life and music. We hear Ben's open, honest and real stories about growing up with music, his parents influence a...

A Conversation with Jim Pankey Joining the 'Happy Picking!' Podcast today is a very special guest, the wonderful Jim Pankey!   Jim is widely regarded as the largest purely banjo personality and tutor on the internet and you may already know him as ‘Wild Jimbo’ from his social media and Patreon pages.   More than just a great tutor, Jim has a huge depth of professional experience playing an...

Hello and welcome to the Happy Picking! Podcast. In today's episode we take a deep dive into the topic of playing at speed and increasing your picking speed on the banjo. It can be quite a daunting task to get this progressing and it's so easy to approach it incorrectly and tarnish your playing. This episode will discuss safe ways to build your speed, avoid harming yor play and give you ex...

Have you ever played the bluegrass classic 'Cripple Creek' on banjo, listened to Earl Scruggs or been to a jam , heard the song and thought... "Earl Scruggs wrote this, right?" ...well ...actually ... Welcome to the 'Happy Picking!' podcast, where in Episode 5 we dive into 'The History and Mystery of Cripple Creek', taking a long look at the origins, history and l...

Thinking about buying a Deering banjo but not sure which model is right for you? ...or do you just want to know what goes in to choosing the right banjo? In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Deering banjo lineup, from the popular Goodtime series right through to the professional-grade Sierra, Eagle II, Golden Era and Tenbrooks models. We'll explore the history of Deering Banjos, what make...

Do you want to build better banjo breaks? One of the most important skills in bluegrass banjo is learning to hear and find the melody. In this episode, we'll build a banjo break from the melody of  Worried Man Blues  and then strip back Earl Scruggs' break on  The Ballad of Jed Clampett  to discover how melody forms the foundation of every great banjo arrangement. Let's take a look at all the buil...

Welcome to Episode 2 of the 'Happy Picking!' podcast! This episode we talk 'All About Licks'. Playing, learning and being able to craft licks on the banjo is such a fundamental tool for all banjo players and has been for over 100 years! In this episode we take a deep dive into the world of licks and look at understanding licks by approaching the questions of: - What is a lick? - When do we play li...

Welcome to 'Happy Picking!' a podcast about all things banjo! Hosted by Richard from Sheffield Banjo Lessons (me), this show will bring you stories, information, lessons, tips and tricks, breakdowns of concepts and other bits exploring the fabulous world of the banjo. In episode 1 we will talk about how we all have a story when we get into the banjo whether it be from bluegrass music, coun...