A BLUEGRASS BANJO WORKSHOP with Pioneer Banjoist BILL KEITH

Saturday , November 19, 2005
01:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Location: Elderly Instruments
workshop ($60.00)

"I don't think there's a man in the country that can touch this boy when it comes to playin' a five-string banjo," said Bill Monroe--Father of Bluegrass and leader of the legendary Bluegrass Boys--when he introduced banjoist Bill Keith to the audience at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.

Since then, Bill Keith has pioneered many facets of America's ever-more-popular bluegrass music, to the point where he can clearly be described as a banjo-playing "Renaissance man." He invented the melodic "Keith-style" banjo-picking technique. He co-authored the original Earl Scruggs banjo-players' bible. He has authored several instructional methods books and tapes and teamed up with Tony Trischka to provide teaching tools to improve players' 5-string technique, skill, and creativity. He played with Monroe's Bluegrass Boys and many other top artists. He is a Rounder and Green Linnet recording artist with numerous CDs to his credit. He devised and still markets the highly-reputed "Keith tuners," named after him, through his Beacon Banjo Company in Woodstock, New York.

"Bill Keith was a pioneer in many ways...and not the least of his accomplishments was to figure out how to effectively play fiddle tunes on that most persnickety of instruments," wrote Chet Williamson in Rambles: A Cultural Arts Magazine, in a 1999 review of Fiddle Tunes for Banjo, an anthology recorded by Bill Keith, Tony Trischka, and Bela Fleck.

Bill Keith continues to spread his breadth of talent in a wide arc, consistently taking time to focus on the instructional, i.e., TEACHING, aspects of music in addition to performance, recording, and invention. In 2004 he produced, with ukulelist Jim D'Ville, a "clear book in simple English that explains the fundamentals of music" (according to long-time music critic and buyer Chris Rietz). THE NATURAL WAY TO MUSIC - AN ORGANIC APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING AND PLAYING MUSIC teaches students to use what they already know in order to develop an understanding of scales, intervals and chords and how they are used.

Bill Keith is serious about his responsibilities as a workshop presenter. Titled "Building on Bluegrass Basics," his four-hour hands-on workshop is intended for Advanced Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced banjo players. He suggests that to benefit fully from the workshop, students should "be familiar with bluegrass music," "be able to read banjo tab," and "know how to put on the picks." Students will benefit from the technique and attention to detail that he shares.

With other notables including Reter Rowan, David Grisman,, and Clarence White, in 2003 he reissued the original sountrack of the legendary Muleskinner album. He has toured widely throughout North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia.

His nickname when he played with Monroe's Bluegrass Boys? Brad. (The Father of Bluegrass thought it might be confusing to have two Bills in the band, so he called Keith "Brad.")

Bring your banjos, of course, and bottled water or your favorite soft beverage. Space is limited, so sign up soon.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Bill Keith