DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!!!
OneEarthJC | Maine | 11/07/2005
(1 out of 5 stars)
"This DVD is entitled "How to Play the 5-String Banjo" but the title is very deceiving. It is a one hour of Pete Seeger playing songs and reminiscing. He gives absolutely NO information on what he is doing and a lot of what he plays is quite advanced.
If you are new to the banjo and looking for some guidance on how to play, this DVD will be useless to you. I watched it once (fast forwarding through the parts where he is singing) and threw it in the trash.
Sorry to be so harsh, but I don't want anyone who is looking to learn some basic (or even advanced for that matter) banjo skills to waste their money on this item."
This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.
Rabbit | USA | 04/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I consider this DVD a must-have for any Pete Seeger fan. He sings and plays entire songs, so it makes it great for musicians or people looking just to be entertained. If you're looking to learn how to play banjo, and are not familiar with a stringed instrument, getting this dvd only will leave you slack-jawed. You'll have to buy his book "How to Play the 5-String Banjo" to get started. In this dvd he shows strumming styles, picking styles, how to make extra sounds with your left hand, and many other things. He plays many songs including "Ode to Joy", and a wonderful blues song...who woulda thunk, blues on the banjo? It is awesome. (And btw, a xeroxed copy of his book is NOT included with the dvd, as someone stated in another review. It is a small book of banjo tablature of some of the songs on the dvd. )"
Worth Buying
David E. Szymanski | Ottawa Lake, MI | 10/02/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A few of these reviews are a bit unfair. Imagine footage of Einstein late in his career. Every story he told would be priceless. It would be unrealistic, however, to expect a lecture on physics 101. This is such a nice DVD of the grand old man of American folk music. He has been like a geological force (as Lee Hayes put it) in American music. Sit back and enjoy this one-on-one visit with Pete. No, he's not going to tell you to put your middle finger here on the third fret, etc. -- but who cares."