The Key of D for 5-String Banjo Book/CD
by Eddie Collins

Since the invention of the fiddle tune, 5-string banjo players everywhere have endured the wrath of fiddlers as they struggle to quickly capo their banjos and retune them to some form of "standard" pitch during an on-going jam session. The most common keys in which fiddle tunes are performed are A and D.

This book has been written to examine the many ways in which the banjoist can play in the key of D without retuning from the common G tuning. All tunes in this book are written and performed in the key of D. Many of these same tunes appear in the keys of G or C in other 3-finger style banjo books.

After some background information, the D Major scale is presented starting with the open position (location) and moving up the neck (including the 12th fret and beyond). Additional topics are presented as they pertain to each position.

More than 20 songs and 100 licks and examples are interspersed throughout the text. The book comes with an accompanying CD that plays all of the examples - first slow and then up to speed. Songs are performed with a separate rhythm guitar practice track.