If what kept you from learning 5-string banjo was the language and the dollar prices, well, your problems are over. Since 2019, Wagner Creoruska Jr. (O Bardo e o Banjo) has dedicated himself to teaching the banjo in Brazil and created the first complete online banjo course in the country. We talked to him and asked him to tell us more about his journey as a banjo teacher.
"I remember the first time I saw someone REALLY playing bluegrass banjo in front of me. It was February 2012, I already had my first banjo for 2 years and I went to attend a workshop on Bluegrass, with people I had never seen in my life, a band I had never heard of (Motorgrass).
There I watched Edson Moreira playing a Gibson R-250, an incredible sound, it was the sound of the records, the banjo tracks that I loved so much and had only heard on videos and on the internet. I met Cesar Benzoni and made new friends through the São Paulo Bluegrass Association. And from that moment, my life has changed.
After 2 years trying to learn to play banjo, I had already had contact with videos, tablatures, and classes on the internet, but the experience of having contact with people who play the instrument, talking about techniques, and exchanging experiences was the biggest push in my learning. A few years later, traveling and meeting people with O Bardo and Banjo (my band), I was able to share this experience and it was then that I started teaching classes via Skype to people from all over Brazil.
The advent and growth of the Internet only helped in this sense, we have more and more access to music, videos, and information about the instrument. Based on this, in 2019 I created the first channel entirely focused on Banjo in Brazil (banjo5cordas.com). Our community of banjoists has grown and classes via Skype were no longer enough, it was then that in the same year I recorded (for more than 5 months) the first Banjo 5 Strings Online Course in Brazil, which aims not only to provide information, lessons and tips in a simple and accessible way, in Portuguese but, mainly, to create a community of students who interact, exchange experiences and evolve together.
The Online Course was designed for all people, including those who never took a banjo in their hands (including me teaching how to transform a guitar into an American Banjo and many students started learning this way). It is a step-by-step from posture, reading tablatures, to the most advanced concepts like Melodic Style, Single String, Clawhammer, and how to create arrangements on the instrument using all these techniques.
When I say that my life changed with the banjo it was not simply because I formed a band, traveled to Brazil, and met many other banjo players and incredible people, but mainly because the banjo became my best friend. And teaching, talking, sharing knowledge about something that we love and do with pleasure is the real reason to promote the course and our community, it is the opportunity for other people who are already interested in the instrument to get to know this universe and get into it in the best way possible.
I always say that I would love to be able to go back in time, go back 10 years and deliver my method and classes into my own hands, I am sure that I would have evolved much faster, I would not have banged my head against the wall so much and would be a much better banjo player today. I do not devalue the path I have taken and I am always willing to share my victories, frustrations, and knowledge with other people who are on this path. So I invite the reader friend who is interested in learning the banjo to come with me on this journey!"
To learn more about the course, visit www.banjo5cordas.com .