The full pack: roadmap, three songbooks, backing tracks.
What you get today
The Beginner Banjo System
120 ordered tabs + full roadmap
A complete starter pack for the absolute beginner. One clear path to follow instead of a sea of unorganized videos, so you sit down and know exactly what to play today.
The Clawhammer-First Roadmap: the ordered path from day 1 to your first real tune, style decided for you
Guide 1, First Rolls & Frails: ~40 starter tabs to get your fingers moving from day one
Guide 2, Your First Real Tunes: ~40 tabs for Cripple Creek, Wildwood Flower, Amazing Grace, and more
Guide 3, Jam-Ready Songbook: ~40 fuller tabs for when you start playing with others
A day-by-day path: know which lesson is lesson one, and what comes next
120 tabs in progression order: easiest first, harder later, no guessing what you can handle
Recognizable tunes early: sound like a real banjo player in your first week, not month six
Own it forever: one-time download, no membership, no monthly fee
Printable and device-friendly: practice at the kitchen table or off your tablet
🎁 BPM-Graduated Play-Along Backing Tracks: play in time from slow to full tempo, matched to your tunes
Questions? Email info@theknowhowco.com — replies within 24 hours · 100% secure checkout · Instant digital access · 90-day money-back guarantee
"I had ten videos open and no idea which one was step one. This just told me: do this, then this. First time it stopped feeling like a maze."
— Dave R., new player, Ohio
"Clawhammer or Scruggs, I went in circles for a month. Somebody finally just decided for me and I could start. Best thing about it."
— 1 banjo, Texas
"Played Cripple Creek along to the backing track in my first week. Slowed way down, then up to speed. My wife actually knew the tune."
— Susan T., first year, Vermont
↓ What's inside
Everything You Need to Get From Confused to Playing.
Inside the pack: one ordered roadmap plus three songbooks, written for the beginner who just wants to know what to practice today.
The Roadmap
Clawhammer-first, decided for you.
The ordered path from your very first day to your first real tune. We picked clawhammer to start because you sound musical right away, and it moves into bluegrass later far easier than the reverse.
Day one start point: exactly where to put your hands and what to play first
The style question, answered: no more clawhammer-vs-Scruggs paralysis, we chose and we tell you why
Week-by-week order: what to practice each week so you never wonder "am I ready for this?"
Straight to a real tune: the path is built to get a recognizable song out of you fast
Guide 1
First Rolls & Frails.
Around 40 absolute-beginner tabs: your first rolls, first frails, and single-note exercises, ordered so each one is barely harder than the last.
Starts from zero: built for someone who has never played any string instrument
Small wins fast: short pieces that sound like something on day one
In order: no jumping ahead into things that would only discourage you
Guide 2
Your first real tunes.
Recognizable songs: Cripple Creek, Wildwood Flower, Amazing Grace and more, tabbed for beginners
Play something people know: the tunes that make it feel real instead of like drills
Sequenced from Guide 1: picks up exactly where your first rolls left off
Guide 3
Jam-Ready Songbook
Around 40 fuller arrangements for when you're ready to play with other people
Builds on the first two guides so the jump never feels too big
The tunes that show up at real jams, so you're not the one lost in the corner
Print them or read off a tablet, whatever suits your practice spot
No filler, no padding, just tabs you'll actually use
🎁 Bonus #1
BPM-Graduated Play-Along Backing Tracks
$19 value — included FREE todayOrder today and you also get the play-along tracks FREE.
Every tune in your roadmap gets a backing track at graduated speeds, so you start slow enough to actually hit the notes, then step up to full tempo as your hands catch up.
It's the closest thing to playing along with someone, and it fixes the one thing every beginner struggles with alone: keeping time.
Hear it — sample tracks
↓ How to use it
Start in 3 simple steps.
Order
Add the pack to your cart and complete secure checkout.
Download
Get instant access to the roadmap, three songbooks, and backing tracks.
Play
Open the roadmap to day one, pull up the matching backing track, and start.
Own it once. No monthly fee.
Get Instant Access to the Full Beginner Banjo System
You'll get the link to your entire pack in less than a minute after your order.
The Clawhammer-First Roadmap: the ordered path from day 1 to your first real tune, style decided for you
Guide 1, First Rolls & Frails: ~40 starter tabs to get your fingers moving from day one
Guide 2, Your First Real Tunes: ~40 tabs for Cripple Creek, Wildwood Flower, Amazing Grace, and more
Guide 3, Jam-Ready Songbook: ~40 fuller tabs for when you start playing with others
The clawhammer-vs-Scruggs decision, made for you: stop freezing on the first question every beginner asks
A day-by-day path, not loose videos: know which lesson is lesson one, and what comes next
120 tabs in progression order: easiest first, harder later, no guessing
Recognizable tunes early: sound like a real banjo player in your first week
Own it forever: one-time download, no membership, no monthly fee
Printable and device-friendly: practice at the table or off your tablet
🎁 BPM-Graduated Play-Along Backing Tracks and the Printable Fretboard & Roll-Pattern Wall Chart, both free today.
Questions? Email info@theknowhowco.com — replies within 24 hours · 100% secure checkout · Instant digital access · 90-day money-back guarantee
Wait! Your order also includes one extra tool free: the Printable Fretboard & Roll-Pattern Wall Chart
Included free today.
Nobody remembers where their fingers go in the first weeks, and flipping back through pages mid-practice kills the flow.
This printable wall chart maps the fretboard and the main roll and frail patterns on one sheet. Stick it above your banjo and glance up whenever you blank. No page-hunting, no screen, just look up and keep playing.
…the printable Fretboard & Roll-Pattern Wall Chart, free today: $19
✦ Who we are
We build the ordered path, so you don't have to guess.
If you're looking for a famous instructor's face here, you won't find one. That's on purpose. We're not trying to be the next banjo celebrity you have to trust before you learn anything.
What we do is simple. We take the mountain of free banjo lessons, tabs, and advice out there, and we put it in the right order for an absolute beginner. The skill is everywhere. What's missing, and what stalls almost everyone in year one, is a straight line through it: start here, then this, then this. That line is what we make.
We picked clawhammer to start, we sequenced 120 tabs from your first roll to your first jam, and we matched a backing track to every step. One pack, one path, yours forever.
— The Knowhow Co., Oregon
✦ Reader feedback
New players use it to stop drowning in videos and finally play.
★★★★★
Printed the roadmap, taped it above my chair. Lesson one was just there waiting. No decisions.
Dale R., US
★★★★★
ok so i bought this mostly because i was embarrassed that the banjo had been sitting in the corner for four months and i still hadnt played a single real note. week two and i can get through cripple creek at half speed. the tabs are ordered in a way that actually makes sense, each one is just barely harder than the last one
Marianne P., CA
★★★★★
Bought it. Downloaded it. Printed it. Played something recognizable inside a week. That's the whole story.
Greg H., US
★★★★★
i don't usually leave reviews but genuinely the thing that got me was not having to decide clawhammer vs scruggs before i even knew what those words meant. the guide just... chose. and then i started. thats it
Tobias L., DE
★★★★★
THE BACKING TRACKS ARE THE PART NOBODY TALKS ABOUT. Starting at slow tempo and stepping up as your hands catch on is the only way I have ever managed to keep time practicing alone. Wish I had this three months ago when I was just banging randomly and calling it practice.
Susan K., US
★★★★★
Not sure it replaces lessons eventually but as a starting point it solved the exact problem I had: no idea which video was lesson one. This is lesson one. Here it is.
Ed M., GB
★★★★★
Solid reference pack. 120 tabs in sequence, not scattered. Backing tracks at graduated BPMs. Wall chart prints clean. For $29 the format alone is worth the price vs hunting YouTube for an hour and still not knowing where you are.
Ray C., US
★★★★★
Came back to leave this after about six weeks. The wall chart above my practice spot saved me more times than I can count in the early weeks. Stopped flipping back through pages looking for roll patterns and just glanced up. Small thing, huge difference in practice flow.
Bill T., US
★★★★★
did i need a famous instructor? apparently not. just needed someone to tell me what to play first 👍
Jonno W., AU
★★★★★
My husband bought a banjo last Christmas and it became what I started calling the expensive doorstop. Bought him this in February. He played me something I actually recognized last week. I don't know what else to tell you.
Diane F., US
★★★★★
Spent more than $29 on a single YouTube channel membership that gave me 200 videos in no particular order. The sequence here is the thing. Tabs go from embarrassingly easy to actually playable, and that embarrassingly easy part at the start is exactly what I needed.
Kurt S., US
★★★★★
here is my honest nitpick: i wanted more tunes in guide 2, the first real tunes book. i could have used another five or six songs at that level before moving on. still worked through the whole system and im playing with a small group now so clearly it got me there..
Rhiannon D., GB
★★★★★
No membership. No expiring login. No "continue your learning journey" email at 7am. Just files I own. That alone.
Frank A., US
★★★★★
I'm 64 and figured learning a stringed instrument at my age meant I'd be fighting my own hands the whole time. Turns out I was mostly fighting the lack of a starting point. First two weeks of Guide 1 sorted that out completely. My hands are fine.
Walter B., US
★★★★★
straight up useful. clear tabs. logical order. backing tracks work. would buy again
Neil G., IE
★★★★★
Tried two different method books before this and both of them made me choose my style on page one before I had any feel for what either style even was. This just said "start here, clawhammer, here is why, go." Relief is not a strong enough word.
Carol V., US
★★★★★
The fretboard wall chart is genuinely useful in a way I did not expect. I blanked constantly on where my fingers went in the first few weeks and having it on the wall meant I never lost momentum stopping to look it up. Print it, hang it, thank me later.
Martin J., US
★★★★★
listened to like 45 seconds of a cripple creek backing track in the preview and bought it immediately honestly
Pete O., NZ
★★★★★
Good product, clear layout, tabs are easy to read even for someone who has never read tab before. My one small issue is I wish the roadmap had a printed checklist I could mark off week by week. I made my own but it wouldve been a nice addition. Still recommending it.
Loretta E., US
★★★★★
I kept telling myself I'd start once I found the right teacher online. What I actually needed was a document that said "today you do this." That document exists now and it cost me $29.
Hank Y., US
★★★★★
not bad for someone who thought they had to understand music theory before any of this would make sense. zero theory required. you just follow tabs in order and something resembling a tune comes out
Sam I., CA
★★★★★
Three weeks ago I could not get through eight bars of anything without stopping to look something up. The progression in Guide 1 is genuinely well thought out, each exercise sets up the next one so the jumps never feel unfair. Playing through Guide 2 now.
Bruce N., US
★★★★★
bought it skeptical bc $29 for a pdf felt steep and youtube is free. and yeah youtube is free. but youtube never told me what to watch first. this did. different product entirely
Josh Q., US
★★★★★
Printing quality on my basic home printer was fine, everything came out legible and clean. The tab font is large enough to read at arm's length which matters when your banjo is in your hands and the page is on the table next to you..
Angela Z., US
★★★★★
I play guitar so I thought I'd just find some tabs online and figure it out. Spent two weeks doing that. Bought this. The order matters way more than I expected coming from another instrument. The clawhammer framing from day one also meant I sounded like something immediately instead of just producing noise.
Terry X., GB
★★★★★
My daughter got me a banjo for my birthday and I was terrified I'd waste her gift on confusion. Two months later I played her a tune in the kitchen. She cried. I did not expect that.
Nora U., US
★★★★★
does what it says on the tin. roadmap is clear, tabs progress logically, backing tracks are genuinely useful, wall chart is a nice touch. no complaints from me
Dennis W., US
★★★★★
Honestly the style decision being made for me was worth the price alone. I had read seventeen forum posts about clawhammer vs Scruggs and felt MORE confused after each one. The guide just picked and told me why in one paragraph and I moved on with my life.
Cathy L., CA
★★★★★
ok real talk the slow tempo backing tracks are almost TOO slow at first and i laughed at myself playing that carefully but that is exactly the point and i was at full tempo by week three so... it works?!
Owen R., US
★★★★★
One thing I didn't expect: sounding like an actual banjo player inside the first week. I thought that was marketing copy. It isn't. The early tabs are chosen to sound musical at low skill, not just be technically beginner level. That distinction is real and it matters a lot for staying motivated.
Miriam S., US
Questions Before You Order?
Any questions? Contact us at info@theknowhowco.com — we will reply within 24 hours.
Is this for absolute beginners?+
Yes. It's built for someone in their first year who may have never played any string instrument. Plain language, one step at a time, starting from the very first day with the banjo on your lap.
Do I need to know clawhammer from Scruggs before I start?+
No, and that's the point. We make that decision for you. You start with clawhammer because you sound musical from day one, and it moves into bluegrass later more easily than the other way around. You just follow the path.
Is this a course or a subscription?+
Neither. It's a one-time download you own forever. No monthly fee, nothing to cancel, no login that expires. Buy it once, keep it for good.
How do I receive the files?+
Instantly. The moment your order goes through, you get a link to download the roadmap, all three songbooks, the backing tracks, and the wall chart. It takes under a minute.
Can I print everything?+
Yes. The roadmap, songbooks, and wall chart are all made to print at home, or read off a tablet or computer if you'd rather not. The wall chart is designed to stick above your banjo.
Why pay for this when banjo lessons are free on YouTube?+
Because free content isn't the problem, order is. You've probably already opened a dozen videos and closed every one, unsure which is lesson one. This pack is the ordered path: what to play today, tomorrow, and next week, with the style question already settled. You're paying for the sequence, not the information.
What makes this different from a beginner method book?+
A book is locked to one style and still leaves you to pick clawhammer or Scruggs yourself. This decides the fork for you, sequences 120 tabs in progression order, and adds play-along tracks and a wall chart, things a static book can't carry.
Can I use this on multiple devices?+
Yes. Once you download the files they're yours to keep on your computer, tablet, or phone, and to print as many times as you like. No accounts, no device limits.
What if it doesn't work for me?+
You're covered by a 90-day "play your first tune or your money back" guarantee. If you follow the path and it doesn't get you playing, email us and we'll refund you, no questions. Have more questions? Email info@theknowhowco.com and we'll reply within 24 hours.
