Acoustic Instrument
Primers

What Kind of Guitar
Should I Start On?

What Kind of Banjo
Do I Want?

Evaluating and
Buying Used
Guitars

Setting Up
Fretted Instruments

Whatever Happened
to the Banjo?

Beginning Five-
String Folk Banjo

6-String Banjos
Banjo Pickups
Axes in my Life
What is a
Bluegrass Banjo?

Dean "Backwoods
Six" Shootout

What is a Zither Banjo?

Music Theory
Primers

Introduction
to Scales

Introduction
to Chords

Circle of Fifths

Other Articles
About Music

How to Give
Guitar Lessons

Musician or
Wannabe?

Did God Really
Give Rock &
Roll to You?

Are You a
"Brand Bigot"?

Who Owns Folk Songs?

Historical Links
About the
National Road

The Story Behind
the Story - Real
People, Places,
and Events


About the Play
Play Home
What's New
Overview
About the
Music

About the
History

About the
Logistics

About the
Cast

Synopsis
About the
Set

About the
Author

Contact Us
Home





Click to visit RiverBoatMusic.com's banjo buyers' guides







Click to go to home page.

Introduction to Mickey Cochran's Online Banjo Lessons

Edited by Paul Race for Creek Don't Rise?

Mickey Cochran with banjo, taken from the back cover of his video products. Mitchell "Mickey" Cochran (1955-2011) loved acoustic instruments and traditional music so much that he spent countless hours creating free online lessons for 5-string banjo and other instruments. He also sold DVDs of his lessons and dabbled in musical instrument sales, trying to make superior-quality instruments available to people who would otherwise have had no access at all (something that is still a problem, and the reason I started the buyers' guides at Riverboat Music).

Several years before his death, Mikey transferred his web sites and product line to another person, who took down the free lessons, but did not apparently make enough money from the DVDs, etc., to justify all the time and expense to keep the sites going. At the moment, Mickey's most popular site name "FolkOfTheWood.com" is still being registered by somebody, but it doesn't seem to link to anything, and the domain name ownership is hidden behind a proxy.

The folk community has been mourning the loss of Mickey since 2011. They have been mourning the loss of his online materials even longer. We have attempted to contact family members and the current owner of the domain name for permission to repost some of Mickey's most popular free materials online (still free to readers). So far no one seems to have strong opinions about it one way or the other, but we're trying to make certain we get/keep everyone in the loop we can.

Regarding Mickey's 1999-2004 materials, Mickey did very well, but he used tools and coding standards that are no longer supported. Still, we hope that experimenting with a few lessons will let us see how practical or impractical this attempt will be.

Note for Heirs of Mickey Cochran - If this comes to your attention, PLEASE contact us immediately. We would be glad to transfer any materials we have restored to your control, or to cease and desist, or to follow any other reasonable course of action that is your preference. In the meantime, we are posting a few lessons to see if there is still interest in Mickey's materials among the folk community.

For everyone else, please let us know what you think of this effort.

In Mickey's words:

Following is a compilation of lessons on 5-string banjo. We will divide the lessons into two categories: Beginner and Advanced. Our first lessons listed here are in the Beginner category. These lessons focus on basic three-finger styles which is the foundation for bluegrass banjo...and can be used for many other approaches to 5-string banjo including: classical, ragtime, jazz and rock.

Beginner to Advanced 5-String Banjo Lessons

  • How to Read Tablature for 5-String Banjo
  • Lesson 1a: How to Hold a 5-string Banjo
  • Lesson 1b: How to Tune a 5-string Banjo
  • Lesson 1c: Right-Hand Positioning
  • Lesson 1d: Basic Chording Techniques
  • Lesson 1e: Your First Chord Progression
  • Lesson 1f: Your Second Chord Progression
  • Lesson 2a: Forward rolls
  • Lesson 2b: Forward rolls with chords
  • Lesson 3a: Alternating Rolls
  • Lesson 3b: Alternating Rolls with Chords
  • Lesson 4a: Forward/Reverse Rolls
  • Lesson 4b: Forward/Reverse Rolls with Chords
  • Lesson 5a: Reverse Rolls
  • Lesson 5b: Reverse Rolls with Chords
  • Lesson 6: Adding A Melody
  • Lesson 7: Starting with the Basic Melody
  • Lesson 8: Key of C Scale Studies
  • More to come . . . .
    Copyright ?1999-2004 Mickey Cochran

  • Conclusion

    Mickey's instructions are as valid today as when he wrote and recorded them years ago. Here's hoping that you find them just as helpful as his original followers did back when he was interacting on a daily basis with his them.

    Please contact us if you're hitting any brick walls and we'll try to help you get therough them.

    Best of luck, all, enjoy your music, and support the arts.

    Paul Race

    And when you're ready to move on, click here to go Mickey's next page - "How to Read Tablature for 5-String Banjo"




    Click to visit the CreekDontRise Discussion Forums
    Click to visit the CreekDontRise Discussion Forums







    Click to see RiverboatMusic.com's tips for buying 'backless' banjos.



















    Click to sign up for our newsletter about Folk, Roots, and Americana music.

    All text and any illustrations and/or videos within the white box above are copyright 1999-2004 by Mitchell Cochran. All other materials, illustrations, and content on this web page, including the text reformatting and illustration restoration within the white box are copyrighted ? 2016 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
    Creek Dont' Rise(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
    program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

    For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this page or this site, please contact us.


    Visit related pages and affiliated sites:
    - Music -
    Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips.
    Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
    Visit musings about music on our sister site, School of the Rock With a few tools and an hour or two of work, you can make your guitar, banjo, or mandolin much more responsive.  Instruments with movable bridges can have better-than-new intonation as well. Resources for learning Folk Music and instruments quickly Check out our article on finding good used guitars.
    Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs. X and Y-generation Christians take Contemporary Christian music, including worship, for granted, but the first generation of Contemporary Christian musicians faced strong, and often bitter resistance. Different kinds of music call for different kinds of banjos.  Just trying to steer you in the right direction. New, used, or vintage - tips for whatever your needs and preferences. Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album. Explains the various kinds of acoustic guitar and what to look for in each.
    Look to Riverboat Music buyers' guide for descriptions of musical instruments by people who play musical instruments. Learn 5-string banjo at your own speed, with many examples and user-friendly explanations. Explains the various kinds of banjos and what each is good for. Learn more about our newsletter for roots-based and acoustic music. Folks with Bb or Eb instruments can contribute to worship services, but the WAY they do depends on the way the worship leader approaches the music. A page devoted to some of Paul's own music endeavors.
    - Trains and Hobbies -
    Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village.
    Visit Lionel Trains. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
    - Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
    Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Click to sign up for Maria Cudequest's craft and collectibles blog.
    Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
    Visit the largest and most complete cardboard Christmas 'Putz' house resource on the Internet.
    - Family Activities and Crafts -
    Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments