Favorite Classical 5-String Banjo Solos (eBook + Online Audio)
This collection of twenty classical masterworks was created for advanced 5-string banjo players who use the 3-finger picking style. The pieces vary in length and complexity from a short Boccherini minuet to Bach’s monumental “Chaconne” from the Partita No. 2 in D minor. Regardless of duration, each piece has been carefully chosen for its beauty as a solo and for its capacity to provide an interesting challenge. Each selection is accompanied by insightful performance notes a ...more
Product Number:
31179MEB
Format:
eBook + Online Audio
Skill Level:
Intermediate-Advanced
Notation Type:
Tab
Pages:
100
Binding:
eBook
ISBN:
1-5134-8426-5
ISBN13:
978-15134-8426-6
Publisher:
Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
Date Published:
10/15/2025
This collection of twenty classical masterworks was created for advanced 5-string banjo players who use the 3-finger picking style. The pieces vary in length and complexity from a short Boccherini minuet to Bach’s monumental “Chaconne” from the Partita No. 2 in D minor. Regardless of duration, each piece has been carefully chosen for its beauty as a solo and for its capacity to provide an interesting challenge. Each selection is accompanied by insightful performance notes and will give any player ample material to practice along the road to mastery.

The adaptations are generally as faithful as possible to the original material, with deviations only where the limited range of the banjo requires them. Each arrangement has been meticulously optimized for musicality and playability, making full use of the entire fretboard and all five strings. The music is presented in an enhanced banjo tablature format closely resembling classical guitar music, with left and right-hand fingering and dynamics suggestions throughout. With one exception for a minor key, the tablature is written in gDGBD tuning. To facilitate learning and ensure playability, the author has provided online recordings of these exacting arrangements.

 

Preface

Notation and Technique

About the Music

J. S. Bach

Cantata BWV 156, Sinfonia in F Major “Arioso”

Double Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1043

Partita 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004  Allemanda

Giga

Chaconne

Violin Sonata 1, BWV 1001    

Adagio

Presto

Pachelbel    Canon in D

Scarlatti    Keyboard Sonata in F Minor, K. 466

C. P. E. Bach  Solfeggietto, H220, Wq. 117:2

Boccherini   Minuet, from Op. 11, No. 5

Beethoven   Minuet, WoO 10, No. 2

Corelli     Violin Sonata Op. 5, No. 12, “La Folia”

Léonard    Cadenza for “La Folia”

Paganini    24 Caprices, Op. 1 Caprice 2, Moderato

Caprice 16, Presto

Caprice 24, Quasi presto

Albéniz     Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47, “Asturias”

Monti      Czardas

Debussy     La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, Prelude No. 8

About the Author

 

 
Audio Sample 1
Audio Sample 2
Series:
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