Sean Barth — St. Louis, MO, USA

More About Me

As a banjo player, I am dedicated to learning and preserving the old playing styles of the 5-string banjo. As a fiddler I have made it my mission to learn and preserve as many native Midwestern traditional tunes as time will allow. I have the great fortune of being able to play at dances and festivals all over the Midwest with many fine players. I also teach Old-Time banjo and Old-Time Ensemble classes at the Folk School of St. Louis. I run a website dedicated to the "two finger thumb-lead" style of banjo picking (2ftlbanjer.wordpress.com).

To me, the banjo is primarily a backup instrument (to fiddle and voice) and my style reflects that. I am not a soloist.

That said, I teach various old-time picking styles depending on the goals of the student. If playing songs is the goal: 2 finger up-picking styles are the primary focus. For fiddle tunes, clawhammer is the name of the game. Source recordings and the fiddle are oftentimes used in lessons in order to teach timing and the finer points of accompaniment.

Above all I try to make it easy and fun. BYOB.