In Part I you learn and practice 2 picking patterns, as well as a Glick using the a partial  "D" chord shape  (like the Cumberland Gap/Sally Goodin lick I believe) where you are shown how to incorporate alternate notes on the 11th fret of the second string.  

In Part 2 you learn to add a slide (on the 2nd string) to the lick you learned in Part 2, plus a couple of picking patterns to practice that. You also learn a G lick (at the 10th fret, strings 1,2 and 5) using chokes.

Part 3 brings you a C position" lick (using the "F" shape for partial C or Em chord shapes on strings 1 - 3), plus adding a slide to that lick and/or alternate notes on the 10th fret of the second string.

Then in Part 4 you will learn and practice some other variations of the lick you learned in Part 3.

In Part 5 You get some "high up the neck" licks (some very much like the "teardrop" lick I believe) and some high position G(from the 14th to 17th frets) licks. 

Finally, in Part 6 your work on some "extended licks", extending the variations you learned in Part 1 and 2, adding notes from the 12th fret on the first string.

I haven't had the book for a long time.  To be honest, learning that lick in Part 1 has been slowing me down, but it is becoming easier and cleaner.  However, if you don't want to add the variations or slides, you can certainly stick with the "basic" version of the lick until your skills improve.  There is some debate about the fretting fingering with that lick, whether to use 2 or 3 fingers, and I am finding that it is easier for me at this time to fret the 1st and 2nd strings, and add the 3rd finger (on the 3rd string) when needed.  There are basically 3 chord shapes you use. One I call the slant shape on the first 2 or three strings (for the G lick), then a V or arrow shape for the C position (8th - 10th frets) lick and the E minor shaped lick (7th and 8th frets, for example).   I am getting far enough into the book that I am seeing that these shapes are movable. I am sure there a a few other things I am missing in this description, but you will eventually find that out on your own if you get the package..  So -- lots of good instruction, examples and demonstrations, plus plenty of opportunity to practice within the context of playing tunes.  You can get this package from Geoff at Watch and Learn, Inc., the Banjo Compass website or on Reverb.  You can also see some of these ideas in videos on his website or on Youtube.  And not only can you use this to learn up the neck improvisation, you could incorporate much of what you learn here into your up the neck backup.  

Kickstart  gave me exactly what I needed to know. What to play when its your turn to take a break.  Granted it's very basic and for beginners (as it's meant to be) but it gets you playing with others quickly. 

I was quite nieve thinking that I would have to learn all the songs that were played at a jam to play along.  That wasn't Murphy's fault but mine.  It was an assumption that for some reason stuck with me, until I viewed the Kickstart video.  I'm not all the way done with it yet but I am understanding how it all relates and fits in with the tunes I was learning.  There are pieces of every tune that can be played as a break.

I'm now starting to go to jams with less fear and something to build on.  Thank you so much Murphy and Casey Henry.

Kickstart  gave me exactly what I needed to know. What to play when its your turn to take a break.  Granted it's very basic and for beginners (as it's meant to be) but it gets you playing with others quickly. 

I was quite nieve thinking that I would have to learn all the songs that were played at a jam to play along.  That wasn't Murphy's fault but mine.  It was an assumption that for some reason stuck with me, until I viewed the Kickstart video.  I'm not all the way done with it yet but I am understanding how it all relates and fits in with the tunes I was learning.  There are pieces of every tune that can be played as a break.

I'm now starting to go to jams with less fear and something to build on.  Thank you so much Murphy and Casey Henry.

    Luckily for me I came across this instructional video a few years ago. A big point of Murphy Henry's "Method" that differs from most other teachers video or live "in-person" lessons is "No Tab" (written down tablature). She really doesn't want the student to be dependent on looking at a piece of paper to play music. She also doesn't want you writing down notes or creating your own tab to refer to later. She considers her style "by ear". I would more consider it "by example". She tells you what to do as well as showing you what to play with close-ups of her left "fretting" hand and right "picking" hand. Here's what's amazing to me, if I try to learn something from tab I usually don't remember it and it doesn't sound musical while I'm playing it. With the Murphy Method I feel like I remember it and it sounds "musical" right away even at slow speeds. She goes through tuning the banjo near the start of each song.  This was originally recorded before electronic tuners were affordable or common. You can skip over the tuning segment or actually check your tuning against hers which is actually good ear training. The video has 5 songs "Banjo In The Hollow, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Gap, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, and John Hardy". It's 1 hour and 50 minutes long. She spends a short amount of time covering 3 rolls; Forward; Backward and Square (alternating) Roll and picking technique. She also briefly covers 3 chords G; D7 and C. Most of the focus for the rest of the video is on the melodic "breaks" on each song, which is really what I needed the most help with, and enough chord information to play along. The majority of time the lessons are focused on notes, licks and timing and executing them with both hands. All the songs are in the key of G. Even though at the time (and since) I have never been to a pick where somebody played "Banjo in the Hollow" or "Cumberland Gap" (a song I have come to love, especially after seeing Earl playing it on the old Martha White videos). I learned them all in order which I would advise everybody to do. They are chosen in this order so that the skills and licks you learn in earlier songs can be used later not only in this DVD but her other DVDs. On her website Murphy actually suggests learning the first two songs from this DVD and then some from "Banjo for Misfits" which is also a great beginner's DVD with these 5 songs on there "Boil Them Cabbage Down, I Saw the Light, Worried Man, Do Lord, and Two-Dollar Bill" and going back and forth. I learned the songs well enough to play them on my own and I would occasionally practice "Cripple Creek" or "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on my own or play them at a pick. By the way lots of mandolin and fiddle folks will want to do "Cripple Creek" in the key of A, so if you go to open picks that is a good way to practice it. The Murphy Method breaks and kickoffs are real "Scruggs style" material and sound more accurate and "right"  than my own improvised breaks. After I felt like I had learned the songs, since I  could play through them on my own from memory, I did not keep reviewing the material. I went to a few banjo camps and I kept going to picks. I learned a lot more songs but I felt like when I tried to play fast my playing got sloppy and I felt like my progress was slow. 

     How to play banjo faster and cleaner may be common knowledge or obvious to some of you so please forgive me if that is the case. This is what helped me improve. About a year ago I was frustrated with my progress, so I started reviewing the Murphy Method songs I had learned years before, which was all of BB I, "Old Joe Clark" and "Salt Creek" off of BB II. As I was reviewing them and cleaning up my mistakes I realized that I had never played these songs at her fastest speed. The idea came to me that to get faster I should pick out a few songs and just repeat them at the fastest speed which I could pick them clean. Over a period of time I could ramp up the speed on those core songs. Even if I was still learning new songs I had to practice those core songs on a regular basis. I also figured that they may as well be the songs on BB I since they had licks that were building blocks and re-used throughout Scruggs style banjo. I should also compare myself, as in play simultaneously, to a really good example of those songs such as are on the Murphy Henry videos or an audio version of those songs such as a backing track or the original song (double check your tuning ((not always A 440)) and Key) or with a metronome. At first I played the songs slowly note for note along with the DVD at the slowest speed, usually the second example she plays, to make sure they were right. If I made mistakes there I reviewed her instructions. I would play them several times at that slow speed or second slowest speed, usually "slow with guitar" to lock the song in and warm up. Then I increased the speed to play those songs faster by practicing the same songs unaccompanied or with a metronome or a backing track or with the faster speeds on the DVD (remember there are several speeds). I will say that Murphy usually has a big jump in speed between slow and fast, so I spent a lot of time reinforcing my playing at the in between speeds on metronome or more recently "GrassTrax" backing tracks. I also own some of Murphy and Casey's "Slow Jam" and  "Fast Jam" play along videos, which are good to play with as well. If there was a lick or place that caused me to stumble on a repeated basis I made a loop and repeated that. Finally I played with her fastest speed usually after being substantially warmed up and dialed in to that song. Even if I could not keep up with her fastest version all the way through, it was usually clear which parts I was playing slower or poorly that I should work on. The best way I found to make progress on those was not to play the whole song through, but to start playing a little before where the hard part started until a few notes or a measure after the hard part. Now I try to go back and review songs at least once a month from this DVD or BB II or Jam Session Standards. I can play her fastest speed on everything on this DVD except for "John Hardy" (I stumble on the D part) on this DVD with less warm-up time. I can play "Salt Creek" along with her at her fastest speed but not "OJC" yet but I am making progress. I think going to picks and making live music is critical to my musicianship but Murphy has given me an ideal to shoot for and a way to get there if I stay focused and dig in. I will also say that I feel like her instruction helped me get to a point where now I can use tab and it is easier to play and remember without becoming tab dependent. I have also read comments that people thought you if you didn't play along with her DVD you would get lost or have a hard time playing the songs on your own or with other people which has not been my experience at all. I will finally add that since I played guitar so much before I got to banjo, as well as since then, I needed less help and direction on the backup and chordal aspects of banjo playing. If you are entirely new to music I think it is very important to spend time listening to this music especially Bill Monroe and Flatt and Scruggs, etc... and learning your chord shapes, usually open position first then closed position, then playing along by vamping or rolling through chords to get a feel for this music and get t into your head. There are lots of books, DVDs and free online You Tube videos as well as Murphy's Fast and Slow jam DVD's.

-Stringcritter