BB pal and deaf banjo-pickin' dude Patrick Costello writes, "The Washington Post just did a story about my work as a music teacher: 'Merry God of banjo'"

Copyfighting banjo teacher Patrick Costello writes, "A few years back you posted about the surgery I had to restore my hearing. Well, doctors at Kohns Hopkins had to replace my original BAHA implant and while they were at it they installed a second BAHA on my left side. — Read the rest

For years, I've been covering the career of Patrick Costello (previously) a deaf, copyfighting, open access banjo player and teacher who is responsible for a bounty of instructional books, videos, and meetups for would-be banjo players. Now, Patrick has finished a new book called Just This Banjo and made it open access, in the name of fighting the malaise and terror of our precarious moment. — Read the rest

Patrick Costello (previously) writes, "My mom shares her recipe for cranberry orange bread with help from my dad. They have been married for fifty years and they are still crazy for each other. The full recipe is in the video description."

Patrick Costello (previously) writes, "I had to go through a 25 hr EEG, but I didn't let the wires glued to my head stop me from posting my weekly frailing banjo workshop."

Patrick Costello sez,

Brick Kiln Road in Crisfield in Maryland is one of those quiet places
that you can drive by a thousand times without noticing. The short
stretch of road is home to a small fishing boat harbor, a public beach
and not much else of consequence – but, like most small quiet places
in the world, if you take the time to get to know the place there are
wonders to be found.

Patrick Costello, a hero of public-spirited music education, has launched The Old Time Banjo Project with some of his students. He's looking for banjo-pickers to help record instructional videos that teach the instrument from total n00b to mad-skilled virtuoso.

To take part in the project, contact me at ask.patrick@gmail.com,

Copyfighting banjo-picker Patrick Costello has a new book of free/open banjo tunes: Songs for Sunday: "In this book you will find a selection of hymns, country gospel and even some blues
songs arranged for frailing banjo. The arrangements presented here blend melody and
rhythm so that you can sing along with the banjo and still be able to knock out a solo
once in a while. — Read the rest

Open source banjo maven Patrick Costello writes,

We have been hosting folk musician retreats for the last couple of years here in Crisfield, Maryland. The idea is to bring musicians together in a funky old house on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay to jam and share ideas.

A reader writes, "Patrick Costello – you have posted about his work as an open source banjo teacher several times – is having surgery this Thursday at Johns Hopkins to install a BAHA implant so he can continue teaching."

Patrick is the king of open-source banjo teaching, a public-spirited saint who teaches and produces teaching materials on a free/open basis. — Read the rest

Patrick Costello, the travelling open-source banjo instructor, sez, "A visually impaired banjo player in the Netherlands contacted me the other day asking for help. He wanted a way to use banjo tab with his Braille display.

Tab, or tabulature, is different from music notation in that tab gives the user specific mechanical instructions — literally, 'put your fingers here'. — Read the rest

Patrick Costello sez,

I am the author of several of CC-licensed music books including The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo, A Book of Five Strings and The How and the Tao of Folk Guitar.

The Creative Commons concept has worked pretty well for us in terms of book sales over the last three years so I have decided to make my services as a music teach available under the same concept.

Patrick Costello and Dear Old Dad are offering banjo lessons as MP3s. They will not release the next lesson until five people email them with recordings of their exercises from the previous lesson. Neat idea. Link

I promised myself not to buy a banjo, since I already have five ukuleles in the house, but these books could break my willpower.

Darel Snodgrass says: "Old-time music is a fast-growing segment of the folk music performance hobby (mostly because it's actually pretty easy to play, unlike, say, bluegrass). — Read the rest

Patrick Costello's "The How and the Tao of Old Time Banjo" — a lyrical, engaging teach-yourself-the-banjo book — is now available for free online under a Creative Commons license.

"What have you got, kid?" The old man asked me around his cigar.