What would you give someone who just got a banjo?

October 20, 2006 9:07 AM

Friend just got a banjo and I want to get her a banjo-related gift. Li'l help?

A co-worker, who is leaving the office and the state soon, was just given a banjo as a surprise going away gift. She LOVES it and is learning some chords from a very simple book with accompanying CD, and spending all her time learning. She's a complete beginner. She loves bluegrass and other banjo-including music.

I'd like to get her a gift, and I'd like it to be banjo-related, but I just don't have any bright ideas. Fun accessories? A great book? Something else?

posted by ORthey to media & arts (18 comments total)

Oh, and it should be $40 or less. And I'm not going to pay for a lesson, she's arranged all that already.
posted by ORthey at 9:08 AM on October 20, 2006

Get her some John Hartford CDs. Best damn banjo picker I ever did hear.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:14 AM on October 20, 2006

banjo fingerpicks!

(these are about as expensive as they come, though. You can also get them for pennies.
posted by billtron at 9:23 AM on October 20, 2006

An I pick, therefore I grin t-shirt.

A Deliverance DVD.

A Felix the Cat t-shirt, or banjo gourds.

Grateful Dead Banjo t-shirt.

Does she have a stand for it?
posted by iconomy at 9:27 AM on October 20, 2006

Does she already have a strap for it? My banjo didn't come with one, and they're surprisingly hard to find at a lot of music stores. If she doesn't have one, you could get it for her, and then she can play standing up!
posted by Greg Nog at 9:28 AM on October 20, 2006

got banjo?

"Look out, he's got a banjo!"
posted by billtron at 9:40 AM on October 20, 2006

A banjo mute.

This may not sound very fun and a little rude, but it'd be very useul if she's got roommates/family/sensitive neighbors. Banjos are VERY loud for an acoustic instrument and outside a mute, there's little one can do to adjust the volume.
posted by greasy_skillet at 9:46 AM on October 20, 2006

Also if the banjo doesn't already have them, you may go to a hobby store and buy these tiny little nails to use as a capo for the high string.

See here for what I'm talking about.
posted by poppo at 9:54 AM on October 20, 2006

These are great ideas. Maybe I'll get a little goody-bag of fun accessories.
posted by ORthey at 9:56 AM on October 20, 2006

High quality hand lotion? Oh, and a copy of Deliverance.
posted by kc0dxh at 10:06 AM on October 20, 2006

The least heard phrase in the english language?
"That's the banjo player's Porsche."
posted by Thorzdad at 10:36 AM on October 20, 2006

cant go wrong with a subscription to the banjo newsletter
posted by phil at 10:53 AM on October 20, 2006

Pete Seeger's "How to play the 5-string banjo" is a great book for beginners.

A set of replacement strings would come in handy as well.
posted by umbú at 12:18 PM on October 20, 2006

Unfortunately thay're sold out at the moment, but the first accessory I got for my banjo was a Strobopick.
posted by ewagoner at 12:50 PM on October 20, 2006

A tuner would be a practical gift. I've got an Intellitouch PT-1 which has worked fine for me.
posted by horsewithnoname at 12:57 PM on October 20, 2006

How about a case? That was the second thing I got after my uke.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 1:13 PM on October 20, 2006

2nd the good case -- nothing sucks like hauling around your banjo in one of those paper-thin generic cases. (any mefite who wants to be my best friend forever can also buy me a case for my banjo!)
posted by sonofslim at 2:30 PM on October 20, 2006

Chaw, and some Steve Martin albums.
posted by Phred182 at 2:39 PM on October 20, 2006