Mike Moxcey ©2005

The Folk Song Jampage

If you’ve ever wanted to play a chorded instrument such as the guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, dobro, or autoharp, then this site is for you. It will get you started on the basics of playing music. If you already know how to tune and play chords on those instruments, you’ll be ahead of the game. If you don’t, there is information on getting started on each of these instruments.

This book uses songs most people already know. That way, instead of trying to learn new music at the same time you’re trying to learn to play some awkward instrument, you can just focus on figuring out the instrument. A disadvantage with this approach is that then you’ll have an idea in your mind of how the song should sound—a memory of your mother singing it or a record your dad used to play on Sundays or hearing it around a fire at summer camp.

I think that’s an advantage.

I don’t want to teach people to play a song my way; I want you to play it your way. Beginning with familiar songs starts this process right off the bat.

Playing Music

Many people think of music as something professionals do. That is unfortunate because anybody can make music. What’s even worse, in my opinion, is that many people who can make sounds on a musical instrument can’t really PLAY music. They sit down with their instrument and a head full of “shoulds:”

you should hold your hands thusly,
you must have correct posture,
your instrument must be of this quality

and then they look at their sheet music as a commandment:

Thou shalt play this as written and any deviance shall be punished.

That isn’t playing. That’s torture. Don’t do it to yourself. Go fishing instead. Some folks think there are rules for fishing and will hire a guide and rent videos on the art of flycasting. That’s one approach. Other folks just drop a worm in the water.

Playing music means having fun.

This site will show you how to have fun with a musical instrument.

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