Description

The Part of the Neck Nobody Uses Is the Part That Gets the Biggest Reaction.

Most banjo players live in the first five frets. That’s where the beginner books teach, that’s where the familiar rolls live, and that’s where comfort is. But the upper fretboard — from the seventh fret on up — is where the explosive, attention-grabbing licks happen. It’s the part of the banjo that makes listeners lean forward, and it’s the part that most players avoid because nobody ever taught them how to use it.

Banjo Improvisation Book 4 changes that. Geoff Hohwald teaches you how to create and modify licks up the fretboard using basic chord shapes as your anchor points. Because the licks are chord-based, they’re moveable — learn a lick in one position and you can slide it up or down the neck to play it in any key. That’s not just improvisation; that’s freedom to play anywhere on the instrument.

What You’ll Learn

• Up-the-neck lick construction — how to create licks in upper fretboard positions using chord shapes as building blocks
• Lick modification — how to take a single lick and alter it to create variations, so one lick becomes five or ten
• Moveable chord shapes — learn the shapes that let you play the same lick in any key by moving it up or down the neck
• How to use up-the-neck licks in songs — Geoff shows you where these licks fit in real bluegrass songs, not just as isolated exercises
• Getting comfortable above the 5th fret — by the end of this book, the upper neck will feel like home, not foreign territory

Why Up the Neck Matters

Playing up the neck isn’t about showing off — it’s about having the full instrument available to you. When you’re stuck in the first position, you’re using maybe 30% of the fretboard. That limits your note choices, your tone options, and your ability to create solos that sound different from song to song. Once you can play up the neck, you have the entire banjo at your disposal. And the sound up there — bright, ringing, cutting through the band — is something that can’t be replicated in first position.

How the Course Works

• 1. Watch Geoff teach each lick. 3.5 hours of detailed video instruction — the most video of any book in the Improvisation series — with close-up views of both hands in upper neck positions.
• 2. Read the tab. 44 pages of full tablature for every lick, modification, and song application.
• 3. Play along with the jam tracks. Audio tracks let you practice your up-the-neck licks with a full band, which is where these licks really come alive.

Who This Book Is For

This is Book 4 — the capstone of Geoff’s four-part Improvisation series. If you’ve worked through Book 1 (lick substitution), Book 2 (positional, bluesy, and chord-based licks), and Book 3 (pentatonic improvisation), you’re ready for this. You should be comfortable improvising in first position and ready to expand your playing into the upper fretboard.

This book is also a strong standalone for intermediate to advanced players who can already play well in first position but freeze up whenever they venture above the 5th fret. If you know you should be playing up the neck but don’t know how to start, this is the book.

Who Geoff Is, and Why That Matters

Geoff Hohwald has been playing banjo since 1964 — back when Columbus, Ohio was a genuine bluegrass hot spot — and studied under John Hickman. He’s performed with two of Bill Monroe’s guitar players, shared stages with Red Allen, Frank Wakefield, and Hylo Brown, played with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, and co-founded the Greater Atlanta Bluegrass Band. Six decades of playing means Geoff has spent thousands of hours in those upper fretboard positions — on stage, at jams, in the studio — and he knows exactly which licks work and how to teach them.

Geoff also runs Banjo Warehouse, our sister shop in Yellow Springs, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia, where he’s been buying, selling, and setting up banjos since 1980.

Buy Direct. Skip the Warehouse.

When you order from GeoffHohwald.com, you’re buying directly from us — a small family business in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Your book is packed and shipped by people who actually play banjo, and if you have a question about a lesson, Geoff is the one who answers the email.

• ✔ Signed by Geoff on request — add a note at checkout
• ✔ Direct access to the author if you get stuck on a lesson
• ✔ Your purchase supports a small family business, not a warehouse
• ✔ Ships from Yellow Springs, Ohio, usually within one business day

Product Details

• Format: Paperback, 44 pages
• Includes: Free online video and audio access (3.5 hours of video, plus jam tracks)
• Focus: Creating and modifying licks in upper fretboard positions using moveable chord shapes
• Level: Intermediate to Advanced
• Style: 5-string Scruggs-style bluegrass banjo
• ISBN: 979-8664203752
• Ships from: Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA

The Complete Improvisation Series

• Book 1: Banjo Improvisation — learn lick substitution and create your own solos.
• Book 2: Banjo Improvisation — positional, bluesy, chord-based, and J.D. Crowe-inspired licks.
• Book 3: Pentatonic Improvisation — use pentatonic scales to improvise freely across the neck.
• → You are here: Book 4: Up the Neck Licks — advanced licks for playing up the neck with confidence.