Old-time Banjo & Fiddle Lessons: clawhammer banjo, two finger banjo & fiddle

A PhD holding folklorist, sought-after teacher, and award-winning player and performer, Joseph translates his considerable teaching experience and deep knowledge of banjo, fiddle, and Old-time traditions into a generous and supportive learning environment that empowers and equips learners to strike off on their own. Joseph has taught at the finest traditional music camps around the world and served on the faculty of East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music Studies program.

a few notes on my teaching: I love helping people get out of ruts and learn how to learn Old-time fiddle and banjo on their own. I love helping people learn how to translate beautiful old recordings into their own playing. I love helping beginner banjo players master the basics. I love introducing folks to the rich world of Old-time banjo playing beyond clawhammer, especially two-finger banjo. I love helping Old-time fiddlers get creative. I teach online lessons over Zoom, and, yes, they actually work really well for lots of folks. Hit me up if you have questions or book a lesson below.

A patient, knowledgeable teacher with a dozen years of experience teaching lessons and leading workshops at camps at home and abroad, Joseph Decosimo offers Old-time fiddle and banjo lessons to students of all skill levels in the Raleigh, Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, and Durham areas from his home in Durham, North Carolina. He teaches lessons to those further afield through Zoom, FaceTime, and other platforms, working with students all around the world. He has served on the faculty of East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country program and holds a PhD from UNC, where he studied banjo and fiddle traditions. Along with numerous awards won as an instrumentalist and with his band the Bucking Mules, he is a National Old-time Banjo Champion, winner of the fiddle contest and band contest at the Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop), and earned a PhD researching Old-time music traditions. Beyond blue ribbons and degrees, Joseph has dedicated himself to helping learners discover the pleasure, joy, and richness of Old-time fiddle and banjo traditions and cultivating skills that allow them to experience the joy of playing with others and learning on their own.

Having taught Old-time banjo and fiddle at some of the most prestigious workshops around (and in one of the few Bluegrass and Old-time university programs in the US), he loves helping people grow as players and develop the skills to learn on their own. He’s delighted to work with eager learners—from beginners to advanced players—and thoroughly enjoys introducing beginning banjo players to the basics of Old-time banjo from clawhammer to fingerpicking styles. He is an expert teacher of various two finger Old-time banjo styles and has helped many folks get grounded in those Old-time up-picking styles. As for the more advanced fiddler or banjo player (or those who feel stuck in a rut), he takes great pleasure in helping them think critically about their music making and approaches to playing and learning. He has helped advanced fiddlers capture the nuance of older repertoires and styles. He often works with players to help them refine their skills as listeners and interpreters of old recordings. Whether you’re interested in regular lessons or an occasional consultation feel free to touch base and explore where your music could go. (Please see Teaching and Workshop Resume below)

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Workshops & Camps

Over the last decade, Joseph has been sharing his music and stories at workshops and camps at home and abroad, helping participants delve deeper into Old-Time music and grow as capable listeners and thoughtful players. His relationships and study with older masters like Clyde Davenport and Charlie Acuff shape the form and substance of his teaching and provide students with a vital link to the older current of this music tradition. His workshops are not simply an exercise in tunes, techniques, or clever bowing patterns. Rather, he invites participants to engage with the complex and diverse people, places, and sounds that give this music its timeless adn beautiful power. Guided by the belief that good listening makes for good playing, he invites participants to listen patiently and thoughtfully. His experiences teaching diverse learners in a variety of contexts—in a conservatory program, at fiddle camps, in university lecture halls, in an 8th grade class room, on the side of a state park trail—have shaped him into a patient, whimsical, and capable teacher. Besides bringing a deep knowledge of the music and the culture around it to workshops, he brings a deep respect for the communities that form around traditional music at workshops and camps and seeks to foster them, jamming with participants, chatting over meal, and goofing off.

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Selected Teaching and Workshop Resume:

East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old-time, and Country Music Program, Johnson City, TN, Academic Year 2012-2013.

Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Port Townsend, WA, June 2010, 2013, and 2019. 

Swannanoa Gathering Old Time Week, Warren Wilson College, NC, July 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018.

Nimble Fingers Bluegrass and Old Time Festival, Sorrento, BC, Canada August 2014, 2018.

Augusta Heritage Center Old Time Week, Davis and Elkins College, WV, July 2011, 2015. 

Wheatland Festival, Remus, Michigan, September 2019

Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival, NSW, Australia November 2018.

Mars Hill Old Time Week, Mars Hill College, NC, June 2013, 2017.

Ashokan Southern Week, Olivebridge, NY, August 2016, 2017, 2019.

Hiawatha Traditional Music Festival, Marquette, MI, July 2017.

Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Festival and Camp, El Rancho Manana, MN, August 2015.  

Friends of American Old Time Music and Dance, Gainsborough, England February 2014.

Berkeley Old Time Music Festival, Berkeley, CA, September 2011, 2014.

California Bluegrass Association Festival and Camp, Grass Valley, CA, June 2014.

Austin String Band Festival, Austin, TX, October 2015.

Santiago Old-time Gathering, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, May 2019.