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Miscellaneous

ABC Quotes and Testimonials

Over the years we have found that often camp attendees are able to put into words the ideas and goals of American Banjo Camp as well as we can, sometimes even better, so here are a few things our campers have said about ABC.

ABC Website Index

Our index lists words used in the various pages of the ABC website. If you want to find information about the ferry to take from Seattle you can find it with this index. Use the index to the INDEX at the bottom of the page to move through the index by first letters alphabetically and then scroll to find any specific term. For example, to look for "ferry" click on "F" in the index to the INDEX and then scroll down until you see "ferry."

History

American Banjo Camp held its first session on the weekend of September 5 - 7, 2003 at Fort Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island in the Puget Sound with 6 instructors, an accompanist, and about 70 students.. It was a big success! Every year since then, except for two Pandemic years, on the weekend following Labor Day the camp has been held, either at Fort Flagler (from 2003 to 2015) or at Pilgrim Firs in Port Orchard (from 2016 until the present). We now have about 20 instructors and accompanists on staff and over 100 students. And we not only offer instruction in old-time and bluegrass banjo, but also in fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and bass. Photos from past years are online.

Notes and Comment on Banjo Culture

There's a lot more to banjo culture than just banjo jokes. There are thoughts from great (and not so great) thinkers, cartoons, news items, and of course endless discussions of strings, mutes, capos, picks, and gear in general. You'll find some of that on the ABC Notes, Comments, and Fun page.

Promotion

Banjo Camp thrives on the enthusiasm and cooperation of all its attendees. The simple act of telling your friends or people you meet at a jam about the camp can really help ABC survive.

ABC T-Shirt

The ABC 2026 t-shirt is currently in the design stage; we hope to have the entire design process completed by sometime in February. You order the T-shirt when you register for camp and it will be waiting for you at check-in when you arrive. That's the only way they're availabe since we don't make any extras. T-shirts can be ordered right up until we send our order in on Aug 15.

You can also find a wide selection of early ABC clothing, cups, and other items (e.g. a Bill Keith clock with the circle of fifths on it, or even an ABC thong!) at the ABC Online CafePress Store.

Banjo Chords (LOTS of banjo chords)

If you've ever wondered how many ways are there to make a C chord on a banjo tuned in sawmill tuning, or how to play a Bb9 chord on a banjo tuned in open G tuning or tuned in any tuning that you've made up, the Banjo Chords page can help you with that.

If you play the dobro you may be interested in the 3-Note Dobro Chords page, the 3-Note Dobro Chord Sequences page, or the 4, 5, & 6-note Dobro Chords page.

Links

Links to other interesting camps and music-related organizations

Miscellaneous Cool Items

In 2015 Jenny Glover's fine Fiddletails blog featured a tune, "Sadie at the Back Door," written by Jere Canote and performed at ABC in 2009. Here's a link to her blog.
And here's a link to "Sadie at the Back Door" on her blog.

What does music do to your brain?
This YouTube Video explains a lot!