SingIrishSongs,

A great way to learn to play the 5 string is through a series of video tapes by a fine player from Virginia, Murphy Henry. She created a series of audio tapes about fifteen years ago entitled "The Murphy Method". Originally it was six tapes that she would not sell out of sequence as each one built on what you had learned on the previous one. The beauty of her system is that instead of a series of exercises, she starts you playing simple tunes, so you are playing music right away. She keeps it very simple, in explaining forward and backward rolls she says in a wonderful Southern Drawl "A forward roll starts down, now when I say down, I mean down towards the floor. A backward roll starts up, when I say up, I mean up towards your chin". I still have visions of someone somewhere having to hit the rewind button on that.

Her business has flourished as people started to request tapes for Guitar, Bass, Fiddle etc. What I really like about learning this way is that if you are unsure of something, you keep hitting rewind until you get it. She has converted everythin to video tape now and although I haven't seen them, I'm sure it makes learning just that much easier. A word of warning, if you play the guitar now, the fifth string will really mess you up as any guitar player I've let try my banjo finds that it's "In the wrong place".

Check out her site, www.murphymethod.com/.

You said that you want to learn to play the 5 string if it kills you. Don't worry, when you first start there will be several people who will gladly do it for you. I've had a few narrow escapes myself. Good luck, it's a great instrument.