Well...at the age of 14 I bought an old zither banjo for 2 quid.(about $15.00) in 1963. There were no Banjo players that I or my (musical) family knew, so I went to music lessons where the (piano) teacher taught me how to read music in conjunction with my Pete Seeger " How to play the 5-string Banjo" book.

This was Manchester,England. Flat-picking/ using the plectrum was HOW I learned the Banjo.

I played in my Dad's Irish Ceile Band, we had button accordion, fiddle,percussion and me playing rhythm on the banjo. No problem. The 5th string is a bonus,not something to avoid.

Nowadays in North America, I play Ceile and also finger style (not a series of syncopated patterns..as is Bluegrass) and have recently took on the challenge of clawhammer. The 5 string banjo is a beautiful instrument that can be played in SO many ways. It annoys me when the 5 string Banjo is thought of as either just bluegrass or clawhammer. It is a Universal instrument. Ollie