Joel: Yeah it helps if you know that bluegrass banjo is played with picks, classical is without. And everything in between is an option. Personally, I use picks when I want a loud crisp sound (and when I want to use thumb and index and middle finger.) I use bare fingers for mellower stuff and find myself often using the ring finger as well in that style.

Banjo man. 'fraid I don't know what the box roll is (I stay away from books) Time for things to feel comfortable really varies. If you're lucky, maybe a week. If it's longer than a month, I usually find that someone may be relying too heavily on tab. It's your "ear" that teaches you to play smoothly.

Jo, I'm a lousy fiddler, although I've never had arm miseries. Any good fiddlers out there to help us?