Matt, I'm sure you are coming along just fine on the banjo but Pete's unique approach
is to use it as an effective musical instrument for a sophisticated musical accompaniment to singing. This is not done in bluegrass circles or even in old-time music today since that relies heavily on the string band. The playing of many of the old-time banjo pickers you cited do not play in the manner of Pete Seeger with the exception of Peggy and Hedy.
Pete introduced all of the elements that are examples in his book and could employ them with a fluidity that very few banjo players can today. Erik Darling, Bob Gibson and George Grove for example can do this. They were able to go smoothly from basic strums to complex whamming rhythms using tasteful fills borrowed from bluegrass picking. This fluidity is not just a result of practice since there are few banjo players today who can do what Pete can.

It's not up to Pete to present this material in a cogent fashion.

Frank