Joel Stafford – Banjo Teacher

I am a 100% beginner banjo player. Joel has been sharing his love for the banjo with me for almost two months, and it is a weekly highlight to learn from him. He gave me great recommendations for what type of banjo to buy, which style I should learn first, and has given me fun songs to learn!

Joel is one of the most wonderful music instructors that I’ve ever had. I’ve been taking lessons from Joel for almost a year now (I think?), and I have seen definite improvement since my first lessons. I picked the banjo up on a whim, and I absolutely love playing it. Joel is extremely talented, soft spoken, kind and (most importantly) patient. I always feel challenged and I genuinely enjoy practicing. Our hour goes by so quickly each week!

It’s not easy to find a good banjo teacher in San Francisco.
My son, who’s now 12, had started off well with another banjo teacher. He learned the basics of 5-​string and reading tablature, but after a few years he got bored and was tempted to give it up because he wasn’t being challenged.
We found Joel via Unilocal nine months ago and my son’s enthusiasm for the banjo shot way up. Joel is personable, knowledgeable, and challenges my son playfully so practice and lessons are no longer a chore. Couldn’t be happier. Highly recommended!

Joel has been teaching me banjo for over two years now and I would not be where I am today without him! He first taught me bluegrass, and when I wanted to learn clawhammer too he switched gears to teach me that style as well.
He’s incredibly patient, and helps make connections between different songs and styles to give me more context. He’s also focused on giving me a toolkit for improvising when needed, and if I express interest in a new song he’ll teach it to me the following week.
I highly recommend going to Joel, he’s great.

I’ve been taking lessons with Joel for a year and a half now. I continue to improve rapidly and am still very happy with the lessons. I strongly recommend Joel and plan to continue taking lessons with him for the long term.

I’ve been taking lessons from Joel for about a year now, he’s lots of fun to play with and makes it all seem easy, a fantastic teacher.

Joel is patient. You may be murdering the same song over and over and so thoroughly they have to bring in four musicologists to identify its mangled remains, and Joel will still smile at you, blink away tears of frustration, and say something incredibly encouraging like: «Good! It sounds like you understand the concept.»
Joel is a great teacher. Even if, like me, you can barely count or tell left from right, Joel will find a way to get through to you. «You got it! The other-​other-​other-​other-​other fourth finger on your other right hand. Yeah!»
Joel is one with the banjo. He has been playing for a long time and his passion for the banjo is still very contagious. He is a fantastic resource on all things banjo and all things related to the banjo and some things that have nothing to do with the banjo at all, but are nevertheless interesting.
If you’ve decided to learn an instrument as an adult, which is hard enough, but on top of that to pick up the banjo of all things, the least you could do for your poor self is to find yourself a great teacher like Joel.