''Banjo Newsletter'' (BNL"Major milestone for Banjo NewsLetter".
Bluegrass Today. 2013-04 02.) is a monthly magazine devoted to the

5-string banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

Founded in 1973 by Hubbard "Hub" Nitchie and his wife Nancy,Rosenberg, Neil V
''Bluegrass: A History''
p.343 the magazine covers a range of

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

topics, including features on banjo players, banjo techniques (predominantly the three-finger or

Scruggs style Scruggs style is the most common style of playing the banjo in bluegrass music. It is a fingerpicking method, also known as three-finger style. It is named after Earl Scruggs, whose innovative approach and technical mastery of the instrument hav ...

and the

clawhammer Clawhammer, sometimes called down-picking, overhand, or frailing, is a distinctive banjo playing style and a common component of American old-time music. The principal difference between clawhammer style and other styles is the picking direct ...

playing style), beginning banjo, music theory, banjo set-up and accessories, product and record reviews. Banjo

tablature Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute or vihuela, as well as many fr ...

is featured in each issue. Since 1993, BNL has been published by its founder's sons Donald and Spencer, who serve as editor and business manager, respectively.Pitts, Jonathan
"Magazine Tunes In To The Banjo"
''The Baltimore Sun'', 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2012-02-23. As of 2011 the magazine had a circulation of approximately 6,800 copies."What Do You Get by Subscribing to the Banjo Newsletter?"
''Bean Blossom''."Now Playing: Cult Of The Banjo The Instrument's Devotees Just Can't Help Themselves".
''Orlando Sentinel'', 14 July 2013. The

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

(IBMA) awarded Hub Nitchie its Print Media Person of the Year award in 1992 Recipient History - IBMA Awards
Retrieved 2012-02-23. and ''Banjo Newsletter'' its Distinguished Achievement Award in 2008. On April 1, 2013, the ''Banjo Newsletter'' web site received a major overhaul. From that time, it included all of the articles and classified advertising published in each edition. Eventually all of the publication's back issues will be uploaded as well.Olmer, Tony
"Chilmark is home for the Banjo Newsletter"
''The Martha's Vinyard Times'', 26 June 2013. The site now uses

AJAX Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

technology to produce uninterrupted playback of the audio files while browsing the site. To avoid bandwidth issues associated with hosting

mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Orig ...

audio files, links to the sound files were replaced with interactive audio players.Frequently Asked Questions
Retrieved 2013-05-13. The newsletter's banjo tablature selections, previously available only in the print magazine, also were made available online, with the option to purchase each tab separately. An online subscription option was added to the range of subscription choices, and a

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of ...

was implemented to limit non-subscribers to five articles per month. In July 2013, the paywall was reduced to three articles per month, and the latest edition was made accessible to subscribers only.

References

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External links

Official Banjo Newsletter website
Music magazines published in the United States Appalachian culture in Maryland Magazines established in 1973 Bluegrass music Old-time music Magazines published in Maryland Monthly magazines published in the United States Music newsletters