banjo primer

now if you've ever played an instrument or two, they generally teach you to play them in the same sequence. you learn how to sit, how to hold it, tune it, and if you get through all that posture crap, you get to learn the notes, chords, a scale, an arpeggio... on the banjo, you get a couple chords, and then learn how to pick your way through an arpeggio. who doesn't like the word 'arpeggio'? well, folksy people, apparently.

this has popped up in a couple instructional manuals for various instruments... instead of telling you what you're actually learning, they arrange the notes of the scale or arpeggio, and slap some really cutesy name on it, pretending it is a song. is this to keep morale up? because let me tell you: i would prefer, any day, to play an 'arpeggio' over something called 'boil them cabbage down'.

also, the guy on the instructional video is reaaaally unattractive.