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"Begin the Beguine" was written by Cole Porter in 1935. I first fell in love with the tune when listening to the Andrews Sisters version. My arrangement more follows the Artie Shaw big band arrangement from 1938.

Banjo Master Bill Knopf rolls through the String-A-Longs instrumental.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, no doubt had banjo in mind when he wrote "Swan Lake" Here, Banjo Professor Bill Knopf give us a keen insight into Tchaikovsky's thinking about how the banjo stands apart from the other orchestral instruments. (Classical longhairs might prefer the banjo standing apart, down the hall and to the right). To preserve its bluegrass flavor, Knopf prefers it be known as "Swan Creek."

Banjo master Bill Knopf performs his take on the fiddle classic Lime Rock.

Banjo expert Bill Knopf plays his interpretation of the Ray Henderson jazz classic.

From the Broadway musical: Fiddler on the Roof. Music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.

Banjomeister Bill Knopf's arrangement of Eddie Adcock's "Turkey Knob." The instrument is a Tranjo, a travel banjo that has a full scale neck that comes off for travel, and produces, as you can hear, a full, rich sound despite its size.

Banjo Master Bill Knopf plays his arrangement (with a bunch of improvisation thrown in for good measure) of the Floyd Jenkins (aka Fred Rose) bluegrass classic "Fireball Mail."

Banjo ace Bill Knopf's interpretation of Sousa's famed Washington Post March

This is a fun tune from my youth by Bent Fabric, a Danish pianist. I was a kid in junior high school in Fresno, CA at the time (1960 to 1964) when I first heard it on the radio. I learned how to play it on my clarinet. Sometime in the 1980's a banjo student asked me to arrange it for him. I've kept pulling it out of my archives from time to time for a really good time. Hope you like it.

This “oldie but a goodie” is almost 200 years old. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1824, his Ninth Symphony is known as “The Choral” because it combined an orchestra with a chorus and four vocal soloists in the fourth movement. The main melody has been covered by many folk musicians. My first banjo book in 1965 was “How to Play the 5-String Banjo” by Pete Seeger. In it was a short passage in Pete’s “bum diddy” style (a variation on frailing.) I’ve since arranged it in three treatments: the basic chord melody, an up-tempo bluegrass version, and the basic version embellished in a way I imagine a harpsichordist might play it. Cheers.

Banjo Master Bill Knopf adds some Latin flavor to the 5-string banjo with Latin Medley: "The Breeze and I/Andalucia" (Ernesto Lecuona); "Green Eyes/Aquellos Ojos Verdes" (Nilo Menendez) and "Frenesi" (Alberto Dominguez)

Bill Emerson's "Theme Time" arranged and performed by Bill Knopf

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Banjo Ace Bill Knopf's version of the Jimmy Paige/Led Zeppelin tune.

There have been many vocal versions of "Last Date," but it's the 1960 piano instrumental version by composer Floyd Cramer that I remember so well.

I fell in love with Wild Rose and learned to play it on guitar after hearing it fifteen years ago. It’s by guitarist Mike Dowling and was recorded on a CD with Pat Donohue: Two of a Kind. I arranged the banjo part just a week before we recorded this video. Hope you like it.

Bill Knopf lets 'er rip on this sizzling version of the bluegrass classic.

Bill Knopf, interpreter of impossible-to-play banjo songs, scores again with Felix Arndt's 1930s hit "Nola," using his trusty Tranjo travel banjo, no less.

This is one of my favorite George Harrison tunes which he recorded while in the Beatles.

Two tunes by two of my idols: Earl Scruggs and Stephen Stills. While improvising on "Know You've Got To Run" I noticed a similarity to "Nashville Blues" which is usually played in D minor tuning: a D F A D. I'm in G tuning with the 5th string tuned to A: a D G B D. Much thanks to my friend John Bryan for the camera work on all of my You Tube videos.

I first heard this tune as a little boy watching cartoons. A dopey young buzzard is returning home with his prey and singing, "I'm bringing home a baby bumble bee."

The old time fiddle tune so popular with bluegrass and Texas style fiddlers.

My guitar picking buddy Howard Yearwood and I collaborated on the guitar version of Here Comes The Sun. You can tell by watching me that I've known this arrangement for over thirty years. But look at the "banjo me" conscientiously READING the banjo arrangement which I just finished. hehe enjoy

Banjo Master Bill Knopf's arrangement of the Joe Sullivan tune...

5-string Banjo Professor Bill Knopf's arrangement of the Bill Monroe tune

Scott Joplin wrote many styles of music besides ragtime: opera, marches, and this beautiful waltz, Bethena which was published in 1905. It has a very complex classical quality. There are five sections, each in a different key. In between the sections are bridges or segues which provide the modulations. This was filmed at John Bryan’s house. He’s my videographer. He makes a brief appearance at the beginning. No, wait! That’s his dog Frannie. It’s an intelligent dog that likes banjo music.

Banjo Master Bill Knopf and his "twin" take on John Philip Sousa's classic march. The piccolo part is play on a Tranjo, a full-scale travel banjo that comes apart for packing in a suitcase.

This is my favorite song by the Grateful Dead. It was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and was released on the “American Beauty” album in 1970.

This old folk song dates from the 1600s and saw service with each side in the Civil War, with different lyrics for the North and the South.

Ragtime Dance by Scott Joplin was published in 1906, but it was born in 1899 as part of a larger work that consisted of five dance themes. It was performed in 1899 using four dancing couples. Joplin tried for years to get his publisher John Stark to publish it but with no success. Finally in 1906 a condensed version adhering more closely to accepted ragtime form was published.

My guitar playing friend and college roommate Howard Yearwood taught me Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" while we were students at UCLA. I think it translates very well to 5-string banjo. Mason Williams is also a banjo player, so I'm pretty sure that the syncopated rolling Scruggs style influenced his composition.

Banjo master Bill Knopf barrels through a blistering arrangement of the Bill Monroe classic