The non-jazz improvisation series is a concept that germinated in Dick Weissman's mind while he was attending music school. He wrote a 15-piece arrangement of the old square dance tune, Cripple Creek, and wanted the trombone to take a solo as part of the arrangement. When the trombonist kept playing a bebop solo that was unsuitable for the chart, Dick realized that, in addition to the many musicians who do not improvise, there are even jazz musicians who don't know how to improvise outside the limits of their stylistic backgrounds.

This book approaches the five-string banjo as a musical instrument freed from the prison of specific musical genres. Old-time music, clawhammer, bluegrass, and many eclectic adaptations of the banjo are utilized to demonstrate a variety of musical styles. Several of the selections are in different tunings. All examples are written out in traditional and tablature notation. Includes access to online audio.