The Ultimate Guide Series

 
 
 

Don Van Palta, Performance Hall of Fame 2000

Don Van Palta, "The Flying Dutchman,"is justly considered by many to be one of the best banjo players in the world. Inducted into the Four String Banjo Performance Hall of Fame in 2004, he is respected not only as a major entertainment talent, but also as a world class teacher.  He has developed a series of instructional DVD and video tapes and books that anyone can benefit from.

The breadth of "The Flying Dutchman's" talent and wide experience shine through in his performances and his writings.

Don's wealth of instructional materials is a substantial resource for any banjo player.

Don Van Palta’s earliest childhood memory was of his father playing tenor banjo while singing him to sleep. It was an influence that marked the course of his future life. The "Flying Dutchman" spent his early years in occupied Holland during World War II. He first taught himself to play the ukulele, but after seeing a British film starring comedian banjoist George Formby, he was taken "hook, line and sinker" by the banjo.

He immigrated to the United States with his mother, and settled in Sacramento. It was there that he purchased his first tenor banjo from a pawn shop. Some of his fellow students invited him to join a Dixieland band they were forming, because they needed a banjo player and knew he had one. He had tuned his tenor banjo guitar style, but when someone told him he should tune it properly, he did and learned tenor banjo chords.

Thus began his international career as entertainer and banjoist.

Don Van Palta has developed a series of instructional tapes to help young banjoists become productive players. He is respected as a teacher and performer and continues to entertain as "The Flying Dutchman."

 Excerpted From:  Four String Banjo Hall of Fame

http://www.banjomuseum.org/contact_about/hof/don_van_palta.asp