After Bill left us in 2015, he was remembered by many friends all over the world. Stories were told, and tunes were played. Most of the time, these tunes were limited to "Devil's Dream," "Sailor's Hornpipe," and a few others. But that represents only the tip of the iceberg of Bill's contribution to the banjo. And even that's an understatement!
Most banjo players are just aware of the melodic style. But there's so much more...
In songs, Bill would combine Scruggs-style licks with some chromatic or melodic notes, played with bounce and syncopation. He built a load of tasteful licks.
He also used a lot of jazzy chords, sometimes in jazz tunes, but also in three-chord bluegrass songs.
He wrote several tasteful originals and made arrangements of interesting tunes from the jazz, ragtime, classical, and other repertoires.
Bill opened my musical eyes and ears when I attended his two-day workshop in Brussels in 1982. We have been close friends ever since, meeting on many occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. Often, he would play me some fantastic arrangements (or probably improvisations) in the melody chord style. Sadly, I didn't have a recorder with me most of those times.

I want to share with the banjo community my knowledge of Bill Keith's banjo style that I picked up over the years.

Check out the videos and tabs. Give them a try. Let your banjo friends know about it.

This is a non-commercial project. Bill Keith and bluegrass music have given so much to me. This is my way to give back to the community. If you have any live recordings you made of Bill that are not available on the internet yet, send them, share them.

All questions, suggestions, etc., are welcome.

Thierry Schoysman
Belgium
email: thierry.schoysman[at]telenet.be