--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I got out of school, I spent two…" description: "\"When I got out of school, I spent two years just hitchhiking around. Every time I met some old farmer who could play banjo, I got him to teach me a lic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/pete-seeger-1942_banjo_when-i-got-out-of-school-i-spent-two-yea_2459619.png" --- # When I got out of school, I spent two years just… ![“When I got out of school, I spent two years just hitchhiking around. Every time I met some old farmer who could play banjo, I got him to teach me a lick or two. Little by little, I put it together.” quote by Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/pete-seeger-1942_banjo_when-i-got-out-of-school-i-spent-two-yea_2459619.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/pete-seeger-1942_banjo_when-i-got-out-of-school-i-spent-two-yea_2459619.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/pete-seeger-1942_banjo_when-i-got-out-of-school-i-spent-two-yea_2459619.png) > “When I got out of school, I spent two years just hitchhiking around. Every time I met some old farmer who could play banjo, I got him to teach me a lick or two. Little by little, I put it together.” [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator learned music by traveling and exchanging knowledge with locals, illustrating grassroots learning. **In simple terms:** Travel and ask taught me banjo skills. Key Takeaway Seek learning through community and travel. Themes music travel learning Mood inspirational reflective Type personal anecdote When to use this quote - road trips - workshops - community events Key Concepts folk tradition cultural exchange mentorship Questions to Reflect On - Who can you learn from today? - How does travel shape your skills? A Different Perspective Learning may be informal and uneven. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Banjos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banjos/) [Farmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farmers/) [Hitchhiking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitchhiking/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [Earl Scruggs had this thing that it wasn't just the technique or even the instrument. It was him. There was this soulful quality that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-scruggs/earl-scruggs-had-this-thing-that-it-wasn-t-just-the-technique-or-even/) [Earl Scruggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-scruggs/) > [A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo and doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-gentleman-is-someone-who-knows-how-to-play-the-banjo-and-doesn-t/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A gentleman is a man who can play the banjo, but doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-gentleman-is-a-man-who-can-play-the-banjo-but-doesn-t/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I'm working on a script right about Civil War re-enactors who go back in time to the actual Civil War. It's kind of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-helms/i-m-working-on-a-script-right-about-civil-war-re-enactors-who-go-back/) [Ed Helms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-helms/) > [I told my father I wanted to play the banjo, and so he saved the money and got ready to give me a banjo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-browne/i-told-my-father-i-wanted-to-play-the-banjo-and-so-he-saved-the-money/) [Jackson Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-browne/) > [I came along and was a teenager in the Depression, and nobody had jobs. So I went out hitchhiking, when I met a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-came-along-and-was-a-teenager-in-the-depression-and-nobody-had-jobs/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-about-16-years-old-years-when-my-father-took-me-to-a-square/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [ He \[Alan Lomax\] started right off trying to find people who could introduce folk songs to city people. He found a young actor named… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/he-alan-lomax-started-right-off-trying-to-find-people-who-could/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [This banjo surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/this-banjo-surrounds-hate-and-forces-it-to-surrender/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [In the United States, many people said you can't have folk music in the United States because you don't have any peasant class. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-united-states-many-people-said-you-can-t-have-folk-music-in/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was 16 when I came to New York. I had graduated to a tenor banjo in the school jazz band, and it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-16-when-i-came-to-new-york-i-had-graduated-to-a-tenor-banjo-in/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [The bottom line is, between Sonny Osborne and Earl Scruggs, I better know how to play banjo. I had the greatest teachers in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams-jr/the-bottom-line-is-between-sonny-osborne-and-earl-scruggs-i-better/) [Hank Williams Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams-jr/) > [I guarantee you there's a bunch of the twentysomethings that don't know that, don't know I play banjo and bluegrass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams-jr/i-guarantee-you-there-s-a-bunch-of-the-twentysomethings-that-don-t/) [Hank Williams Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams-jr/) > [I play banjo, and in Britain, it's easy to get away with playing banjo because you don't often see it on U.K. stages. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-marshall/i-play-banjo-and-in-britain-it-s-easy-to-get-away-with-playing-banjo/) [Winston Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-marshall/) > [I'm interested in all kinds of art. I draw and paint and don't know how to play the banjo, but I do play the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellar-coltrane/i-m-interested-in-all-kinds-of-art-i-draw-and-paint-and-don-t-know/) [Ellar Coltrane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellar-coltrane/) ## More by Pete Seeger > [Honest songs aren't written for money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/honest-songs-aren-t-written-for-money/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [My father, Charles Seeger, got me into the Communist movement. He backed out around '38. I drifted out in the 50's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/my-father-charles-seeger-got-me-into-the-communist-movement-he-backed/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [In the sixties, during the Vietnam war, when anarchists and pacifists and socialists, Democrats and Republicans, decent-hearted Americans, all recoiled with horror at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/in-the-sixties-during-the-vietnam-war-when-anarchists-and-pacifists/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Now somebody will ask me, Pete, how can you prove these songs really make a difference? And I have to confess I can't prove…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/now-somebody-will-ask-me-pete-how-can-you-prove-these-songs-really/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [The truth is a rabbit in a bramble patch. All you can do is circle around and say it's somewhere in there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/the-truth-is-a-rabbit-in-a-bramble-patch-all-you-can-do-is-circle/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [I was about 16 years old years when my father took me to a square dance festival in North Carolina. For the first time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/i-was-about-16-years-old-years-when-my-father-took-me-to-a-square/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [It was Rachel Carson's famous book 'Silent Spring' that got me involved with the environment. I read it in The New Yorker, in installments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/it-was-rachel-carson-s-famous-book-silent-spring-that-got-me-involved/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [When you play the 12-string guitar, you spend half your life tuning the instrument and the other half playing it out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/when-you-play-the-12-string-guitar-you-spend-half-your-life-tuning/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Folks out in the country couldn't afford to pay for anybody else to make music. They had to make their own. So the peasantry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/folks-out-in-the-country-couldn-t-afford-to-pay-for-anybody-else-to/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [If there's something wrong, speak up!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/if-there-s-something-wrong-speak-up/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [This world is so full of hypocrisy, the only way you can be honest is to be a hermit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/this-world-is-so-full-of-hypocrisy-the-only-way-you-can-be-honest-is/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [There is a big, beautiful world that could be destroyed by selfishness and foolishness. We musicians have it within our power to help save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/there-is-a-big-beautiful-world-that-could-be-destroyed-by-selfishness/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [And the people in the houses All went to the University And they got put in boxes Little boxes all the same, Little boxes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/and-the-people-in-the-houses-all-went-to-the-university-and-they-got/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [A good song reminds us what we're fighting for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/a-good-song-reminds-us-what-we-re-fighting-for/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) > [Most conservatives just want to turn back the clock to a time before the income tax - 100 years or so. I would like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/most-conservatives-just-want-to-turn-back-the-clock-to-a-time-before/) [Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) [Explore all 196 Pete Seeger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/) ## More Banjo quotes > [Id be happiest standing at the back, strumming my little banjo where no one could see me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-grint/id-be-happiest-standing-at-the-back-strumming-my-little-banjo-where/) [Rupert Grint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-grint/) > [When I was very young my mother sang to me at bedtime and my dad would often play the banjo or fiddle in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-block/when-i-was-very-young-my-mother-sang-to-me-at-bedtime-and-my-dad/) Rory Block > [Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/pete-seeger-is-a-modest-unassuming-cheerful-and-kind-natured-man-he-s/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [When we moved back to the US, folk music was all the rage. So I traded in my banjo for a guitar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-storm/when-we-moved-back-to-the-us-folk-music-was-all-the-rage-so-i-traded/) [Michael Storm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-storm/) > [My family was always playing music; I always enjoyed it. My cousin, who is a little older than me, he started playing music, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vile/my-family-was-always-playing-music-i-always-enjoyed-it-my-cousin-who/) [Kurt Vile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vile/) > [Earl Scruggs had this thing that it wasn't just the technique or even the instrument. It was him. There was this soulful quality that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-scruggs/earl-scruggs-had-this-thing-that-it-wasn-t-just-the-technique-or-even/) [Earl Scruggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-scruggs/) > [Nothing says 'dropping out of society' like learning the banjo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-roth/nothing-says-dropping-out-of-society-like-learning-the-banjo/) Daniel Roth > [“banjo. A plucked, fretted lute where a thin skin diaphragm is stretched over a circular metal frame amplifying the sound of the strings. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-doherty/banjo-a-plucked-fretted-lute-where-a-thin-skin-diaphragm-is-stretched/) Liz Doherty > [When I first heard the minstrel banjo - I played a gourd first - I almost lost my mind. I was like, Oh, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiannon-giddens/when-i-first-heard-the-minstrel-banjo-i-played-a-gourd-first-i-almost/) [Rhiannon Giddens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiannon-giddens/) > [A gentleman is someone who knows how to play the banjo and doesn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-gentleman-is-someone-who-knows-how-to-play-the-banjo-and-doesn-t/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I've heard of people stopping their cars, having car wrecks, all kinds of things. But most of the banjo players I know had that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-scruggs/i-ve-heard-of-people-stopping-their-cars-having-car-wrecks-all-kinds/) [Earl Scruggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-scruggs/) > [There are a lot of chapters to the banjo's history. Part of it are the roots in Africa, where it's a more primitive instrument.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-fleck/there-are-a-lot-of-chapters-to-the-banjo-s-history-part-of-it-are-the/) [Bela Fleck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-fleck/) > [My dad also plays a little banjo and guitar, my mom plays the mandolin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/page-mcconnell/my-dad-also-plays-a-little-banjo-and-guitar-my-mom-plays-the-mandolin/) [Page McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/page-mcconnell/) > [Whenever a big white man picks up a banjo, my cheeks tighten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/whenever-a-big-white-man-picks-up-a-banjo-my-cheeks-tighten/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [“There was talk of the Centaur being moved into the elephant cages to make room for a banjo-picking Minotaur. Surrendering his meager furnishings to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-roff/there-was-talk-of-the-centaur-being-moved-into-the-elephant-cages-to/) [Don Roff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-roff/) Browse all 104 Banjo quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I got out of school, I spent two years just hitchhiking around. Every time I met some old farmer who could play banjo, I got him to teach me a lick or two. 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