How to Get the Most Out of Your Banjo Playing!

Let's Look at Tone  There is the tone that the banjo makes and the tone that you, the player makes.

Banjo Tone  Straight from the factory, banjos are not set up for the best sound.  There are several things that should be looked at on a banjo. First, the neck should be tight against the pot but not touching the tension hoop. Second, the arm guard should not be sitting on the tension hoop. Third, the head should not be too tight or too loose.  Forth, the bridge makes the most difference to tone.  The type of material on the top of the bridge is important, a soft material makes lows and a hard material makes highs.  The contact area on the bottom of the bridge also plays a big part in highs and lows. Small feet (high tones) and large feet (low tones).  

Your Playing Tone  Once you feel that your banjo is set up properly, your playing style is the next thing to study.  Close to the bridge for highs and toward the neck for lows.  In all cases, "tone color" might be the best way to describe these effects.  If you rest your little finger on the edge of the bridge, you can deaden the sound and you will likely be in the habit of playing in that spot too much.  In that case, there are playing tones that you are missing. 

For years I could not understand why all of my picking sounded the same and other people's sounded better; they had volume and tone. For the volume, if the banjo is not set up right, you will not have full volume.  One thing to realize is that your ears are not in the path of the directed sound so others can often hear your banjo when you can not.  Tip! Tie your strap a little higher and it will be closer to your ear, an inch makes a difference.  If you are lucky enough to have a large belly, it will even tilt back toward your face, really! 

I now play with my hand in a floating position.  Rather than planting my finger in one place, I let it slide.  This way I know where the head is in relation to my hand but I have the freedom to move to where I can get the best tone.  My playing has improved very much after learning that trick.

Getting More in There  You can learn all of the rolls and chords and be able to play smoothly but if you don't have all of the connection runs, you playing will still have gaps and holes.  The best advise that I can give is to listen to Sammy Shelor, the banjo player for the Lonesome River Band.  Sammy works the bass string so hard that it is a wonder that it all fits.  Those missing notes make the difference in good playing and bad.  These notes are used to fill in dead spots and to let everyone know when a chord change is going to happen.  If you are playing the lead break, you will want to pick out the melody notes as much as you can and let the rolls and runs connect everything  together. 

I do most of my practicing at the computer.  I have all of my mp3s and CDs.  I use the Transcribe to slow the music down so I can get all of the notes in.  The program has the ability to loop any section that I choose so I can keep playing without stopping between stops and starts.  As I get better, I speed it up until I can do it as good as the person on the recording.  To the musician this is heaven, to the listener, it is torture. 

One night I was working on a song and it was Sammy's banjo playing that I was learning.  I had been practicing it for about three hours and I was getting good.  I was excited and playing hard and loud.  Around 11:55 pm, my wife tapped me on the shoulder.  I looked up and she had killing in her eyes.  Needless to say, I had gone too far.  In a soft voice she said, I have had enough, cut it off and put it away, I am going to bed.  Very quietly, I did.  We laid down for the night and she turned the TV on just for something to be on in the background to go to sleep by.  Everything was dark and quiet and I heard her take a deep breath and let it out as if finely, no more banjo.  The first thing that came over the TV was Earl Scruggs and his banjo playing the Ballad of the Beverly Hillbillies.  I heard her tense up and I was ready to be hit.  The moral to the story is, remember the people around you when you are practicing, it doesn't sound the same to them.

The wash cloth is lightly wedged under the bridge to mute the sound.  This is done for several reasons.  The first reason to for the safety of the banjo player when in the same area as a family member with a severe headache.  The second reason is so the player can hear tones rather than volume.  The third reason is to learn to pick hard with out having to hold back from any fear of being too loud.

Banjo

Many times you will want to use the reverse roll down the neck in as backup.  Let's try three of them.  When playing in the key of "G", the D is used in different sections of the song.  There are two chords that can be used at different times that use the same roll. Also the G can be used with the same roll.  Example

Bass Fiddle

If your bass sounds like it just does not have the power that it should, check the standard distance required for your bass.  Example: Some basses (3/4 size) should measure 42 inches from the nut to the bridge regardless of the visual aid of the sound holes.  If this distance it too short, the string tension will not be tight enough to produce the strong sound that you might desire.  If the bridge is moved, the sound post should also be adjusted.  The sound post normally goes under the treble side of the bridge and just slightly behind that foot toward the bottom end.

Fiddle / Mandolin

On my fiddle page, I show how to play the major scale to get use to where the notes are.  The major scale is what is looked at as the normal chords.  It really means that the 1,3,5 triad makes up the chord.  In time I will lay out all of the different chord patterns on the piano keys and you will be able to see it all clearly.  The C major scale is straight down the line on the piano.  Now let's try the minor scale and you will hear a classical sound.  By playing the scales in majors and minors, you will be closer to being able to play the in between notes that make bluegrass hot.  There is a section that shows how close bluegrass and blues are on the guitar.  It would be worth a second look.  Here        This exercise works with the mandolin as well.  Example

Guitar

On my bluegrass guitar page, I have added this section as well.  This can be one of the most used runs on the bluegrass guitar.  This run was originated form the Tony Rice style.   Listen to the example.  Tip! Pull off of 1 on to 2.  Slide from 5 to 6.   Pause on 14 and let it pass briefly.  Then catch it up to end on the finishing note.