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Melodic
Banjo
When Earl
Scruggs brought his incredible three finger style of banjo picking
to the public, people were amazed by such an incredible
sound. With all of its wonder, it was still hard to play
those fiddle tunes, note for note. The three finger roll did
not allow all of the melody notes to fall into place while using
this roll, so banjo songs had to be arranged to the application.
Later, Bill Keith started to get a lot of attention with the melodic style
of banjo playing.
The
melodic style made it possible to play those notes by arranging
them differently. In this style, the idea is to play the melody
notes without playing any note twice on the same string. It
is easier to play notes on two different strings than to play two
notes on one string. Many times one note will be high up the frets
while the next note is played open. Once you play the scale
below, you will start to understand how this works.
| Some of the information in this article comes
from the book, "Melodic Banjo" by Tony Trischka.
This book seems to be out of print, but there are used
copied that can be found at places such as Half.com
, or eBay!
. I recommend this book if you want to learn
the melodic style.
For bluegrass music, it's best to play
with the Scruggs style and let the melodic method help to
fill in where needed. Too much melodic banjo can be a
little overpowering, especially if it's not played
correctly. |
| The tab to the right shows how the major scale
can be played. Once you start to understand what is
going on, see if you can add something to it. How
to read tab. Key: the numbers and letters to the
bottom are the fingers used, T = Thumb, 1 = 1st finger, and
2 = 2nd finger. The lines are the strings on the
banjo with the fifth string to the bottom. The numbers
on the lines are the fret numbers. Read from left to
right. |
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Now let's look at playing a song using this technique.
The Dillard's
had a song that was called, "Banjo in the Holler" that
is what I believe is some of the melodic style. This is a
simple piece. If you can get use to holding this chord, you
can move from one position to another with ease. It is the
same position, high and low on the neck. Listen to my
example.
| This is a common position used in the
melodic banjo style. I am holding my ring finger out
of the way so you can see the frets better. This
is the same position used up the neck. Tip: Try the 3
2 1 5 1 2 3 pattern while holding the chord and see what
happens. |
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Let's start working with tab. The rest of
the world uses it, so let's catch up.
Melodic Banjo "Banjo in
the Holler"
The
Warren Yates Method of Playing Bluegrass Banjo for Beginners
DVD
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Computer
Software
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