It has been said, "Banjos pickers are like dandelions; both beneficial, but can be a nuisance if not tamed."

Making Bluegrass Grow

Back in September 2002, I did a story on "How to Find Musicians in Your Area". Last month I did one on Bringing Musicians Together  Now I would like to show how it worked.  The date for the "big jam" came and passed and it was a huge success!  About 250 people attended and I believe about 90% of them were musicians.  The 8,000 square covered shed was full.  Bands started to form out back so they could hear.  Groups can produce too much noise when they are too close to each other. 

We really didn't have much organization to it, but we all found a place to play and had a great time.  Being that the public supported the idea, Steve Jones of the Parks and Recreation Dept. scheduled the same type of event for a Sunday every month for the rest of the warm seasons.  The next time we will organize everything a little better.   Maybe a jam for the first hour and a sign up sheet for bands to showcase their abilities on stage a few songs at a time.  

I have always enjoyed going to festivals as a listener.  There is always a band on stage, but the best picking is the bands in the back warming up and having fun.  You can walk around from band to band and stay near the best one as long as you would like.  The same thing will be possible here.  If you live near Hickory, North Carolina stop in; if not follow my lead and let's get bluegrass going across the world.

Click here for details for "Bluegrass in the Park"

Warren Yates

Bluegrass Guitar Rhythm and How to Drive it

Playing the guitar bluegrass style is not as easy as you might think.  You can play with years of experience and really never get the idea of what is going on with it.  In this lesson, I have the help of Chris Messer to demonstrate how it should be done, but first a little background on rhythm playing.  

In the past, I have taught that you need to play the bass notes and place a downward strum in between them.  I call it the pick, strum, pick, strum method.  The downward strum is to hit only the last 3 or 4 strings, whatever sounds the best.  As you get better at it, you will want to start brushing up on the last 2 strings here and there to add some body the the playing.  Bluegrass has a drive to it and the rhythm playing of the guitar is one of the most important instruments for pushing the drive.  

The next step is where Chris says that the rhythm should be like a gallop.  This is commonly heard in modern bluegrass today.  This is hard to write down so we have a video prepared so you can see how it is done.  This is a Windows Media Player file.

Listen to the Example   In this example, Chris is playing in the G position with a capo on the second fret.  This turns into an A.  The use of a capo will help to make the guitar easy on your fingers for practice. 

The next video shows how to incorporate some lead picking with the rhythm.  Example  Chris is playing a 1969 FG, 180 Yamaha guitar.

Here is how this run is done.  The first picture is the chord that you will be working out of.  The second picture is where the run starts.  The number 2 only slides on one string.  The two to the right stays put.

How To Keep Your Instrument Clean

  This is what I do to keep my instruments healthy, but use these tips at your own risk.  This is assuming that your instrument has the standard lacquer finish, not shellac like on violins.