"Bluegrass in the Park" 

Hickory North Carolina

at Henry Fork River Regional Recreation Park.  This event is hosted by the Hickory Parks and Recreation Department

 with the help of Warren Yates of Leisure Unlimited, Inc.

In this lesson, there will be no hot runs to learn or tab to read.  It's time to look at what we can already do and evaluate if we are using it to our maximum potential.  

Playing the Band and the Audience 

If you are in a band or attend some jam session from time to time, see if the problems below sound familiar to you.  Because it is Bluegrass, everyone is ready and anxious to have a great time playing, and they're hoping it will be the best session ever. Barely getting tuned up first, if at all, someone kicks off a hard jamming song (banjo for example).  Being excited, it might be a little louder than normal.  The guitar has to pick harder right off the bat and here comes the mandolin, small but powerful.  The bass falls in and rattles the floor.  You take turns swapping lead breaks and end the song feeling wiped out.  The mandolin missed a few licks, the banjo was loud, and the guitar was not clean and mostly not heard except for the rhythm. No dynamics, no flavor, not clean, and so on.  These are experiences from my past.  

Playing With Others  There is an art to playing with other musicians.  Many times we think of hard picking as picking harder.  As we start to play faster; we grip the neck harder.  On a banjo, we tend to hook our little finger on the bridge as if to dig in for a running start.  I see these actions as common mistakes.  Being guilty of this myself,  it's a constant battle for me to practice not doing so.  I play with a band called Kudzu (a name that will grow on you) and we fight this problem too from time to time.  

Practice Quietly  At the beginning of each practice, someone will remind us all to pay attention to playing easy.  We each play at a "talking volume" and we can hear each other much better.  If you practice at a comfortable volume, you will be able to play more accurately as well as faster. Too many times playing faster makes you want to grip harder which will actually slow you down .  The guitar player has the hardest time in my opinion.  The strings are hard to push and the sound is facing away from the guitar player.  If the band is quieter, the guitar player can hear him or her self better which will enable them to play better.  

Dynamics and Accents: Sounds, including music, can be barely audible, or loud enough to hurt your ears, or anywhere in between. When talking about the loudness of a sound, scientists and engineers talk about amplitude. Musicians talk about dynamics. Movies control the audience in part by use of these effects.  Quiet, easy music may compliment a romantic moment.  Loud, active music may add excitement to a grizzly bear ready to attack.  A band can control the audience in the same way, but the band has to play at a lower volume before they can add dynamics and accents.  If you need to be heard, let the sound system do the work.  Pick easy but sound loud.

How Do You Play a Band? As the instrument that you play has several moving parts, so does a band.  The difference is that the band is an instrument that is played by more than one person.  It is also a common mistake to listen to your own playing too much.  If you catch yourself doing this, back off and listen to the band as a whole.  What part are you responsible for?  Is what you're playing complimentary to the rest of the group?  As the rest of the band plays, stop and listen to the band's musical needs.  Listen to the nature of the song and see what direction it needs to go. Let it flow and go with the flow.  Let the song ask and you answer.  If your song is of an old rock and roll flavor, don't add distinct bluegrass influences.  Hear the unity.  Timing comes together as you can feel where it is.  As your band can start to master these ideas, you will be able to then play the audience as an instrument and give them the time of their lives.

The Sweet Spot

Every instrument has a location where when picked or bowed that all of the tones are the best.  Many times it is where it sounds best to the listener rather than the player.  I mentioned how banjo players tend to hook their little finger on the bridge when playing.  If you do this you are not in the sweet spot where to best tones are created.  On a banjo the sweet spot is somewhere between 2-1/2 and 3 inches above the bridge.  The sweet spot for vamping is at the bottom of the fingerboard.  

Picks   The thicker and more spoon shaped, the darker the tones.
		Tip! The pros use the old National finger picks.  The metal is softer which cuts down on the metal to metal noise.  They are available again and you can see them here.

Take a look at the "Practice Anywhere Banjo".  

The Warren Yates Method of Playing Bluegrass Banjo for Beginners

DVD