Beginning Bluegrass Banjo

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You might find that tapping your foot will also help you keep a steady beat. Bring your foot down every time your thumb strikes a string. Once you get going, you'll sound as though you have an accompanist!

ADDING CHORD CHANGES

Let's take your new roll and your G, C, and D7 chords, and learn to play them together. Your ultimate objective is to get so that you can keep your roll going while changing chords.

First, practice playing the roll by alternating your thumb between several strings and continuing to add fill-in notes after each melody note. For example, while on G (which, of course, you play unfretted), strike the third and fourth strings alternately. In tablature, it looks like this:

While playing a C chord, alternate your thumb between the second and third strings, like above.

For D7, alternate between the third and second strings, like this:

Now, practice alternating your thumb while changing from G to C, from C to D7, and back to G. Practice!


PLAYING SONGS

Once you can keep your roll going while alternating your thumb and changing chords, you'll be ready to play most any bluegrass or old-time country song. Here's a standard that everyone knows.

The chords are marked above the words where you change chords. To make it sound right, you'll need to sing the song while playing.

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE

From now on when you listen to a record or a tune on the radio, pay attention to where the chord changes occur. And if you're lucky enough to get to hear live music, sit where you can see the musicians play. Get to know what a G, C, and D look like on a guitar, so that you can watch the guitarist and pick out the changes.

There are lots of good books available that are excellent sources of old-time songs and that show you the various chords involved. Don't overlook the many helpful how-to volumes on playing the banjo, either; although this article will give you a good start on mastering your instrument, you'll probably want to learn other chords, rolls, and such.

The best advice I can give you, though, is to surround yourself with banjo music, and especially live music. There are bluegrass musicians (and banjo pickers) in every state of the union and in most countries of the world. Get to know the pickers in your area; learn to talk their language, and listen to the records they suggest. Before long, it'll be you who's being sought out by eager beginners.

Good luck, and keep pickin'!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Erbsen is also the author of a number of books on playing various instruments and music: Clawhammer Banjo for the Complete Ignoramus! ($6.95), Starting Bluegrass Banjo From Scratch ($5.95), The Complete & Painless Guide to the Guitar ($6.95), The Backpocket Bluegrass Songbook ($3.95), and The Backpocket Old-Time Songbook ($3.95). All are available for the cover price, plus $1.00 postage per order, from Wayne Erbsen, 825 Bee Tree Rd., Swannanoa, NC 28778.

You may also be interested in any of several instructive book-and-record sets on playing the banjo that are offered by Kicking Mule Records, P. 0. Box 158, Alderpoint, CA 95401. Write for a free catalog.

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