Pinch Rhythm
When playing the banjo in a backup role, you often use a pinch. A solid rhythm pattern can be played by picking a single note, then a pinch and repeating this pattern.
Here is a simple rhythm pattern that uses an open G pinch. Play nice and steady: count - One… Two… Three… Four… and make sure your chords ring clear. Remember the Banjo Practice Rules and play the best that you can.
Hear the G Pinch Rhythm:
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New Jokes
We’ve added drummer jokes to the Music Jokes Page, so have a few laughs at the expense of your favorite percussionist. While we were there, jokes were added to the other categories. Here is a link to the Jokes Page.
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The Pinch
The pinch is an important part of your banjo playing, whether you are playing backup or Scruggs style banjo you will be using it. The pinch is exactly as it sounds - you pinch your thumb, index and middle fingers together.
Get your right hand ready to pick the 1st, 2nd and 5th strings - make sure your thumb and fingers are close to the strings. Your index finger is just off of the 2nd string, middle finger is just off the 1st, and your thumb above the 5th string at the ready. Now pick the 1st, 2nd and 5th strings at the same time - that’s a pinch.
The following example will get you started, since we are using open strings - this a G. Remember to count, and keep your timing nice and steady.
Hear the G pinch played on the banjo:
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Practicing the Banjo - An Introduction
How often should you practice your banjo and how long should each practice session last? If you are serious about learning to play the five string banjo, you have to ask yourself these questions.
Practicing is not about how much time you spend, practice is all about moving forward and being productive with your time. A good practice session has a specific goal, maybe you are trying to learn a roll or a new chord: you have to know what your goal is.
Of course, the more time you spend practicing, the better you will get, but be realistic. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to practice an hour a day if you can’t afford that amount of time - be reasonable. If you set goals that you can’t reach you will become discouraged and frustrated, so set up a practice schedule that you can handle. If you can practice fifteen minutes a day that’s great, if you can practice a hour on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday that will work too. Just make sure you find some time for your banjo, some practice is always better than none.
Now that we have some time set aside for banjo practice, there are a few simple practice rules to get us started:
- Play your exercises slowly and methodically.
- Practice each exercise repeatedly, until you can play it with ease.
- Count as you play.
- Have fun.
These four rules are pretty straight forward, but they are also very important to remember. By taking your time and making sure you have a solid grasp of each exercise, you will be able to steadily build your banjo skills and not get frustrated learning new techniques. The biggest mistake made by beginning banjo players is trying to learn too fast, playing an instrument well takes time - that’s a fact.
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Melodic Style Banjo - Introduction
Melodic style banjo is played differently than Scruggs style, almost all of the notes are part of the melody. In Scruggs style the majority of the notes you play are fill-in notes and the melody is found within your rolls.
This style of banjo was made popular by Bill Keith, although many other banjo players have helped to make the melodic banjo style a mainstay in bluegrass. In the early 1960’s, Bill Keith brought the melodic style to wider audience while playing with Bill Monroe. There could be only one Bill in this band , so Bill Keith was always introduced as Brad; short for Bradford, his middle name.
In this style you rarely play the same string twice, allowing you to play very smoothly and quickly. Melodic style is a necessity, but it is more difficult to learn in some ways; mistakes stand out, improvising is more difficult, and accents can be anywhere. With a little hard work though, you will be playing some amazing banjo runs.
This first example will give you an idea of what Melodic style is all about.
Listen to the G scale here:
Practice this example until you can play it smoothly and you will have killed two birds with one stone; you’ve learned how to play a run using Melodic Style Banjo and you can play a G scale.
What you should know.
- Your first Melodic run on the banjo.
- The G scale using Melodic Style Banjo.
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