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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