The Music Chord, Nanaimo, BC Private Music Lessons Certified Music Teachers 250-619-5871
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HOW TO INCORPORATE BANJO ROLLS INTO THE MELODIES.
 
Select a familiar song and find the melody by ear. Practice playing through the chord progression while rolling (FR, ALT T R, FR-BR). Some of the melody notes will fall right into place, such as when the thumb lands on the 3rd string to start the last roll of the tune (back on a G chord) and the melody note, G, naturally pops out.

With the ability to have the thumb hit different strings when its "turn" happens in the roll, while still keeping the roll going, some additional melody notes can fall into place, since for instance, so many of them happen at the beginning of measures, when the thumb is usually "taking its turn".

Some rolls are better suited than others to allow the thumb to hit a string right at a time a particular melody note happens, and some rolls give the thumb the freedom to start a roll on the 2nd string. So learning to use different rolls at different times is part of the key to including melody notes.

There's more to it than that, but that's a taste of some of the processes that are involved. It's a lot to keep track of, which is why the first attempt at doing this can take several days of concentrated work.
 
In time, your fingers learn the "language" of Scruggs style, as I call it, and analogous to the way your lips and tongue work to produce words, you become unconscious of the processes at work, and just "think" the language as your hands carry it out. Getting to this level is a very meaningful goal for any fledgling player.
 
It typically takes a couple of years to reach this stage if the effort is focused. There is little value at this stage in memorized learning of what other people have figured out. It's easier to do, and the results are more predictable, but learning to "recite" someone else's ideas is *not* the same as "learning to speak in Scruggs style". You have to learn to write your own paragraph, is the way I put it.

EDITED BY FLAVIO LIVIO CIANFLONE www.themusicchord.com
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Music Tips
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