Bluegrass Roll Patterns, Part 3: The Lick Roll

This lesson is part of the course Bluegrass Banjo with Bill Evans.

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Learn to make your banjo drive the band or play sweet melodies, with solos to well-known songs and tunes, backup techniques, and more.

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Blue Ridge Cabin Home

In this lesson, you’ll start adding roll patterns to the melody of “Blue Ridge Cabin Home.” Every melody has a rhythm and when Earl Scruggs was working out his breaks, he tried to keep the melody’s rhythm intact as he added the roll patterns, letting the melody dictate what kind of roll to use. Bill shows you some ideas for choosing rolls. For example, if you have a melody note that’s held out for a long time you can try a forward roll, and when the melody notes are closer together you can try an alternating thumb roll or a forward reverse roll. Bill walks you through an entire solo here, with embellishments and fill-in licks.

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BLUEGRASS ROLL PATTERNS

Bluegrass Roll Patterns, Part 1: Basic Patterns and Mumford Roll

Bluegrass Roll Patterns, Part 2: The Forward Roll

Bluegrass Roll Patterns, Part 3: The Lick Roll

Another classic Earl Scruggs roll is called the “lick roll,” because it’s used to play one of the most common fill-in licks in bluegrass. Earl used it because it has the power of a forward roll but allows him to catch a lower melody note on the fourth string. You can also move the lick over a string to make a great roll when playing a C chord.

The Lick Roll (Available to subscribers)

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Man of Constant Sorrow, Part 1: The Modal Scale →

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← Bluegrass Roll Patterns, Part 2: The Forward Roll

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Man of Constant Sorrow, Part 1: The Modal Scale →

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