Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 1: Basic Positioning

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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Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 1: Basic Positioning

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 2: Fingerpicks

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 3: Practicing with a Metronome

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 1: Basic Positioning

In this extensive lesson on right-hand technique, Bill covers picking-hand positioning, playing with a relaxed hand, practicing with metronome, and more. Bill uses his own experience as a player as well as his observations of and conversations with players like JD Crowe, Ron Block, and others. In this video, Bill talks about basic positioning of the banjo, as well as the right-hand, fingers, and picks, and working on creating a relaxed position for your entire upper body.

Previous Lesson

← Slow-Song Backup, Part 2

Next Lesson

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 2: Fingerpicks →

Previous Lesson

← Slow-Song Backup, Part 2

Next Lesson

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 2: Fingerpicks →

Previous Lesson

← Slow-Song Backup, Part 2

Next Lesson

Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 2: Fingerpicks →

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Right-Hand Technique: Timing and Tone, Part 1: Basic Positioning

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