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Minor chords are characterized by a sad or sorrowful sound, and they add a lot to a chord progression. I am going to dig into a bit of music theory to help you better understand minor chords, and how to use them.

Let’s take a major chord and turn it into a minor chord - We’ll start with a G chord. The G chord is made up of three notes - G, B and D; these notes are also the first, third and fifth notes of a G scale. A minor chord is formed by flatting the third, or lowering the third by a half step. So a Gm or G minor chord consists of G, Bb and D.

When you play in the key of G, the most commonly used major chords are G, C and D - but what is the most common minor chord in the key of G? That chord is E minor (Em) - of course there is a reason why Em is the most common. The sixth note of the G major scale is E - it’s minor chord is called the relative minor. Em is the relative minor because the Em scale has the same notes as the G scale.

As with the major chords - there are different ways to form minor chords. Let’s take a look at Em first; it is composed of three notes: E, G and B. In this case you only need to fret two strings, the 1st and 4th at the second fret. these two notes are both E and the open strings are G and B.

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The world has changed forever - music is distributed by downloading, and the days of going to your local record store and picking up a few albums are long gone. There are literally millions of songs available on the internet and Amazon.com is an excellent source for music in both the old fashioned form - CDs, or the more modern MP3 format. Clicking on the picture above will take you to Amazon.com, where you can buy Ricky Skaggs tribute to the fathers of Bluegrass - way to easy.

When I was younger, I loved buying a new record and bringing it home to listen to. This was a ritual for me, no there isn’t any sacrifices or anything involved; I would tear the plastic open, pull the inner sleeve out and put the album on the turntable. Now the fun starts - sit back and listen to side A in it’s entirety, that’s right the whole side - no skipping songs. The nature of a record dictates that skipping tracks was difficult, so it was easier to listen to every song. While I enjoyed listening to my new find, I occupied my visual senses by reading the liner notes, learning about the instruments they used, the producers name, where it was recorded - information that gave me a feel for the recording. I would stick with one side for a while and when I was ready, and no sooner, I gave side B a listen.

Like I said earlier - those days are long gone, and now you can download one song for less than a buck and avoid the ritual that I love so much. Progress - I think not. Anyway, if you wan’t to check out an endless list of music in both Cd and MP3 format - follow the links below, but beware there’s a lot of good music out there.

Bluegrass MP3 Downloads

Bluegrass CDs

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Way back in October, I talked about backward rolls in this post: http://banjoblogger.com/banjo-rolls-the-backward-roll/ . This time we are going to bring out a melody on the first string, and build on the techniques introduced in the first post.

This first exercise has us picking the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th strings using a backward roll. The thing that makes this exercise trickier than the previous examples, is the fact that the thumb plays the 3rd and 5th strings. Practice this exercise until you can play it without looking at the TAB or the frets. Once you can play it smoothly take some time and listen to what you are playing. Are all the notes equal in volume? Is the first string as loud as the 2nd and 3rd strings? Are the notes evenly spaced? Before moving to the next exercise, take the time to practice the first exercise and get it down really good.

Have a listen here:

The next exercise gets your left hand moving around a bit and has the melody on the first string - so pick clearly and cleanly. To save moving around the fretboard too much, use your left hand index finger for the 2nd fret, your ring finger on the 4th fret and your pinky for the 5th fret. This will help to develop more speed and create more finger independence at the same time.

Press play to hear this one:

Practicing the backward roll is a good way to improve your hand strength, plus backward rolls can be used to great effect in some situations. You can play some neat runs using backward rolls so experiment and always play you best - good enough IS NOT good enough.

RELATED POSTS:

Banjo Rolls - The Backward Roll

Banjo Rolls - The Forward Backward Roll

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A favourite of fiddlers,banjo pickers and guitarists alike, the Black Mountain Rag has certainly stood the test of time. This is one of those songs that just gets stuck in my head. Usually getting something stuck in your head is bad, but this time it is a good thing.

If you want to hear a few versions of this song just check out YouTube and search - Black Mountain Rag. You’ll find a variety of different approaches to this song, and I’m sure one will inspire you. Most of the YouTube videos I found feature the guitar, even though this is actually a fiddle tune.Here are a few versions to get you started.

A little history of this song is in order. The Black Mountain Blues was the original name of this song, and it first appeared as The Black Mountain Rag in the 1947 recording by Curly Fox. This version has gone on to sell over 600,000 copies. The song was originally adapted in the 1940’s from “The Lost Child” by Leslie Keith, who played fiddle for the Stanley Brothers.I’ve also included a version played on the banjo to round things out - I hope you like it, rough edges and all.

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In the past I have written a couple of posts that talk about G licks, this time I have a three licks you can use when you are playing a measure of C. When I use the term C lick, I am just referring to a banjo lick that works with a C chord backup.

The first exercise is actually a C7 chord, but it sounds interesting with C, as long as you don’t overuse it. This is just one suggestion, experiment and find your own licks.

Listen:

The next lick is based on the most common C Chord, but don’t be fooled, it is a bit of a tricky one. Your index finger leads the way and has to be strong and clear.

This exercise is based on the C barre chord at the 5th fret. You only need to play the first and second and fifth strings in this one. The fifth fret gets a lot of work when you are playing C and this particular lick is heard a lot.

Press Play to listen:

If you wish, you may also skip listening to the exercise. I thought I was sounding a little pushy back there. PRESS PLAY!! , no asking, just a command. Okay, enough fooling around, let’s get back to the serious business of banjo playing.

The final step is to use these licks in a song that you know, just replace a measure of C with one of the measures above. This is where it gets tricky, some licks work in a certain part of a song and some don’t - how do you know which lick to use? The answer depends on a few things; the next chord you will be playing, the song’s melody, the tempo, and of course, what you want to play.

I hope this opens the door for you to invent a new way to play an old song or just make you take a closer look at what you CAN be playing on your banjo. Next time I talk about Licks, it will be D licks, so stay tuned and thanks for your support.

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We are all trying to become better banjo players - right? I know I’m always reaching for that next level. Sometimes though, it seems as if I am stuck and can’t move ahead. When this happens I like to go back to the basics and just play some music and not worry about learning anything specific. Jamming is the best way to challenge yourself and have have some fun at the same time. Don’t worry - this kind of jamming doesn’t mean you have to go out and join a band or anything like that. Grab your iPod or dig through your CDs and presto - you have a band that will put up with you, and let you practice the same song over and over.

Now that you have a band, it’s time to learn to play with this band. If you’ve never played with other musicians before this is a great way to get you feet wet. Pick a song that you know well, and by knowing it well, I mean that you can play it by memory and without mistakes. Get your music player of choice set up and press play; play along with the music and be sure that you are fitting in. If you are having trouble figuring out a part - just back up and try again. That’s the beauty of this band, they will play anywhere, anytime and they don’t get tired. Listen and try to figure out the licks you hear - you’ll discover a lot of things you won’t learn from TAB.

Have fun - I learned to play music with the help of a pile of records and eight track tapes. Spending hours a day playing along with these recordings taught me how to play in a band, and when I got asked to join a band when I was 13, I already had a few years of experience playing “with the beatles”. Give it a try, your timing will be improved and you will learn a few new tricks.

If you are looking for a few good CDs to play with, I recommend trying the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s - Will the Circle be Unbroken series. You’ll get to work with Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, Doc Watson, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Martin, to name a few. These three releases are full of classic songs, and have a killer lineup of players to learn from. You can also buy all six Cds in one collection - it takes up a lot less space on the shelf

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In an previous post, I introduced some banjo rolls that used the middle finger more.  This post puts the middle finger in the spotlight, and will force you to pay closer attention to the notes played by that finger. To get started, check out this post - http://banjoblogger.com/right-hand-middle-finger-exercises/

My first post used rolls that started with the thumb; as you know by now, it is easier to get a strong note using your thumb. This time we’ll start the roll with our middle finger and and end with the thumb. In a typical bluegrass song the strong notes are the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th eighth notes, and it just so happens that these are the notes played by your middle finger in this roll. A lot of people refer to this roll as the Osborne Roll, named after the man who popularized it. This technique is a tricky one to master, but with a little concentration and close attention to each and every note, you will be using these rolls with confidence in no time.

One of the first people to use this particular banjo roll was Sonny Osborne, of Osborne Brothers Fame. As the story goes, Sonny developed this roll to accommodate the picking pattern in the song “Old Joe Clark” which allowed him to play a pattern closer to the fiddle’s part. Enough talk - let’s get started. The first exercise uses open strings to give you an easier start - try to get all of the notes as even as you can. Once you are comfortable with the middle finger’s new role, try to accent the middle finger notes. Keep working at this one and you will be surprised how much of a difference it can make to your playing. Press PLAY to listen to it: SONNY OSBORNE

This next exercise gets your left hand a little more involved.  Listen :

Here’s a measure of “Old Joe Clark”, using the Osborne roll. Now your left hand is right in the middle of it - practice this exercise until you can play it smoothly. Give it a listen:

If you put in the time to learn this versatile banjo roll well, it will open the door to a whole new banjo world. One final note - be sure to practice carefully, pay attention to the details.

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