How to Play Banjo in a Bluegrass Jam

Рет қаралды 16,413

2 жыл бұрын

In this free lesson, John covers how to play banjo in a bluegrass jam. Tips like: How do you find the "center of gravity" or the key of the song? What roadmaps or clues can you take from the players who are jamming around you? What are some tips to help you solo on the banjo?

Пікірлер: 79

@allenjohnson8200 11 ай бұрын

I just learned more on this video with you than at any time from others. I am 80 years old and running out of time. Thank you for this time.

@thebanjomountain 11 ай бұрын

You are so welcome! Check us out at the banjomounntain.com if you want a lot more!

@rjwh67220 8 ай бұрын

I’m right behind you, brother. Us old dudes gotta learn as much as we can while we can.

@cybilmallory Жыл бұрын

This was really great bc we could hear the group but hear you more, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish the sounds in a group (there’s a lot going on) so this was really helpful

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it was helpful!! Happy picking!

@fivestring4653 9 ай бұрын

There are times when I need to be inspired to pick . Man, hearing you pick inspired me . Thanks for sharing

@thebanjomountain 9 ай бұрын

Oh man. Thank you for that great compliment! We all need inspiration at times. Keep that picking up!

@billstetler6769 8 ай бұрын

I’ve been picking the five since 1972 this helped me with some jamin

@thebanjomountain 8 ай бұрын

Glad to hear it!! Since ‘72 is impressive!!

@janicebrown8159 Жыл бұрын

Wow!!! This was SO HELPFUL!!!! Thank you!!! So great that your actually at a jam and your off to the side teaching us what your doing and why

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Glad this was helpful to you!! Learning to play in a jam can be intimidating but it can be done! :)

@martinmonfee7974 11 ай бұрын

Very good simple explanation, wish I had known this information forty years ago, I have always thought there should be an easier way of learning by ear, thank you for your time and talents!

@thebanjomountain 11 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful! Happy picking!

@alkline3054 7 ай бұрын

Very helpful video!! I’m a long term closet player just starting to participate in jams - it’s been a challenge. The part of the video demonstrating chord inversions was quite interesting

@kylenobes1 2 жыл бұрын

Very helpful, thank you!

@jderekito 10 ай бұрын

This is amazingly helpful. Thanks!

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for checking us out!

@jacobread9650 3 ай бұрын

just the video i was looking for!

@thebanjomountain 3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@stevenstathatos69 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant! And helpful.

@thebanjomountain 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you and glad you enjoyed it!

@garyvoigt5090 5 ай бұрын

Nice. Good info.

@thebanjomountain 5 ай бұрын

Glad you think so!

@tomasotreasaigh111 10 ай бұрын

I just decided to learn how to make sounds I find pleasing on a banjo today. I strung one up and put on a 'How To Tune Banjo' video. When the video was finished, autoplay put your video on.... I loved your playing Sir, well played Champ, you defo make that instrument sound gravy! I have played guitar with trad musicians many times here in Ireland over the years but I am on my first day, today, learning Banjo! Thanks for the music and peace from Ireland to you and yours mo chara. Go n-éirí an bóthar leat chun bualadh leat. Go raibh an ghaoth i gcónaí ar do dhroim!

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

Love this! Thank you for the compliments and happy picking!! Sending some banjo power all the way to you in the great country of Ireland! 🇮🇪

@tomasotreasaigh111 10 ай бұрын

@@thebanjomountain Thanks, send them vibes over and I will jam along, ☺

@jacquelinevaughan411 Жыл бұрын

Thank you sooooooo much!! I just got a banjo last week and this is the best tutorial I've seen!!!!

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Our pleasure! We've got over 200 lessons on our site. FYI. :)

@nickmarzen6639 Жыл бұрын

that was awesome thank you

@thebanjomountain 11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!!

@maylammarie Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this video!!

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

@rudyjackson2253 Жыл бұрын

So much help really appreciate it. Do you have a video on lead licks for transition ? Thanks

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Glad this was helpful for you Ruday! We do have some licks lessons on our site ranging from beginner to advanced. Perhaps we'll upload some here for free. Thanks!

@rdaugherty52 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for showing this has always been my problem when I ask other musicians how they know when to change cords they would always say oh you’ll just know wha I don’t just know.

@thebanjomountain 9 ай бұрын

Glad it helped!

@pocketgools3194 2 жыл бұрын

What rolls did you use?

@Spotwelder 10 ай бұрын

I'm learning banjo. I was at a bluegrass festival and sitting with a group of people and jamming. My problem was figuring out when finger roll I need to do.

@areeves1002 10 ай бұрын

A lot of the time, it doesn't matter which roll you are playing. If your in the right chord, pick a roll and go with it. If by some chance it doesn't sound good, just choose another one. Its good to try different rolls.

@Spotwelder 10 ай бұрын

@@areeves1002 thats what my banjo teacher told me. pick one and go with it, change it up if you have to. we even did a little jam. i started on the banjo, he hada guitar and we just played. pretty fun. i'm getting the hang of it now.

@mariolavadinho5642 8 ай бұрын

Interested in lessons. Please. reach out. FYI: you spelled mountain wrong on your post. Great video.

@thebanjomountain 8 ай бұрын

Thank you for the compliment and for the FYI! Hate it when we make errors, particularly simple ones. 😭 Where did we misspell Mountain? We’ve got over 200 lessons on our site with both a bluegrass school and Clawhammer school. We also have a monthly practice competition for members where you can get feedback on your playing.

@mariolavadinho5642 8 ай бұрын

Thank you. You responded to a message a couple of months ago and had the misspelling

@barrysmith8193 10 ай бұрын

Another component that is a real issue is that we left handers have to interpret your right hand chords in action then transpose that to what we would play left handed. This takes a micro second however by the time you have played it right handed our transposing is behind the music flow.

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

No doubt left handers have it harder! But if you learn your I, IV, V chords in the typical keys you should be able (with time) to follow by ear. Keep it up!

@barrysmith8193 10 ай бұрын

This may sound logical however clearly unknowing by you as a right hander. . Let’s try this….. you put down that right handed banjo, get a left handed banjo, play it for a month, take it to a jam session and attempt to play along, and get back us and let us know how it went. Thanks for your response.

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

Not trying to dismiss the difficulty of the situation. Just trying to be encouraging as I have seen left handed players playing successfully at a jam. Wish you the best and happy picking!

@barrysmith8193 10 ай бұрын

I appreciate your comment and understand that it is well intended. Yes, there are left handed pickers that do well in jam sessions however just not me. I’ve attempted to join in a number of jam sessions over the years with no success. Disappointing as I can play very well. For actual understanding I suggest that you get some experience in playing a left handed banjo and get back to me. With all due respect you claim to be a teacher. How can you authentically have this claim when you only teach right handers. To be a real “teacher” I suggest that you would teach from both points of view.

@birdhouse000 9 ай бұрын

@@barrysmith8193you can’t just blame everyone else because you play left handed… great advice to learn I IV V chords! Train your ear if you can’t covert right to left.

@waynecrowe9075 6 ай бұрын

Don't try to complicate having fun jump in and play

@jerryhilliard4233 Жыл бұрын

Where are you from Banjo picker I'm in Bristol TN let's jam some

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Hey Jerry! We are based in god forsaken Los Angeles (heh heh) but travel often to festivals. If we come your way we'll post on KZbin!

@jeremyvantrease8689 10 ай бұрын

Why didn’t you go join the jam?

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

John did go join the jam once we were done shooting. 😀

@justjake3977 10 ай бұрын

What's your shirt mean?

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

It's the album cover of a punk band called Me Frist and The Gimme Gimme's John used to tour with when he toured with Old Man Markley.

@justjake3977 10 ай бұрын

@thebanjomountain Che G? Cross with cancel sign? You play banjo and hang out with whom I would assume are mostly Christian. Free country....but good taste goes a long way.

@thebanjomountain 10 ай бұрын

This is the band. They do spoof album covers. It’s not Che. music.apple.com/us/artist/me-first-and-the-gimme-gimmes/95123641

@gusmac666 10 ай бұрын

Who knew Woody Allen could play banjo!

@barrysmith8193 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for reading the Chinese phone book to me. This did nothing to get a beginning picker over the act of actually starting to participate. I’ve been to several jam sessions and left without any playing as I have no ability to start the first note when the song is played at a fast tempo. Once the song is started there is no hope on my part to catch up. I’ve spent thousands of dollars with teachers that have no understanding of having the end in mind. Shouldn’t getting us to play in a jam be the teachers goal? Did I misunderstand your intent here?

@thebanjomountain Жыл бұрын

Hey Barry. To be able to jam along with other players, regardless of what instrument you play, requires a basic foundation of skill usually aquired by an intermediate player. That isn't to say beginning players can't play with other players but they will need to know the song or have the tab in front of them. This video gives tips for how to play in a jam, assuming you know your chords and have a strong familiarity with the fretboard (which John sets up at the top). As a beginner player, I'd recommend focusing on learning your chords shapes and inversions. This will allow you to watch other players in a jam and quickly figure out the few chords being used (most bluegrass songs will have less than 5 songs). That's a great place to start and you can memorize chord patterns very quickly starting with the most common Bluegrass chords. The rest of John's tips will quickly become helpful (looking for capos being used help figure out what key etc). So that's a great place for a beginner to start. Hope that helps!

@mikebastiat Жыл бұрын

I'm also still waiting on a video that tells us, overall and in general, what is going on on the banjo when you're actually playing along with others. All I can find is isolated songs or dumbed down lessons that don't help me actually get rollin with others.

@something3441 Жыл бұрын

Berry I think you are right. Too many teachers teach the rolls and breaks to songs but fall way short when it comes to jamming. I played for years and took lessons. Still at a jam I was totally lost. I just recently went to a Pete Warnick jam class. This isn't intended to be a plug for him but I learned so much in 8 hours. I've went from sitting alone playing lead breaks on my banjo and not understanding a thing about cords, to now, at least I'm sitting with and playing along with KZbin. videos vamping along to the cords of songs and playing a break as it comes up. I have a long long way to go but there is the smallest glimmer of hope and I actually feel like I'm learning. I think the video is great. Its probably just a little advanced for where you are in the learning curve. If I may suggest maybe taking a very simple cored song, say Kentucky girl 2 cords G and D. Pull it up on youtube and try just vamping along with it. I printed out the song lyrics and cords then just followed along. After a while you will start to hear the cord changes coming, if you miss it first time around grab it next time around. I find it very fun and non stressful. The video dosnt care how much you mess up. Good luck.

@mikebastiat Жыл бұрын

@@something3441 I'm in the same spot. Rolls are no problem, songs are no problem, but I still don't understand how to backup and jam. No one really gives you the grand picture of how to piece everything together. Was this class in person? Is there online video? Really wanting the aha! moment already..

@clawhammer704 Жыл бұрын

He was telling you guys to watch and listen to see what the other players are doing. Just watch for the parts you don’t understand. That’s what I did thirty some years ago when I was learning. I tell you this if you dont know the song anybody will be lost at start until they get the cords and when they change. Learn the most popular played songs in ur area at home so you can fit it all in.