THE ONE BANJO TRICK EARL SCRUGGS DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

Banjo lesson. I wish someone showed me this when I was starting

[@robertbowden8314]

The one banjo trick that the late Earl Scruggs WOULDN’T want you to know, for a good reason. This will certainly cause a beginning player to develop a bad habit that will highly limit speed and fluidity.

[@tite-r-tone8258]

Earl rolled with his index to keep it going after doing a thumb lead roll. It’s easier to wrap your head around when beginning banjo. Its a way to get started doing something with your fingers. Thanks for the comment.

[@jonsills1857]

To start out with, having met the man a couple times, and having friends who knew him well, I find the whole what Earl wouldn't want you know thing insulting off the bat. He was a really nice guy, and all about the music. Glad to show you anything you asked. Now on to the vid itself. You needed to title it "what to do if you want to suck for all eternity on the banjo". For those of you who really want to learn to play the 5 string, just buy yourself a copy of Earl Scruggs and the Five String Banjo, and it has links to audio files of every exercise in the book where Earl himself plays the excersize at slow speed and you can play right along with him over and over if you need, until you get it right. Earl played the rolls the way he did because Earl was a master of the economy of motion. Most of time I have to play at anywhere from 120 to 150 bpm routinely and you will find your ideas will fail you at that speak. Stick with Earl :-)

[@harrydeboer7632]

A good friend of mine was a very good banjo picker and helped me to get started in the seventies ! He gave me these rolls to get started with , this was about 50 years ago and it did work out very good ! Ofcourse you use other rolls with it and the art is when you hear a melody that you play it with all different rolls ! Sadly my friend died in 1998 ! I have helped other banjo players to get started and used these rolls you play ! I put them on paper in 1991 !

[@jolox.]

Thanks for the lesson. I have saved this so I can get my banjo out and give it a try! Also going to subscribe as this was a very informative video! Thanks again!

[@donshields4470]

EXCELLENT!! You showed so much!! Thank you.

[@stevenb8425]

That was really good. Nice to see how others can figure out this neck. Great job! Do some more!

[@waveegravee]

This title is a blatant insult. Earl would have gladly showed anyone anything they asked him about any aspect he knew about the instrument.

[@Trogdor42]

Earl scruggs would've turned 100 on January 6th this year

[@ericmoree8060]

Yeah I likes it a lot

[@johnlashbaugh6194]

Well done! Most appreciated.

[@timothyriley4209]

Good video. I'm going to try it. It looks like a good exercise.

[@ednebendahl9261]

I like learning backup rolls, this is a very nice one to play behind others.

[@garydavis6963]

Ralph Stanley style.

[@ethang6735]

Im only a low level intermediate, but I can say im glad I stuck with playing it scruggs style with the thumb. It makes no sense at the start, but it pays off in the long run, at least for me. I have heard the argument that scruggs style is only a preference, but I dont have the skill level to weigh in on that. The one thing I HAVE learned, is if it works for you, and you can make it play the song, then it works lol

[@DamionMason-cr6hk]

Firstly I liked it and I thought this was helpful for me

[@michaeldavis2360]

Awesome

[@trishacd1985]

So simple and brilliant sounding, very well explained 😂

[@togacruiser]

Very good job of describing the Ralph Stanley “machine gun” syle

[@iamelvisman68]

Shelby nc native here and Banjo picker too. The timing and sound with the thumb is completely different, it just comes down to feel and what you prefer as long as you can keep in time. I play these rolls both ways. Never play it the same way more than once keep it fluid and keep it moving

[@blackbutteforge]

Thanks for the tips.

[@dougschindler7976]

loved it

[@alvincook8888]

Play it anyway you can! So long as it sounds great.

[@davidlee-vm9ub]

Good stuff..leading with the index is how Doug Dillard played a lot of his rolls..and he can probably play faster than 90% of all banjo pickers EVER!

[@southernpride2003]

I'm 21 I'm originally from Shelby North Carolina that's where I was born now I live in Morganton North Carolina Earl Scruggs is my favorite picker along with Luther Perkins and mother Maybelle Earl was the reason behind the shape of my homemade guitar I once met Earl Scruggs when I was 9 I got to talk with him he even let me play his banjo

[@billbender2850]

Excellent.

[@peterfagley772]

Very nice, thank you!

[@baddity]

I don't think any professional banjo player would recommend adopting this habit.

[@thedinner225]

Correct.

[@isaacbeen2087]

Have you heard of Jens Kruger or Ralph Stanley?

[@isaacbeen2087]

@@thedinner225 Incorrect. See my various comments.

[@thedinner225]

@@isaacbeen2087 yes and Ralph was taught by his granny and he added the 2 finger thing he done..very lazy technique but also old and his own....all I know about Jens is he like deering banjos

[@isaacbeen2087]

@@thedinner225 Jens teaches exactly what’s in this video. And Stanley used this roll a lot. It’s real stuff.

[@johnlaing3881]

😂a lot of help,thanks

[@morningblues10]

These haters need to leave our boy alone

[@thedinner225]

I see a lazy thumb!.. incorporat that thumb on the foggy mountain roll and you will have what you are looking for

[@owenanstey436]

Nice work.

[@heathervickers164]

the foggy roll is played I MIMTIM earl played it IMTMTIMT never play the same string twice with the same finger

[@dougsimpkins7480]

I loved it. It’s great for me. Thank you Ignore the naysayers!

[@kilaBeez40]

yes! this is perfect for where i’m at in my three finger playing rn. started with the Scruggs book a few weeks ago so the contrast is perf.

[@davidlee-vm9ub]

IMHO..If u have Earls's book pay VERY CLOSE attention to every picture of him and notice where his right hand position is...if you want good tone..this is ignored by even some of the "pros"

[@mississippisteve626]

Great teaching, Rob! So clearly explained.

[@world_musician]

My understanding is that picking the 4th string (wound thickest one) with anything but the thumb is a nono

[@ethang6735]

a lot of scruggs style rolls incorporate moving the index to the 4th string. Songs like jesse james and worried man blues, for example. They keep the TMTI MTIM pattern while playing whats basically an Em chord. It frees the thumb up to get to the 5th string by utilizing the index finger for the 4th

[@louiecayedito655]

The title should be "Stanley style roll pattern". This pattern is the backbone of Ralph's playing (you didn't invent it). There's nothing wrong with playing this way (like many are saying), it's just not the way Earl did it. The index lead doesn't set up Scruggs-style licks very well, which is fine if you want to sound more like Ralph.

[@japackwatterson8831]

Awesome!

[@TheBurlturner]

Neat drill

[@shrubhater]

Wonderful! Thank you! ❤❤

[@jk5538]

For the sake of speed, you should never use the same finger twice in a row like that.

[@erniewilliams2790]

You are on the right path, just do it your way, and ignore the brats stuck in their bedrooms“trying to get it right.”

[@harrydeboer7632]

I try to send the picture, but it doesn’t work !

[@2wheels5strings]

er, so Foggy Mountain Roll, but using index index instead of index thumb.

[@brianszuch6774]

You'll never be able to get any speed repeating the same finger. Twice, do it with the thumb. And the index do it the way Earl. Did it believe me, brother? You're not earl

[@stevepaskin2863]

This is kinda cool though but I agree with you nobody will ever shun Earl though, he will always be the man, but I don’t think this lad is doing that, just a little different thinking eh

[@JohnHicksPicks]

I play like this alot and I can play fast 🤣

[@isaacbeen2087]

Totally wrong. The repeated finger is on a quarter note, twice the length of the surrounding eighth notes. Repeating fingers on quarter notes is standard practise indeed.

[@thomasmadden9116]

best.explenation.ever.so.clear.thank.you

[@midnighttoker8663]

It's a trick to sound a lot like ralph stanley and not like anyone else

[@AndrewZinn]

I tried this and now all my drains are clogged

[@rapidsdude]

thats what i'm looking for thanks. Just need to know chords and patterns

[@HotRodDave]

Cool

[@banjoist123]

Get you a good saddle capo, like a Paige. Much smaller, less obtrusive.

[@heathervickers164]

completely wrong right hand

[@TheGalen62]

Stand back Bela Fleck, this dude is coming for you!

[@bernieross1241]

Firstly, the title is nonsense. Secondly, this may be the instinctive and obvious way to play that roll, only using the index finger on the second string, but it isn't the way 99% of banjo players do it, for good reason. In fact you could almost consider this downright wrong, as most players find playing it the way you're suggesting is much harder. There are exceptions - notably Ralph Stanley - but it's just not how it is done by the overwhelming majority of good players, who drop the thumb to the second string alternately. This helps with timing and speed, and also with the syncopated feel of the roll. Alternately dropping the thumb to the second string means the index finger doesn't have to work so hard, or so fast. Specifically because this can seem counter-intuitive to beginners, several videos on youtube have been made by (with all due respect) professional players with far more experience than you, specifically to explain why NOT to do it the way you are suggesting. Many of them state the same as you - "I wish someone had shown me THIS when I was starting" - but the "this" in that sentence is DO NOT try to play every second string note with your index finger! Tony Trischka has a video on exactly this common beginner mistake, titled "Banjo Tips from Tony Trischka: Foggy Mountain Breakdown Roll". There's another explanation of this in Jim Pankey's video called "Why is the Foggy Mountain Breakdown Roll the way it is?" I suggest all beginners check it out. Dropping your thumb to the second string may be a little awkward at first, but when you get the hang of it you'll probably be able to play it much faster, and cleaner, than if you overwork your index finger in the way you suggest here.

[@billbearback2591]

well the belted earl has spoken , hey chubby , as the black powder guys say , if you dont like the video ,," go make your own "

[@isaacbeen2087]

Excuse me...he's not doing the "Foggy Mountain Breakdown roll," the roll he shows has a quarter note at the begin. Your being too eager to criticise has caused this oversight. The great Jens Kruger, perhaps the greatest banjo player alive, teaches beginners this pattern exactly as shown in the video. It's very effective indeed.

[@mattsellars4477]

That ain’t how bill Monrow woulda played it

[@seanmccormick3270]

"Earl Scruggs might not approve".. he's been dead for quite some time and he could have cared less how you played it. He was all for people finding their own way of playing. Your video title is nonsense

[@isaacbeen2087]

taking the title too seriously is your problem, not his

[@JoeBanjo88]

Dude...get a banjo capo!

[@Jimmyrey6857]

A comment

[@randolphfriend8260]

💙 🪕

[@gitrpicker]

Get rid of the ego. That stuff has been played so many times it isn't funny. (No, I'm not just an armchair "expert"; I've picked the banjo for 53 years.) Those are some nice licks, but keep them in perspective.

[@glennmeyer4539]

Will this work without the capo so this is 3315315

[@wildbanjoman99]

It works in any key

[@glennmeyer4539]

@@wildbanjoman99 thanks

[@CPK13]

No

[@isaacbeen2087]

Jens Kruger would endorse this video. I'd think twice about doubting his sense.

[@fiddlinal9248]

Sorry dude, you mean well but have no clue about this.

[@wildbanjoman99]

Sadly I kinda have to agree here. A simple forward reverse roll would sound better or even more so just a regular forward 5 3 1 roll. Or a 4 3 1 with slide.

[@tite-r-tone8258]

@@wildbanjoman99 Can you post a video demonstrating?

[@wildbanjoman99]

@@tite-r-tone8258 kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6GXpXejjrd-q5ofeature=shared

[@isaacbeen2087]

Jens Kruger teaches the same thing...maybe the greatest banjo player alive! and Ralph Stanley used this roll a lot...so, please, take notes! and he's making a wonderful sound, so idk how you could possibly think he has "no clue about this" when CLEARLY he does!

[@alvincook8888]

99% are listening! Not watch the fingers.

[@JonseyWales]

That was a great lesson! I love useful little tips like this, that are fairly simple to implement but go a hell of a long way in results. Thanks very much for that tasty secret sauce ingredient!😉👍🪕