Excellent tutorial! I received a banjo as a gift a few years back, and never bothered learning to play it. Fighting through instructional books had proved rather discouraging, so the banjo sat on its stand. Within minutes of watching your video, I had progressed further than I had in all the time wasted trying to teach myself with the books. I may never become a banjo player, but now, thanks to you, I can sound like one to anyone who doesn't know any better.
I very much enjoy your videos. I started with another yt banjo teacher who very much liked the sound of his own voice and terrible jokes. I'd say his average video was 45% bs. This is simple and straight, nothing but the work. Thanks.
I came across your lesson today. Been following Wauye Epsen's book on roll and ticks. Your present ion of open string rolls sounds good. Will be back. The aircraft taking off was on a scramble way back during the Cold War West Berlin Crisis. I had my own crafted long neck Pete Seeger open back 5-string along during my one hear commitment flying the Lockheed F-104C Starfighter, a Mach 2.2 a/c.
Thank you for showing us TEMPO CHANGES and what these rolls would sound like in a bluegrass tune. Even as a seasoned musician (guitar and claw hammer), it's hard for me to hear the lope in these rolls as they are played in tunes as I'm learning them, but you did this. ~~~ GREAT lesson!
William, right now I am primarily interested in claw hammer technique, and I haven't worn finger pics yet, but I have really enjoyed learning these patterns and just listening to the ostinato in the bass notes. Thanks for a simple way of access. Best wishes to you.
Hello William Really excellent video explaining the rolls. and tricks to make accompaniments when not playing the melody in a song. As with all your explanations, you're a master of those before. Take it from this boy of 68 springs that makes bluegrass, (bad,... but fun), with his 9 year old granddaughter. "Argentina Bluegrass JL y nieta from San Luis" on youtube. Get as always a big hug and God bless, Jose Luis from Buenos Aires.
Wow I like it a lot, you have great style! Going to try that on a keyboard and some small guitar / ukulele, since I don't own a real Banjo (yet). Thank you for wonderful share
Merci elle super bien ta vidéo, je commence à m'habituer au roll c'est super. c'est en anglais mais on comprend quand même. Bravo , Merci pour votre effort, on s'applique de notre coté.
William, I love earing people playing banjo, and I' m starting to think about buying one and learning how to play. Is the banjo (for someone who didn't play any instrument before) hard to learn? Waiting for your reply, Francisco - PORTUGAL
Hi William, I think I have a lot of trouble divorcing the audio feedback from the roll itself. Thanks to your video, I learned Foggy Mountain Breakdown in less than a week as my first ever banjo song and I can even play it pretty quick, so I know I do possess the manual dexterity. It's just that my brain seems to stop working when I try to do the same exact roll but hear different notes. I hope that makes sense. For example, I can do the Foggy Mountain Breakdown roll at maybe half speed without even needing to think about it, but if I try to do the same roll on open strings I move a at a snail's pace. Of course, the solution is always to practice, but is there anything I should keep in mind while practicing to make myself better at applying a roll to any situation? Thanks, love your videos, you're a great teacher!
I understand what you're saying and have seen it before. I'm not sure I'd worry about it. You're learning the licks and putting them together, and that's what you need to be doing. You mentioned the "Foggy Mountain" roll and how much more difficult it is to play with open strings now that you've learned the double-hammer lick that goes with it. If you're playing the lick well, clearly, with good time, and putting it together with the rest of the licks in the song... keeping it all in good rhythm, increasing speed, then you're doing well.
It doesn't hurt anything. People played for a long time without fingerpicks before they started playing with them. It's mainly about volume and getting maximum tone (and trying to sound like Earl Scruggs -- almost forgot to mention that).
Just bought my banjo, and one problem I have is fretting. My chubby fingers catch the other strings and mute them. any suggestions? You make some great videos mate. God Bless
Steve Ellis I'm no expert but i think if you either raise or lower your strings from the neck it will allow you to press the frets without muting the other strings.
Weekly Photoshops , Z-Art Productions Yes that was my next step, seems awful hard to press down on the first fret, I'm thinking like you, lower the strings maybe 1 mm
im a classical guitarist learning banjo, so i use my fingernails to pick. when i play banjo i use a thumb pick and my fingers are left with just the nails. is that a problem playing banjo? will it hurt me in the long run?
I bought 4 books on how to play banjo and all the book's start with chords with the left hand I though you where suppose to learn picking with the right hand first with rolls Im all mix up , and the rolls they show they don,t pick the same strings for the same rolls Im lost are rolls suppose to be the same.
elle est bien votre vidéo, elle date quand même de 2010, mais je dirais un peu trop rapide pour quelqu'un qui débute dans le blue grass. si vous avez écrit en bas de l'écran les numéro des cordes avec la correspondance des doigt ça aurait été magnifique. Merci quand même.
It's the same as anything else. You want to learn to dog-paddle -- easy. Become an olympic swimmer? Difficult. Ride a bike? Easy. Compete in the Tour De France? Difficult. All depends on how far you want to take it. The farther you take it, the harder it gets. Learn some rolls and chords on banjo? Not too hard. Play like Earl or JD? Very difficult and demanding.
Thank you William. Very Instructive and easy to follow.
I have repeatedly watched this video.
Excellent tutorial! I received a banjo as a gift a few years back, and never bothered learning to play it. Fighting through instructional books had proved rather discouraging, so the banjo sat on its stand. Within minutes of watching your video, I had progressed further than I had in all the time wasted trying to teach myself with the books. I may never become a banjo player, but now, thanks to you, I can sound like one to anyone who doesn't know any better.
Finally a well presented lesson on how to do rolls that first timers can understand.
Thank you for sharing.
Geof Harris (uk)
nice lesson no boring intro thanks man i just got my first banjo always had great respect for people that can play well
I really got a lot out of this video, just got the banjo 2 days ago and this is very helpful in my quest to learn the different "rolls", thank you!
I very much enjoy your videos. I started with another yt banjo teacher who very much liked the sound of his own voice and terrible jokes. I'd say his average video was 45% bs. This is simple and straight, nothing but the work. Thanks.
Excellent, thanks!
No blah blah. Maximum teaching.
François Ouellette
Good job explaining all of the various rolls. It was very clear.
very helpful thank you! just purchased my first banjo, a Deering goodtime, and I am excited to learn these rolls!
Thanks, Joselo! Hope all is well and that y'all are having maximum fun playing bluegrass!
I came across your lesson today. Been following Wauye Epsen's book on roll and ticks. Your present ion of open string rolls sounds good. Will be back. The aircraft taking off was on a scramble way back during the Cold War West Berlin Crisis. I had my own crafted long neck Pete Seeger open back 5-string along during my one hear commitment flying the Lockheed F-104C Starfighter, a Mach 2.2 a/c.
Thank you for showing us TEMPO CHANGES and what these rolls would sound like in a bluegrass tune. Even as a seasoned musician (guitar and claw hammer), it's hard for me to hear the lope in these rolls as they are played in tunes as I'm learning them, but you did this. ~~~ GREAT lesson!
Thank you for the great lessons!
Very good for me , thanks a lot , I'm french and it's very difficult to find a teacher, thanks again !!
Thanks..The best tutorial on rolls on UA-cam..
excellent video...good solid teaching, thanks for the upload...!!!
Good lesson.shows how one should practice the roll, then how it should sound full speed.very helpfull
Awesome roll tutorial. I've been using this tutorial to pick up my speed
William, right now I am primarily interested in claw hammer technique, and I haven't worn finger pics yet, but I have really enjoyed learning these patterns and just listening to the ostinato in the bass notes. Thanks for a simple way of access. Best wishes to you.
You are the best tutor!!!!
Hello William
Really excellent video explaining the rolls. and tricks to make accompaniments when not playing the melody in a song.
As with all your explanations, you're a master of those before.
Take it from this boy of 68 springs that makes bluegrass, (bad,... but fun), with his 9 year old granddaughter.
"Argentina Bluegrass JL y nieta from San Luis" on youtube.
Get as always a big hug and God bless, Jose Luis from Buenos Aires.
Wow I like it a lot, you have great style! Going to try that on a keyboard and some small guitar / ukulele, since I don't own a real Banjo (yet). Thank you for wonderful share
10 out of 10 awesome vid many thanks .... chas ....england..(uk)....
Thank-you very much, William. This is a great lesson and one that I can understand. I will use it repeatedly.
Much appreciated William...
Merci elle super bien ta vidéo, je commence à m'habituer au roll c'est super.
c'est en anglais mais on comprend quand même. Bravo ,
Merci pour votre effort, on s'applique de notre coté.
nice job
straight to the point and no messing about.Brill;,,,
well that was very nice
excellent you are among few that demonstrate the rolls in different speeds others is so slow they sound boring thanks that is so important
Yes excellent instruction.
Thanks much! Practice, practice, practice! Wahoo!!!
Brilliant ! I am now entertaining my parrot with these .
This is excellent, thanks!!!!
Sounds great!! Theres something to work on
Awesome,Thank You!!!!
There's a description of the banjo at the website listed at the end of the video.
Hi. Very good!!! So nice banjosound! What type of banjo is it? Regards Gösta - Sweden.
thank you, much appreciated
I'm having trouble incorporating different rolls within a tune....any chance you could play a tune showing how to change rolls.Many thanks
William,
I love earing people playing banjo, and I' m starting to think about buying one and learning how to play.
Is the banjo (for someone who didn't play any instrument before) hard to learn?
Waiting for your reply,
Francisco - PORTUGAL
awesome !
Thanks William!! You got me going here.
Hi William, I think I have a lot of trouble divorcing the audio feedback from the roll itself. Thanks to your video, I learned Foggy Mountain Breakdown in less than a week as my first ever banjo song and I can even play it pretty quick, so I know I do possess the manual dexterity. It's just that my brain seems to stop working when I try to do the same exact roll but hear different notes. I hope that makes sense. For example, I can do the Foggy Mountain Breakdown roll at maybe half speed without even needing to think about it, but if I try to do the same roll on open strings I move a at a snail's pace. Of course, the solution is always to practice, but is there anything I should keep in mind while practicing to make myself better at applying a roll to any situation? Thanks, love your videos, you're a great teacher!
I understand what you're saying and have seen it before. I'm not sure I'd worry about it. You're learning the licks and putting them together, and that's what you need to be doing. You mentioned the "Foggy Mountain" roll and how much more difficult it is to play with open strings now that you've learned the double-hammer lick that goes with it. If you're playing the lick well, clearly, with good time, and putting it together with the rest of the licks in the song... keeping it all in good rhythm, increasing speed, then you're doing well.
Thanks!!!
That Scruggs role (G Lick) is a bit of toughie. Got the sequence but it'll be a while before I can get a trouble free rolling cadence going. Phew!
It doesn't hurt anything. People played for a long time without fingerpicks before they started playing with them. It's mainly about volume and getting maximum tone (and trying to sound like Earl Scruggs -- almost forgot to mention that).
Just bought my banjo, and one problem I have is fretting. My chubby fingers catch the other strings and mute them. any suggestions? You make some great videos mate. God Bless
Steve Ellis I'm no expert but i think if you either raise or lower your strings from the neck it will allow you to press the frets without muting the other strings.
Weekly Photoshops , Z-Art Productions Yes that was my next step, seems awful hard to press down on the first fret, I'm thinking like you, lower the strings maybe 1 mm
Hi Bill. Do you have a website for online lessons (not skype)
come on! way to advanced for absolute beginners
I look at about 20 different videos I have three different lesson books & your the only one that starts the Forward Roll with the fifth string.
Very useful! Now, all I need is a banjo...
MEGAF00T Same
im a classical guitarist learning banjo, so i use my fingernails to pick. when i play banjo i use a thumb pick and my fingers are left with just the nails. is that a problem playing banjo? will it hurt me in the long run?
how about some close ups and slow it down so us first timers can have a chance to see and hear what you are demonstrating :)
wh tuning r u in
The best! But now I can't leave the house for 6 months! LOL
I done that too with the thumb pick, got 3 degree burns my thumb is still sore
I want to learn banjo so bad
Thanks a ton for the great lesson Will you put me right on track, yeehaw!
On se garde un peu de gêne svp. C'est gratuit et d'une grande générosité.
I bought 4 books on how to play banjo and all the book's start with chords with the left hand I though you where suppose to learn picking with the right hand first with rolls Im all mix up , and the rolls they show they don,t pick the same strings for the same rolls Im lost are rolls suppose to be the same.
elle est bien votre vidéo, elle date quand même de 2010, mais je dirais un peu trop rapide pour quelqu'un qui débute dans le blue grass.
si vous avez écrit en bas de l'écran les numéro des cordes avec la correspondance des doigt ça aurait été magnifique. Merci quand même.
+Adn p14 Tevest Try it again. I added annotations. Must look at it on a computer... they will not show up on tablets or phones.
Merci beaucoup, c'est intéressant.
fred kelly speed pick thumb pik is best
It's the same as anything else. You want to learn to dog-paddle -- easy. Become an olympic swimmer? Difficult. Ride a bike? Easy. Compete in the Tour De France? Difficult. All depends on how far you want to take it. The farther you take it, the harder it gets. Learn some rolls and chords on banjo? Not too hard. Play like Earl or JD? Very difficult and demanding.
cambiar la foto