Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Banjo Backup for non-Bluegrass Songs

#1

Attended my first cabin camp in Kilgore a couple of weeks ago. Lots of fun and very nice folks.
I play in a neighborhood music club with 2 - 3 guitars & a violin, and we mostly play rock songs from
the past & several country & western songs. I mainly pick the 1, 2 & 3 strings or vamp as backup. I wind up playing the same notes for each song, just changing the tempo & chords. It’s fun, but getting boring. If anyone could suggest different ways to play backup, I would really appreciate it. I eventually would like to play solos on some of the songs.
Here’s a sampling of our songs:
Bad Moon Rising by CCR / Amarillo by Morning / Little Red Riding Hood by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
If I were a Carpenter / Margaritaville / Sittin’ on The Dock of the Bay / Achy Breaky Heart / Tulsa Time
Happy Together by the Turtles / Bring it on Home to me by Sam Cooke

Thanks, Randy Wieland

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#2

You’re probably looking to get started with driving rolling backup. Check out this pretty versatile lesson and let me know what you think– it changed the way I thought about backup:

https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/backup-banjo-utility-rolls-banjo-intermediate

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#3

I need to revisit that lesson. My backup totally changed after watching it the first time, but I’ve clearly forgotten some of the nuggets in it.

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#4

Thanks - I’ve been watching that lesson & practicing. Still have a long way to go. I always look for videos of banjo players playing the non-blue grass songs that my club plays, but they usually are just solo players, not in a band with others. I just want to get an idea of how the banjo could be played on these songs.