From a guitar player beginning banjo - I just need to settle something in my mind… is it correct to say that forward rolls are always 3 notes up the scale and reverse rolls are always 3 notes down the scale? It wasn’t explicitly said in the lessons.
Banjo rolls - newbie question
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Hi @Rob_coughlin Robert
Not really sure what you are asking here. When WE as banjo players think in terms of Rolls and more specifically Roll Patterns it’s the direction of the Rolls (the picking pattern) )we focus on and not scales. Whilst some banjo players know their scales this old picker does not. My advice going forward. Don’t think like a guitar player focus on becoming a Banjo Player work through @BanjoBen 's Beginner lessons and after a while everything will begin to make sense.
Does your question relate to a lesson you are working on and if so which lesson? The reason I ask is each lesson has a dedicated forum and you have posted this query on the HELP FORUM which is for issues other than the lessons.
The question is not about scales. It’s more basic. Does a forward roll ascend musically from a lower note to a higher note? And does a reverse roll descend musically from a higher note to a lower note?
Is a forward roll 3 notes ascending?
Is a reverse roll 3 notes descending?
Maybe you never gave this much thought. I just want to settle this foundation Aly in my own mind.
Thanks
No sir, often but not always. For instance, if you start the forward roll with your thumb on the 5th string (high G note), then play your index on the 3rd string (lower G note), the pitches are descending.
I like to think of forward rolls simply in the direction of the finger pattern. In the lesson, I have you practice starting your forward rolls on each of the 3 fingers, on purpose. That’s because a forward roll is a forward roll no matter where it starts or what the actual notes are doing in the scale (ascending vs. descending). When you start playing more melodically or using up-the-neck partial chords, a forward roll will even less often be ascending.
This is a great question, @Rob
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Perfect! Thanks Ben!
Like I said and @BanjoBen concurred. When WE as banjo players think in terms of Rolls and more specifically Roll Patterns it’s the direction of the Rolls (the picking pattern) )we focus on. Roll patterns are essentially exercises that help prepare the brain to move your fingers in an automated direction. Eventually you will learn to pick out the melody with your fingers and thumb without giving any thought to the Roll Pattern you are using.
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Rob,
I do not think you can safely come to those conclusions. There is a common forward roll where your start with your thumb on the high G (fifth string) followed by a G an octive lower on the third string plucked by your index finger followed by D plucked by your middle finger on the first string. In this case, the forward roll is: High G, Low G, High D. This is a common roll. The same roll could be played backward as reverse roll and would be High D, Low G, High G.
Don’t think of rolls as going up or down the scale. Think of rolls as finger patterns. Forward rolls go from thumb to index to middle finger. But they don’t have to start with your thumb. They can be started with your middle finger or your index finger. You can safely say of a forward roll that your index is played after your thumb, and your middle finger is played after your index finger, and your thumb is played after your middle finger. And round and round you go regardless of which finger you start on.
The same can be said of a reverse roll…only in opposite fashion.