Discuss the Banjo lesson: Amazing Grace Build-a-Break

[david8hunt]

Hi Ben,

I just want to express my gratitude for your teaching. Your lessons have been incredibly valuable to me and I have been working may way through your beginners track, sometimes cheating by forging ahead with some intermediate songs, while not proficient, just reading them through is beneficial.

With Amazing Grace, I found myself briefly struggling with measure 25 in solo 2 and measures 41 and 42 in solo 3.

I had to pause and carefully examine your fingerings. It appears that you transitioned slightly from the first position to the second position on the fretboard.

Could you clarify if you’re shifting from the first position to the second position in terms of fingering? Or are you stretching your fingers to reach fret 4 from position 1.

It may sound silly, idn, but playing up the fretboard may not always mean playing up at frets 5, 7, 12, it be a simple as moving up a ½ step to keep fingering in order.

Anyway your insights and guidance are greatly appreciated. Thank you for helping me navigate these musical challenges.

Kindly,
David

[Mike_R]

Hi David,
What is the time(s) in the video that you are looking at?
Thanks,
Mike

[david8hunt]

hi Mike, thanks for the reply.
Using the preview video as the source, it appears Banjo Ben moves into the second position at roughly the 41 second mark, and in solo 3, at the 108 second mark, both involving the D, then after about 3 seconds in both solos, he moves back into position 1 (G)
kindly,
David

[Archie]

Hi @david8hunt David I think I know what your asking. The angle of @BanjoBen 's hand kinda hides what he is doing. He is forming a partial D chord with his Index finger in the 3rd string second fret, and his ring finger on the 4th string forth fret. check the TAB for his picking pattern. There is nothing difficult in what Ben is doing. Sometimes he may place his index finger down first followed by his ring finger, other times he may place both fingers down together. Practice fretting the strings without playing. Get that fixed in your memory and you should have no problems. Your going to come across the partial chord in hundreds of tunes so it’s important to get it right now. Like riding a bike once you know how everything falls into place.

[sejman]

This was such a great lesson for me now that I’m playing in a beginner-friendly jam session. It validates the approach I’ve been forced into on the songs that are called. Since I have no experience with most of the songs, when the break comes around to me, I focus first on just picking out the melody (best I can) and then just start to filling in some pinches, partial rolls, etc. when I have a little time - exactly like this lesson. I can see with practice and more licks under my belt, I’ll start sounding more like a banjo player! Knowing that there no “right” roll or fill, etc. is also a key thing for me. Now I see that you can really inject your own stylistic flair - make it more bluesy, or focus on walking the bass around. I put in some chromatic walk-downs in this song because it’s slow enough to fit more notes in, for instance. Fun!

[steveregan805]

HOw long should i keep practicing this module?

[Archie]

Hi @steveregan805 Steve, These lessons are about learning and developing skills, work through them at your own pace. There is no set time for working on a module. When your ready to move on take on the next challenge you can always come back and revise any lesson. It’s beneficial to record yourself, upload the video to your YouTube Channel and post the link on the Forum under the category Video Swap. @BanjoBen will provide you with feedback.

[BanjoBen]

Hey @steveregan805!

I say work on it until the melody & concepts/skills are internalized–memorization of the tab is not required.

What I’d do now, after working on it for a while, is play along with the PickAlong version of the song. But don’t use the tab! Just play along and try to incorporate as much as you can bring over from the solo lesson you’ve worked on.

Here’s the pickalong: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/pick-along-amazing-grace-beginner

[steveregan805]

awesome thanks for the responce Ben. I took up the banjo in Nov 2022 but have been playing guitar for well over 40 yrs. I am 54, 52 when I started the banjo so i have lots of ground to cover.
I live in a very rural area of Ontario, Canada and there are a handful of banjo players around but no teachers so I have just been navigating myself through the famous Earl Scruggs book and the odd youtube freebee lessonbut always wanted to join your wonderful community youve developed.

So I have Cripple Creek and Fgy Mtn Brkdn memorized 100% but want to learn to be able to wing it at jams.

I hope to attend one of your camps in the not to distant future.

Steve Regan

[aacbugle]

Hello Everyone!
I’ve been on this website for a few years now and absolutely love it. I’m a sophmore in Highshcool and am taking a class where I get to practice my banjo the whole time. The class is around 50 minutes and its 4 days a week. I want to be able to get the most out the time I have and was wondering if you have any ideas on how I should go about practicing. Should I work on 2 lessons every week? Should I work on a song for 2 days and then work on a lesson about banjo skills for the other 2 days? I was wondering if you guys had any ideas. Thanks!

[Archie]

Hi @aacbugle Arron, It’s difficult to offer detailed advice when we don’t know the skill level your starting from. @BanjoBen has created the beginners learning path which sets out certain fundamental skills that students need to acquire in order that they can progress and develop their banjo skills. Once you have those fundamentals down pat you should be able to make steady progress developing your skills, knowledge and speed as you progress through the intermediate and advanced skills sections. Ben hasn’t set any time limits or goals, it’s pretty much down to each student to work through the lessons at their own pace. Earlier this year Ben recorded a series of lessons aimed at students seeking advice how to set out practice goals see link below. Hopefully this will provide you with the help and guidance you seek. If you have any further questions don’t hesitate to ask but be sure to create a NEW post. This discussion is about the Amazing Grace Lesson.

https://banjobenclark.com/courses/the-theory-of-practice?from_track=beginner-banjo

[BanjoBen]

What a cool class, @aacbugle! I recommend you take the Theory of Practice course and determine a plan from what I teach there…reach out for help! Like Archie suggested, you can start a new thread in the banjo category where we can pitch in and help you.

[aacbugle]

Awesome, thank you guys. And I love this lesson. I like how you said it doesn’t matter what rolls you use just as long as the notes haven’t already been taken! That answers a lot of my questions. All of these lessons are so amazing and have made banjo playing so fun! Thank you guys for all the work you put into this website!