https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-chord-walking-backup-banjo
This is a truckload of a backup banjo lesson! We will: 1)Learn basic Rolls 2) Learn to walk to chords 3) Apply what we’ve learned to “Unclouded Day.”
Discuss the Banjo lesson: Banjo Chord Walking Backup
I just made up my own G to C walking backup arrangement. Let me know what you think. I really like the placement of the E note in the second measure with the square roll. I think I will use that more in the future. JoesBackup.pdf (31.6 KB)
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Good stuff, Joe! Keep it up!
Love it!
I’m really liking how this lesson makes me think about playing banjo constructively and creatively.
Being a beginner, I’m doing all I can to play Ben’s tab but his instruction eludes to a bigger picture.
The discussion of scale and chord notes, beats, timing, rolls, and etc. is all just plain awesome!
Great stuff…
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Thanks so much! I appreciate your kind words!
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I’m getting ready to join a bluegrass jam in my area. Fortunately, they start the jam for beginners and then later progress to intermediate/advanced stuff. I started learning banjo with the song/break tabs/lessons but now realize that a lot of I’ll be doing is backup like this during a jam. Is backup essentially all improvised to the chord progressions using these rolls, walkups/downs, vamping, etc.? It’s been hard to get away from exact replicas of the songs/tabs and when I mess up a roll and stumble, hard to get back on track. But if it’s essentially all improvised, I guess you can just piece together stuff and “fake it” until you get really good at it. Am I thinking about this right?
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Hey Steve! Welcome to the forum!
You’re 100% on track. Lots of folks don’t realize this when they start learning, but if you go to a bluegrass show and watch most any pro, a huge portion of what they are doing is improvised. It’s exactly like you’re thinking: improvising really is “piecing things together”. You can vamp, use a roll pattern, or add walks and licks to your heart’s content. As you do this more often (especially with other people), the process of thinking about your “next move” gets smoother and smoother. It can be a real blast, too!
Let us know how your jam goes! Playing with others is one of the best things you can do to get better as a musician. I’ve been around first-timers in jams several times and they almost always love it.
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Is there a thought process, other than personal preference, as to why the walk from one chord to the next chord option was chosen to be used where it was opposed to using a different option?
Hi @toddsneed903 Todd 
to @BanjoBen 's Forum. I think I am going to leave it to Ben to respond to this. I too should be interested to hear what he has to say on this topic.
Howdy @toddsneed903!
Great question, and it’s totally up to you and what you want to hear. These are just ideas, but no rules. Sometimes I prefer to go directly to a chord without leading, but most of the time I like to lead the ear to the next change.
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