https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/banjo-single-measure-backup-banjo
Singularly the best single lesson on single measure backup in the whole universe.
Discuss the Banjo lesson: Banjo Single Measure Backup
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Great lesson but I’m getting an error on the PDF and TIF files. Anyone else having problems?
Hi Tom
Both working fine for me. Try opening the file’s then save them to your HD. You will need TablEdit/TefView installed on your device to open the .tef file and Adobe Reader installed to open the PDF file
I find that happens for me when I’ve left a page on the site open for a long time (hours) before clicking on a download link. It usually resolves itself if I refresh the page.
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Yep, that worked. Thanks for the tip.
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Thank you Ben for this lesson.
This is exactly what I needed.
I mostly play guitar and have no trouble Travis picking, but I found that I was getting very confused with my banjo rolls, as I’d always trying to count my thumb to the down beat…
I knew this was very wrong for the banjo and hoped that I’d just pick up a feel for it as I changed chords.
The constantly rolling notes, to my untutored ear were baffling.
I could generated some speed but always struggled to have the confidence to know when and where to move smoothly for a chord change.
This exercise will be great for me as I will be able to just focus on a simple progression,whilst learning to vary my rolls in a predictable and tasteful way.
So thank you once again, I will work on this and try hard to find my groove!
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I am in the same situation as you and I am diligently practicing this lesson with a metronome slowly speeding it and I am getting the chord changes and timing better every day. This is just what I needed
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I finally found a banjo study that I can follow along with by ear, sight, and tab. So thankful I started taking these lessons and signed up as gold pick. The banjo square roll studies that banjo ben showed are coming to light for real. And even though I thought I was an advanced player, Going back through all these videos opened my eyes. Especially this back up study. Thankyou!
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Hi, Is there a song/standard this chord progression fits with? It would be fun to play it along with a song. 
Man, that Emin to D is eating me alive, even when trying to just get the partial chord down.
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Hi @pastorbrianboisselle Brian. Try this little exercise to train the brain.
Set aside the picking hand for now. Switch on your TV and watch the ball game. Now make the Em shape and hold that position for five minutes. Now make the D shape and hold that for five minutes. Repeat the exercise till the end of the game. From now on you should have no problem moving between the two positions.
Something else you can try in addition to Archie’s suggest is just fretting the 3rd string at the 2nd fret. Note that Ben starts his D with an open 4th string. That’s what gives him time to position his other 3 fingers on the 1, 2, and 3 strings. All you really need to do to make it sound like a D chord is move your finger from the 4th string 2nd fret of the Em chord down 1 string to the 3rd string 2nd fret. That changes your G note to an A. The B string doesn’t sound terrible in the chord, but you can skip over it if you don’t like it, or throw a finger on the 2nd string 3rd fret to make it a D as well.
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Thanks guys. It was one of those things where I did what Archie said and then also watched Ben play the measure in half speed where I realize your point Mark. The 4th string is open and those few miliseconds swutched something in my brain where my fingers go to the chord easier and I am not feeling rushed to beat the open 4th. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it does in my mind. Also, I just woke up one day the chord was easier all of a sudden.
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Yup. That’s exactly how integration works. It’s one of the reasons I like to practice before bed. It still amazes me even though I’ve experienced it countless times.
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Hi @pastorbrianboisselle Brian, Lots of beginners seem to struggle to make a D shape. It’s no more difficult than the F shape. Just switch the index and middle fingers. I have to confess I struggled with the D shape as a beginner, it was Wendy Holman an English banjo teacher living in Australia who helped me overcome my problems.
Another little exercise that will help you lay down a chord shape faster is to practice randomly placing each finger on the fretboard. What slows us down greatly is we pause to THINK about what shape to make. As we are trying to learn a tune. But by training the brain some muscle memory exercises we stop THINKING and just make the shape on auto pilot.
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I’m no expert on this stuff, but I have found that sometimes putting the instrument down for a while and then coming back to it later makes it easier to do something you have been practicing. It’s kind of weird how stuff sinks in when you are doing something else for a bit.
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That simple switch changes the entire (ergonomics?) of my fingers. I am a retired military bomb tech and while I have all my fingers, they don’t bend and work independently like they used to. Just pulling my middle finger in for the D shape flattens out my ring finger across middle G string and it is proving difficult to work around.
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