He is one of my favorite humans, and I’m so thankful to have him teach with me. Thanks!
Discuss the Banjo lesson: Fretboard Geography- Part 5
He is one of my favorite humans, and I’m so thankful to have him teach with me. Thanks!
What a great series of lessons! Lots learned. I’m really interested in learning tasteful backup and your and Alan’s videos has really helped. Also they help to get comfortable with the fretboard. I’m only about half way through the beginner series, but jumping ahead to watch this series of lessons has really paid off.
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I LOVE to hear that!
Ben: My 3rd (or more) time thru this , still dissecting. I watched Mr. K music theory lesson and this is directly related. Seems AM is working the chord scale in the key of G? G, Am, Bm, C,D, Em, Fd ,G. Finding parts this pattern in a lot of songs. Mr. K explanation helped. Fd is a trick, I am not seeing it too much. Back to practicing.
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Mr G…not K
Cool! It’s actually an F# diminished, for the record. Keep going!
This stuff is a game changer. I’ve been playing since 2003 and learned a bunch of songs but never really understood any of what i was playing i guess. Learned everything by memorizing and practicing the notes but could never do anything outside of what i memorized. even backup is/was mostly my lead break played quietly or random licks to fit the chords. Sad, I know. A parrot not a musician.
Just saw this (Munde has always been in my top 3 favs with Earl and Dillard) the other day and started working the first exercises walking up and down the chord progressions in G. So cool. Then i switched my backing track to the key of A and was able to play the progressions in A without a capo. Finding this information is going to make a heck of a difference to me!
Banjo was my 1st instrument at age 35. I can’t read music, I barely understand theory, I can’t improvise anything outside of GCD but finally something makes sense. I can see so many possibilities with this. I’m going to get this stuff down and see where it takes me. This block of instruction is a treasure.
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Hi @lefty5string Welcome to @BanjoBen 's Forum
Yes there’s lots of great lessons here that will advance your knowledge of music theory as well as playing banjo. This is not like other websites that teach banjo. This site could best be described as the encyclopedia of banjo playing.
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Hey Mike! Welcome to the board!
These fret board geography lessons are really popular just for the reasons you mentioned. If you haven’t already, check out the Waypoints lesson to take it to the next level.
https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/waypoints-learning-the-banjo-neck-g-chord-banjo-intermediate
https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/waypoints-learning-the-banjo-neck-c-chord-banjo-intermediate
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Thank you , will do. I became a Gold Pick member when Ben first started this but havent involved myself much in the forums. So happy I stumbled upon this fretboard stuff.
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I gotta say… as a trumpet and piano player that loves theory, this gave me a great map through the wilderness that never made sense with fretted instruments. It seems like going through the double dominants is almost a circle of fifths/fourths exercise.
It was fun to watch the both of you participate in your “mutual admiration society”. This geography series is my favorite lesson so far! Thanks Alan, Ben, and crew!
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In part 5 at 1:30, Alan is talking about playing in the key of G and then going to an A major chord, which happens in some bluegrass songs. Is he saying that you are temporarily crossing over into a different key, the key of D?
I know that when I’m playing the Old Home Place in G, the chorus goes D->G->A->D, then to verse --> G -> B7 -> C -> G
The A major chord is sort of unusual and unexpected, but sounds really cool in the chord progression. I can see how if you are crossing over into the key of D there, the A is the V chord in the key of D, which then wants to resolve to the I chord, which would be D. And then the D chord is common to both the key of G and the key of D, so it gives you a way to cross back into the key of G?
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You’ve got it mostly right, but you’re not actually changing keys when you play a chord like A- you’re just using a non-diatonic chord. B7 isn’t diatonic, and neither is F, but they still can sound good in the key of G, and using them doesn’t necessarily mean you have to change keys. (Changing keys implies a new root chord.) But yes, the A chord works very well since it’s the 5 of D 
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Thanks for the explanation. “Non-diatonic chord” - I feel like it helps me to have a name for this. This stuff is making my brain melt trying to understand it
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I will add that it’s quite interesting to try and hear the difference between chord relationships and key relationships. For instance, an E note over a C chord in the key of G. It sounds like a 6 because of the key relationship (E is the 6th note in the G major scale), but over the C chord it also sounds like a 3 because of the chord relationship (E is the 3rd note in the C major scale).
I find that listening to jazz brings this out a lot more. I think jazz players are typically more inclined to play notes in the scale of the chord they’re over rather than the major scale of the key? Either way, it sounds cool 
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Haha… you’ll get there! 
The more individual concepts you learn and understand, the easier the next concept is.
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Hi Ben, I have been a gold pick member for less than a year and am loving your site and all of the lessons so far. I am about 2/3 through the Beginner level material for Banjo, Guitar and Mandolin and am really growing as a picker/player. I skipped ahead to the Intermediate - Fretboard Geography series, and am really glad I did. It gave me a better understanding of the Banjo structure and layout. After a few days, I woke up with a better understanding of the material, and put together a one-page summary that was helpful for me.
I’m still working on the beginning material, especially to play without relying on the tab, and to play up to speed.
Thanks for your great teaching style, clear instructions and excellent video classes. Doug
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That’s a nice summary page. IMHO, I think the fretboard series was worth the cost of a lifetime membership.
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Hi @dkdomingo Douglas glad to hear your making good progress. The Fretboard Geography is a great course to expand your knowledge of the fretboard fairly quickly. Once your done with that checkout @BanjoBen 's Waypoint Lessons in G & C
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