Hey Brad!
I love this topic, and I think this is the area that I’ve grown the most in over my whole experience with playing music. The banjo, especially backup, was the most evident manifestation of this. What you said at the end–
Is EXACTLY what my goal was, and I don’t want to sound prideful, but I’m “proud” to say that I’ve achieved that goal with a large amount of bluegrass material. These are sort of the things I’ve learned about how to grow in that area:
FIRST:
Never, ever tell yourself that you won’t be able do it. Progress will probably be really hard at times, and really easy at other times. Don’t let anything discourage you from learning.
So the moment when the backup sort of “clicked” for me was when I saw Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver live. I was paying close attention to the banjo player and noticed that he was using a backup roll that sounded similar to Ben’s “Utility Roll” that Tony Wray had taught. (That lesson is amazing- check it out here)
So I became more and more familiar with a version of the Utility Roll that I thought sounded simple, but really good, and realized that Scruggs-style backup, particularly down the neck, is actually waaay less complicated than I thought it was. A lot of times, less fancy licks is actually better, since you don’t want to distract the listener from the soloist or singer who’s currently in the spotlight. So it actually sounds really nice with just a few simple rolls and licks. I think most of the time I’m using a forward roll coupled with a 2-5 slide on the low D string. Every now and then, I like to throw in a reverse roll to “reset” the backup, which is usually needed when changing chords or emphasizing certain beats. Then over C, I like to transition with either a square roll landing on the low D string or a forward roll landing on the B string, sometimes with the high D string to get the E note. For D, a forward-reverse roll with the “X position” lick (I’m not exactly sure what it’s called) is usually what I play (my D chord backup is my weakest backup link).
Most, if not all, of what I’m referencing can be seen from Russ Carson’s POV vids, which are great for learning backup IMO:
(That Doin’ My Time is TOUGH to keep your backup interesting on, because it hangs on chords so long.)
Anyway, if you can become familiar with even a quarter of what Russ is doing in those vids, you’ll be in amazing shape. Learning when and where to play these licks, in my opinion at least, is something that’s better learned by listening and experimenting than by following a chart on paper.
Russ said in a Q&A video on his channel that the #1 thing that helps him improve at banjo in general is just having the instrument in your hands as much as possible. AKA becoming familiar with it, knowing what it does without having to think much about it. He also adds that playing along with recordings, click tracks, etc. are what he recommends for learning how the music behaves- it breathes, going in and out, emphasizing certain parts, etc.
Ben nailed it with his challenge above. Pick a song, even with just 1, 4, and 5 like Blue Ridge Cabin home, and apply the things you know to it. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and figuring out how to apply even limited phrases to a song is a LOT of fun!
The more you listen, the more you play while listening, the more you pick up on things is what I’ve learned. I think what makes this kind of learning so fun is that it’s the most hands-on, experimental, and subjective form of learning. Everyone plays their backup a little differently, everyone has slightly different tone, and it adds to the unique character of everyone’s playing. Once you are familiar with a certain amount of objective aspects (e.g. timing, certain phrases like the G lick, chords, etc.) the entire banjo world opens up for you to explore and play what YOU gravitate towards. It’s “choose-your-own banjo adventure”!
I can’t wait to see what people come up with for Ben’s BRCH challenge!
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