Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

I'm Becoming Confused By Terms

#1

Every discipline has it’s own jargon. Coming from a broadcasting background, I can talk comfortably about carts, stopsets, reverb, flutter & wow, db’s, remotes, spots, PM drive, backtime and hot line honeys.
No doubt carpenters have their own language, and we all know computer geeks speak something other than English.
Musicians are famous for their slang. But some musical terms are not slang.

I just finished watching Ben’s Alan Munde backup banjo discussions. In that, Alan says something to the effect “make up your own term” for whatever you call that thing you do when you make that cool sound on your banjo. Can you tell the difference between a run and a lick?

Now Ben sends around a new lesson with “chromatic” stuff. So I looked up the meaning and it sure sounds like what someone else called “pentatonic.” And now I hear about stuff called “dorian and lydian and aolian modes.”

Do any of these things have anything to do with Scruggs style? But what if I wanted to play Keith style? Is that really “melodic?” Or does melodic have more chromatic scales and fewer lydian modes? Are they mutually exclusive, or can you use Scruggs techniques with melodic?

I’m beginning to feel like the IT guy just showed up and said, “Hmmm. Looks like I need to get you a new motherboard, but first I want to do a reboot before I clone your drive since your scuzzie is not working, then we will wipe your disk.”

Que?:thinking:

It’s hard enough getting my fingers to do the right thing, but toss in the language barrier and I start to get a headache!

As a Beginner, here’s my expert opinion: I think I’ve reached the point where I know enough to realize I don’t know a darn thing!

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#2

Big post. I’ll just chip off one little nugget.

Chromatic phrases involves linking notes in the pentatonic scale (or whatever scale you are deviating from) with the “normally not used” notes in between. So while there will be a pentatonic (or major, minor or some other) scale that forms a basis for a melody, the chromatic phrases use notes not in that scale, often ascending or descending to get back to the scale notes. Here’s a simple example. You are playing in G and playing the root G chord. You are going to move to a D chord. You might hear a bass walk up that goes G B C C# D. The C# in that example is a chromatic and it’s inclusion makes the phrase a chromatic one. C# doesn’t belong in the G scale, but it used there in a very effective way to lead the ear to the D chord.

I do hope that helps, at least for that one part. There are lots of terms in music. I don’t know what many things are, but I am still learning and I’m grumpy enough to be ok with what I don’t know :slight_smile:

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#3

To me, a chromatic-scale is simply an octave of half-steps (1- fret increments). Pick your tonic key and go up (or down). Does have a cool sound when used appropriately!

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#4

Watching this thread closely @BanJoe after well over a decade I am still trying to figure out all these terms. I have to say it gets worse the more teachers you take lessons from. Let me reassure you it’s not just beginners that struggle with these terms. Perhaps those that are in the know can compile a Glossary and maybe @BanJoBen can find somewhere to park it on the website for easy access for all.

See if these lessons make clarification any easier. It didn’t work for me but hey you may have more success. BTW Kyle is a great banjo player.

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#5

Thanks for throwing one more teacher at me!:grin:
Luckily, winter’s coming on & I’ll be stuck indoors with plenty of time to think about these things. :thinking:

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#6

While I don’t totally understand your example, I do know it sounds cool to play a G7 just before playing a C chord (learned during the “Amazing Grace” lesson).

Is that kinda sorta what you mean? Emphasis on “kinda sorta.” Right now if I can get the general idea, later I can focus on the specifics.

#7

I don’t think that’s quite chromatic (in the sense of chord relationships); I think chromatic in that case would be a Bmaj chord right before the Cmaj chord.

Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but I would think of a “run” as a continuously ascending or descending phrase, while a “lick” would consist of notes that don’t exclusively ascend or descend. I assume that’s why we say “G run” on guitar and “G lick” on banjo.

Maybe not really… I mean kind of, but not necessarily as much with Scruggs-style banjo as with mandolin, for example. I always like to say that Scruggs-style is “playing a bunch of notes that aren’t in the chord but fast enough that nobody notices.” :joy:

I think blending the two styles sounds good in the right situations; for instance, a fiddle tune is a great opportunity. Melodic is not as driving/powerful as Scruggs-style, and fiddle tunes don’t require as much of the driving force of the banjo as a bluegrass song does. Couple that with the fact that it is especially important to emphasize the melody in a fiddle tune (since there’s no singing), and you have a great formula for mixing melodic and Scruggs styles.

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#8

@BanJoe

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#9

Its a reminder to me, sometimes when employing chromatic- notes to a song, that the etymology of the word “chromatic” = “color”

#10

Yes, it does help! The “big bucket” analogy made the most sense…and if I got it right, it’s like saying “Country music.” Under that umbrella I’ll find western swing, Nashville rap, Tex-Mex & bluegrass. (not that chromatic refers to any particular style of playing, but does refer to a technique.)

Thanks for your great reply. I hope the question didn’t keep you up all night. You look a little burnt!

(And this, ladies & gentlemen, is a great example of why a Gold Pick membership is worth every penny!):+1:

#11

The word sent me to the dictionary and I got this -

"## Definition of chromatic

1a : of, relating to, or giving all the tones of the [chromatic scale](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chromatic scale)

b : characterized by frequent use of accidentals"

b reminded me of “just one fret away from the right note!” :grin:

#12

You see what it is @BanJoe you start to search the web for answers to your queries and you just end up finding more things to ask questions about. These are great little winter projects when your stuck at home because the weather is pretty fowl outside.

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