happy holidays and i hope all is well with everyone.
i am curious to know how many play their music by ear / memory / creativity, rely on sheet music / tab as “gospel” on how to play a song, (including exact fingering / pick direction), or a combo of both?
kindly,
David
Depends on the context for me!
If I’m seeking to learn someone’s specific arrangement/solo (or write one for other people), I typically like to reference a tab when it’s available/convenient.
If developing my own arrangement to just play in front of others, no music gets written on paper- just mental notes.
If someone says “hey get your instrument let’s play something” I’ll be improvising with what I already know.
It’s a good idea to balance “learning your instrument” with “learning things on your instrument,” if you will. We need to learn repertoire so we can get used to playing songs and have a platform to practice with, but we also need to practice improvising, build good technique habits and learn where our notes lie so we have things to fall back to!
I learned mostly from watching and listening by Ear to Murphy Henry DVDs until Geoff Hohwald taught me to read Banjo TAB which expanded my learning skills I committed these to Memory and play By Ear with Limited Improvisational skills.
I was taught six roll patterns as a beginner by a local teacher and committed these to memory. I learned how to interchange these roll patterns at will. I studied how these rolls were used in licks by introducing embellishments slides, pulloffs, hammer-ons bends. etc. incorporating chords and scales.
When I became a @BanjoBen my knowledge and skill level just took of at a pace.
@david8hunt David Trust Me. If you work through @BanjoBen 's beginners learning track you’ll learn all these skills and a whole lot more. Get the basics right and everything thereafter will fall into place.
Hey Michael and Archie,
Thanks for sharing your insights on how you approach learning and playing the banjo. It’s fascinating to see the different methods folks use.
Why did the forgetful banjo player bring sheet music to the gig? Because he couldn’t “pick” up where he left off without it! 
But jokes aside, I can totally relate. While I love to play by ear and get creative, sometimes I rely on sheet music as a helpful guide to keep me on track. It’s like my musical GPS, ensuring I don’t take a wrong turn during a performance.
I’m currently around 80% through Ben’s beginner track, which has been fantastic for building a strong foundation. Two lessons that really changed my learning game were “Banjo Ideal Practice Session” and “Fireball Mail - Creating Drive.”
In “Banjo Ideal Practice Session,” Ben emphasized the importance of taking those five minutes to warm up, prepare, and get your mind right. But what really caught my attention was his mention of exploring and listening to banjo music. Inspired by this, I looked down the intermediate list and stumbled upon “Fireball Mail.” To my delight, I discovered that it was the number one song from 1942 by Roy Acuff, with Scruggs doing an amazing cover. It’s fascinating how digging into the roots of a song can deepen your appreciation for it.
As for “Fireball Mail - Creating Drive,” it struck a chord with me (pun intended) on two fronts. First, the idea of reading through material, even if it’s challenging, reminds me of my daughter’s piano lessons. Her teacher insisted on playing through the entire song, mistakes and all, because it forced her to “read the material.” That approach stuck with me, and now I apply it to new banjo music. One read-through, ten times, and suddenly, it all starts to make sense.
Secondly, Ben’s guidance on identifying the melody and reinforcing primary melody notes really resonated with me. It’s like finding the key that unlocks the song’s soul. In his latest banjo session, “Away in the Manger,” for example, the first note is an open D from the top string. But changing how I play that open D to a Scruggs-style hammer-on gives it that extra flair.
Looking forward to the banjo journey ahead,
David8hunt
I found out playing by ear might give you a headache; you should probably try using a pick instead.(
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I play a lot with TAB, but try to play by ear more and improvise. My goal with playing is to mostly improvise instead of relying on TAB/ sheet music.
Okay, here’s my two cents…. Another lifetime ago (over 40 years), I was a very good saxophonist—best in the state in high school. Played in both the concert and jazz bands, but all my training was based on reading sheet music. I became very good at playing anything with virtually no practice as long as I could see the notes on a page. But I was horrible at improvising. I now realize that I linked my playing with my eyes—not my ears. I literally had highly developed neural pathways between the notes on the page and the sound I could make on the sax. As a result, I’m working very hard at minimizing my dependence on tab—only looking at passages that seem to be too confusing to sound out. Bottom line, you’ll be much better served with your fingers linked to sound than with sight.
@david8hunt, my story is similar to that of @JKL, but on trombone. There’s a solid place for both schools of thought depending on the instrument and genre of music, but for those pursuing this bluegrass learning experience, I’d lean more in the direction of Jeff’s advice. The tab on Ben’s site is awesome and helps us understand what he’s teaching, but even he encourages us to memorize and learn by ear as we learn each song. Because every musical encounter is different, ideally I’d strive to be at home in either extreme. Personally, I’m pretty weak on the playing by ear route and wish it were less so.
As a Permanent Beginner, here’s my expert advice: Keep doing what you’re doing!
This Beginner is pretty much like the rest- Tabs as a road map, but once I know the way. I use my ears to “see” where I am going.
This becomes particularly important when you get into a jam situation.
It sounds like you have Rule #1 down pat!
Use your ears as much and as often as possible, even and especially when it’s uncomfortable. I think it’s better to crash and burn a few times without tab to press you forward and break unhealthy dependencies.