Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Worship Song Question

Howdy Gang-
I would like to begin playing along with our worship team at church and would love any help or guidance y’all could give. We are a more contemporary church when it comes to worship style and have recently started incorporating the Brandon Lake song from Elevation Church- I Know a Name. When I heard it on Sunday, it just seemed like it desperately needed a banjo in the background. Does anyone have anything they could send my way that might help me work that one up to audition to be a part of the group?

Thanks in advance!

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Here you go, bud. Maybe this will help.

https://youtu.be/VbnFtY44CoI

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That was very interesting how you broke that song down and verbalized your approach. The fact that you took the time to respond to his request for help with that song, in such a detailed way is why your lessons and this forum are heads and shoulders above anything else out there.

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Who knew you’d end up getting a master class in 6/8 banjo song building? No place like Home Sweet Home.

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Can’t thank you enough, Ben. I’m sure I will have a couple follow up questions once I get into it this evening. Really grateful.
Gig em.

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Just so I can look the proverbial gift horse in the mouth…
I had a little trouble following some of the fingerings for the three chords you talked about. It seemed like there were a couple different options mentioned. I think I figured out the variations on the c and b flat but was lost with what you mentioned on the F chord. Can you get me a bit more specifics on that particular chord?

BEGINNER Banjo Enthusiast! HA!

thanks and Gig em.

ha! All good! For the F I’d play 2nd fret on 3rd string (G string) and 1st fret on 2nd string (B). I’d leave the rest of the strings open to see how you like that. You may experiment with fretting the 3rd fret on the 1st string (high D string). if you do that, you’re simply playing the top 3 strings of a normal F chord. Never hesitate to ask!

I love this! @Shagwash_Picker if you haven’t checked this lesson yet, you may want to: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/non-bluegrass-grooves-on-banjo-banjo-intermediate

I just started sitting in with our worship team as well. The 3/4 tunes come pretty naturally, but its tough navigating out of normal 8 beat rolls for most worship songs. Does your worship team play mostly in the People’s Key or do you find a lot of tunes are played in flatted keys? Great question and great response from Ben…very helpful.