My Intro to Melodic Banjo lesson has been many years in the making. I started studying this style when Bill Keith started hitting it hard in the mid 1960's. It was a real revolution in terms of what the banjo could do in the context of the most important bluegrass band ever, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. If it was alright with Bill it sure was alright with me. Since then I 've seen it evolve into a technique that has found it's way into many different, non-bluegrass styles of music and really broadened the range of what the banjo as an instrument can play.

To me, melodic style banjo playing also can be applied to all types of bluegrass music. It's not just for modern, jazz oriented stuff. Mainly, it gives banjo players the freedom to play things that are difficult or impossible using only roll based playing. It also broadens the range of ideas we can use to create more complex and interesting music. My goal for this lesson is to introduce banjo players to melodic style playing as a way to spice up their playing.

Like my other lessons I've applied my years of teaching experience to make sure you have a complete explanation of all of the techniques taught. You won't find more comprehensive lessons available anywhere else on the Web! Here's what you'll learn:

	The G scale: rearranging notes for melodic runs.
	Combining melodic and classic licks.
	A melodic “chord” that works anywhere on the neck.
	Building left hand melodic technique.
	Using melodic style on tunes that are usually played using rolls.

The lesson is divided into 2 main sections. First comes my explanation ofe the basic mechanics of playing the G scale in melodic style taking advantage of knowing how to move the notes onto strings that can be played smoothly and fast. I demonstate this topic using licks that use various parts of the G scale and also are easy to combine with licks you already know. I finish this section with the use of a “melodic chord” that can be used anywhere on the neck and also is simple to combine with traditional role based playing.

The second half uses a series of melodic arrangements of tunes or songs that progressively illustrate common techniques used in this style. I chosen pieces that I think you will enjoy and if you work through all of them you will have a very solid base for playing almost anything in melodic style.

Here are some screens shots from the lesson:

Please email me if you have questions or requests for future lessons!