Subject: Subject: banjo chords


Hi, My name is mark. I live in Oklahoma & recently purchased a 5 string Banjo. I am having trouble getting my fingers to hit the fret board at the same time when making a cord change. I visualize where my fingers need to go before I ever start to make the change, but still I place a finger on the lowest string first & kind of roll my hand until the others are in place. No matter how much I concentrate on trying to place them all at the same time, it just doesn't happen. Do you have any suggestions on how I can teach myself to do it the correct way?

Thanks

Mark

Greetings Mark,

Yes, this can be a challenge when first starting out...there are a few methods and exercises that may assist you in being better able to grab a chord without losing meter...if you're attempting to teach yourself, this can be an even further challenge to pursue...with a personal instructor, this hurdle is easier to jump:

1. Visualize the chord in your mind...imagine yourself playing the chord with all fingers in correct placement. This is part of developing your mind to hand coordination. And, the best thing about this exercise is that you can practice this anywhere at anytime. My suggestion would be to consider a chord progression such as G to C to D...with four beats each and then a shift to the new chord. With correct visualization, you will be reinforcing your ability to play it physically later. This exercise can be become a part of your future practice for other progressions as you advance on your banjo.

2. This exercise would involve dissecting the chord without playing it...in other words, you'll want to try playing the chord partially building up to using all fingers at once. For instance, take the C chord and play the E note only by placing the third finger on the 2nd fret of the high D string. Now, repeat this over and over without placing any other fingers. Once you're comfortable with this process, then start with the first finger on the 1st fret of the B string and place it at the same time as the third finger on the 2nd. Now, we're performing this exercise without picking any notes...you now have a partial C chord...and if you're performing this exercise correctly, you should be placing the two fingers simultaneously repeatedly...over and over until you do not even have to think about the process. Remember, in the effort of performing this exercise, you'll also want to pay close attention to the position of these fingers...of which should be as close to the fret above them as possible. This will ensure a nice clear tone when picking the chord. To finalize this exercise, we want to add the second finger on the 2nd fret of the D string. Now, we have the entire chord involved...and, we'll again want to repeat the exercise over and over until it becomes natural...you will be focusing on placing on the fingers in their respective positions simultaneously. Be careful to use the tips of your fingers and to place the fingers directly over the fingerboard as you perform this exercise. When placing these fingers, you will not be rolling your hand...you will be essentially hammering down directly above the frets...all fingers should hit their positions at relatively the same time. Now repeat this exercise with other chords within the progression you're working on...

3. After completing the above two exercises, you'll now want to apply the right hand strumming pattern. Now, keep in mind, we're not picking any notes individually yet...we only want to strum four downstrokes on each chord. This is part of establishing meter and ensures that you're not hesitating between chordal changes. Let's take the G chord progression and strum four downstrokes with each chord...moving on to the next chord after four downward strums...from G to C to D. The focus here is to achieve this exercise without any pauses...you will be keeping an even tempo counting to four on each chord evenly and slowly. The idea would be to start as slow as would be necessary to ensure that your chords are changing without any pauses. Once you feel comfortable, you can speed up the tempo accordingly to your facilitation with the chordal changes.

4. Now, the trickiest exercise of all: You now want to look away from your banjo while practicing exercise 3 above. The goal here is to become so comfortable with your chording hand that you do not even have to look at the fingerboard while making changes. Once you can accomplish this, you will be ready to apply banjo rolls to the chord progression.

Be sure to check out our Roll exercises, with the G chord progression, on the following page:
http://www.folkofthewood.com/page4548.htm

For further tips on playing chords, go to:
http://www.folkofthewood.com/page44.htm

Keep on Pickin', Mickey