Cap - Posted - 07/06/2026:  06:09:26

I learned this from Earl Scruggs and especially Chet Atkins. When you are working up a solo or Playing always sing the melody in your head. Play the words.. it helps with phrasing, rhythm, tempo etc.

chuckv97 - Posted - 07/06/2026:  06:49:59

True, good advice…. this one always throws me, though….

youtu.be/uZNRzc3hWvE?feature=shared

 

Old Hickory - Posted - 07/06/2026:  07:01:59

I think Earl actually said "play the syllables." Same idea. Here's a short lesson. Jim titles it "Play the Words." Oh, well.

RB3 - Posted - 07/06/2026:  07:20:24

The tricky part is choosing the best notes to go between the syllable notes.

Rich Weill - Posted - 07/06/2026:  08:00:14

quote:

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Originally posted by Old Hickory

I think Earl actually said "play the syllables." 

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Correct. There's a great discussion of this on one of the two "The Banjo According to John Hartford" DVDs. Hartford attributed it to what Earl taught him, and even tried in his playing to imitate the rising or falling inflections in the syllables within words. 

Old Hickory - Posted - 07/06/2026:  09:03:03

And Tony Trischka refers to it in his camp sessions and Artistworks lessons.

Seriously, though, "playing the syllables" is just another way of saying "playing the melody," because what is the melody of song if not the notes on which the syllables are sung?

I guess that's what's called a tautology. How do you play the melody? Play the syllables. How do you play the syllables? Play the melody. OK.

Now, while the syllables do express the melody, it doesn't take ALL the syllables to do that. I (and others) have written repeatedly here about "core" or "essential" melody: the few notes it actually takes to express a melody. In most songs with lyrics, those tend to be the first note on a chord change and perhaps first notes of other measures. Full melody happens between those, of course. But for the sake of rendering melody in three-finger banjo, you can really pare the melody down to its essense while surrounding it with other notes.

Take Nine-Pound Hammer, for exmple. The core melody might be the notes on the syllables:

Got

ham - 

lit -

heav - 

for

size

for

size.



roll

bud-

roll

slow.

can

roll

wheels

go? 

I might have added a couple in there that aren't absolutely essential, but this is the idea. Hit those notes and it will definitely sound like Nine Pound Hammer.