jeromeserena - Posted - 03/17/2007:  10:41:46

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hi there i am a little confused about rolls have been practicing from one book 3251325132 (t i t m) then bought janet davis book and it is31531531 other rolls look different eg backforward reverse alternating. does it not matter ?i also note that one book tells me to pick string 3 with my thumb and janet says index finger . dont want to start off on the wrong foot(or finger as the case maybe)

dennis andrews - Posted - 03/17/2007:  11:01:18

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You should learn to do all the rolls as this will teach you to be able to use any finger on any string. Songs are made up of all kinds of rolls and non rolls. You may be playing a roll and have to break it up to pick another string outside of the basic roll to catch the melody. Practice any roll that you can think of or find in a book or anywhere else. Once you can do any roll in any order and change back and forth you will be in good shape.

GP4 Tom - Posted - 03/17/2007:  11:07:26

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quote:

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Originally posted by jeromeserena

hi there i am a little confused about rolls have been practicing from one book 3251325132 (t i t m) then bought janet davis book and it is31531531 other rolls look different eg backforward reverse alternating. does it not matter ?i also note that one book tells me to pick string 3 with my thumb and janet says index finger . dont want to start off on the wrong foot(or finger as the case maybe)

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You will find that over time you will develop a way that is comfortable for you. You could be playing backup with chord rolls (forward-reverse-alternating- combinations) and you may want to lead into the next chord of the song with certain notes/strings, which require different than normal routine. This is one of the reason you will see different approaches. Listen to how it sounds...also listen to a lot of bluegrass songs and you will start recognizing what their doing with the rolls.

It will come to you if you kept up an steady diet of learning the hundreds of licks/pinches, and rolls. Hundreds might be a sretch, but there are a bunch a of variations.

Have Fun
Tom

twhite54 - Posted - 03/17/2007:  11:43:57

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you're a banjo player...you're supposed to be confused...

"she'd her apron wrapped about her and i took her for a swan..."
that's my story and i'm stickin' to it...

"ya got time to breathe, ya got time fer music"...Briscoe Darling


ethel the wonder basset

Canuck Picker - Posted - 03/17/2007:  12:33:23

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I know what you mean about learning the rolls. I just went through that 4 months ago and nobody will give you a straight answer! Well, here's what I did and it works well for me in my weekly jam sessions. I learned ONE version of each type or roll. The names differ but essentially I learned one each of: forward roll,backward roll, forward-backward roll, alternating thumb roll,foggy mountain roll. If you take the time to REALLY learn those then add a few licks and some chords and you can play along with almost anyone!
Best of luck!

Canuck Picker

sawyer 12 - Posted - 03/17/2007:  16:52:07

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Hi Jerome, the reason the ones you posted are different is because the first one is the alternating roll and the janet davis roll is the forward roll. Sometimes the thumb picks the 3rd, 4th and of coarse the 5th and occasionally even the 2nd.

The index finger picks the 2nd, 3rd and occasionally the 4th. It all depends on how the melody is fitting the measure. Sometimes you will use your index finger because your thumb will need to pick the next note and sometimes you use your thumb because you index picks the next note. This is to keep the roll going smoothly.
The rolls will be changed around at the end of a measure using escape notes to let you start the next measure with the proper finger. You will also find tab of the same song to be different from two different players because of different styles.

david

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Edited by - sawyer 12 on 03/17/2007 16:53:47

Banjophobic - Posted - 03/18/2007:  11:22:45

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Rolls are great and a must for Scruggs style. But too much emphasis is placed on repetative roll practice. Learn how to play the basi rolls-Forward,Backward,Alternating Thumb and Reverse. But there's no need to spend an excessive amount of time JUSt playing rolls. The most neglected skill I see amonst players as they develop is learning to emphasis/locate MELODY notes. If you can find the melody ntes and then see how to incorporate them into use roll patterns, you'll be much farther ahead of the game. Playing very smooth rolls is everyones goal, but playing smooth rolls that contain correct mellody is a loftier goal. Try to get the rolls going in songs and it will make for less fatigue in practice-and more enjoyment-

John Allison - Posted - 03/19/2007:  10:58:05

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I agree with John in that the quicker you can get into locating the melody notes the better your back up and overall playing will be. But, on the other hand, the rolls have to be almost automatic to get to that point and to be almost automatic, you have to practice. The one thing that I would add is that the more rolls you have in your bag of tricks, the easier it is to get to locate those elusive notes.

Froggie