My local jam always has mandolin or guitar players singing so I just don't know. Should I play my break along with singing the lyrics to a song or should I just vamp chords along with it or...?
Also curious about the structure. It sounds like a vocalist will kickoff by singing the verse and chorus and then let someone take a break and then vocalist sings another verse and chorus and then another break, etc., until vocalist runs out of lyrics. Does that sound about right?
Edited by - The Eclectic Banjo on 04/29/2025 06:44:09
Never try to play over the singer. You can do simple rolls or even vamp if a mandolin or guitar is doing some fills behind the singer. while hes singing but the real fun is putting in fill licks between the lines of a verse. Theres that small window of no singing where you can throw in something simple or fancy, punching it a bit to get more volume, then back off to what you were doing. But you have to work that out with the others so youre not competing with them. Sometimes its just eye contact.
Edited by - stanleytone on 04/29/2025 06:58:45
deleted, misunderstood op.
Edited by - banjo bill-e on 04/29/2025 06:58:35
Standard format for just about ANY tune in a jam where everyone knows their stuff would be to kick off the tune with an instrumental break--preferably with an unambiguous lead-in that enables everyone to enter on the first downbeat--just like what we hear on the recordings by our heroes.
As for playing while singing, you could chop, you could try simple rolling (though many perfectly fine players can't/won't roll while singing, or you can stop playing and focus on your singing.
Bass players and guitarists need to keep going all the time, but if you play any of the lead instruments, feel free to stop while you're singing. Earl did that routinely. Bobby Osborne would sometimes stop chopping while he was singing. And then there are fiddlers....
Singing while playing the banjo is a topic for its own. You cannot play a banjo break and sing at the same time. Treat singing like a instrument of its own. Your voice is the main instrument, banjo supports that. I often use straight forward rolls while singing.
John Boulding has a complete series on the topic:
youtu.be/coQnbpx49P4
youtu.be/WvgMxj8h50k
I sing a good bit, but I’m not very good at singing and playing. I can take a break and can kick off my own songs, Typically I either chop, letting other instruments play backup fills, or may play an alternating thumb roll or forward reverse roll lightly over the chords if no one else is playing backup fills. But most times a mandolin or fiddle will step in and play the fills, which works out great.
Tradition (rules) were established early in the game when Lester & Earl were bluegrass boys in Bill Monroe's band. Lester (on guitar) sang lead while strumming rhythm. Bill (on mandolin) sang tenor while lightly chopping chords. Earl (on banjo) sang baritone & banjo did nothing, except for maybe a short fill in lick allowing the singers to take a breath at the end of a phrase. Bass kept playing rhythm. The vocals are considered an instrument unto themselves. As such, they take president! There is no fancy picking going on while singing
Listen to early Monroe, JD Crowe, Country Gentlemen, etc. Of course, there are always exceptions. The Wreck of Old 97, for example.
If you're new at taking a break and playing banjo, start off with something simple, as has been mentioned above: vamps, rolls. You NEVER want to play your break while singing, that interferes with the song. As you get used to singing with the banjo, try adding a slide to a root note and finishing off with a roll or partial roll. And, as has already been mentioned, feel free to use hot licks at the end of a musical phrase (where the singer takes a break).
Eventually, you'll figure out a method or routine you can use on most songs, something that doesn't interfere with the singing and yet adds to the overall effect of the song. Remember to play SOFTLY, don't drown out your own voice.
I play simple background rolls whisper soft when my turn to lead a song comes up, same as I do when someone else is singing lead. As soft as I possibly can.
This isn't easy for me, because I tend to gradually play louder and louder from enthusiasm and just getting into the music. So, I work on this a lot when I practice at home, trying to curb my enthusiasm and keep my banjo playing out of the way of the singing. It's a lot of, "Whoops, there I go again," and bringing the banjo volume back down.
I've seen pros back away from the mic to bring their volume down, but in an acoustic jam, I just have to play softer. I've seen videos of Earl playing extremely soft background banjo while someone else is singing lead or playing a break. He's my inspiration.
When someone is singing I try to play loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to drown anyone else out. When someone gets a break between verses, I back off and either vamp or roll quietly along. When I get a break I go all out.
That's pretty much my safe standard approach. But the jam that I regularly attend and feel closest to is small, and most of the people there are friends and have been playing together for a long time. Some, myself included, do gigs together. Half the time someone is looking at the leader almost asking for the next break and get the nod from the leader rather than the other way around. I've taken a break and occasionally had the mandolin player come in with me on it, and I've returned the favor on occasion. But that would not be something I would do to anyone I was not familiar enough with to know they are okay with it. And one of our guitar players has trouble focusing, so when he is playing I try to really back off so as to not distract him. I try to read the room and just strive to be accomodating.
But from my experience each jam has its own dynamics and the rules are not always the same. And there may be a core group of players who read each other from their own perspective and have their own rules between them. If I'm playing with people I'm not familiar with I try to identify those core people and stay out of their way.
Edited by - BG Banjo on 04/29/2025 11:53:15
