Hey everyone!!
So I'm on a quest to be able to get joy from showing up to a circle of musicians and playing along decently. I'm pretty darn competent at this point at watching a guitarist's hand position and then following along the appropriate chords with my basic clawhammer motion, throwing in hammer ons drop thumbs and what not.
What do I do when they say "Okay let's hear that banjo!" and everyone looks at me? When they do it for other people, they all go and do fancy stuff. Is the idea that if we are currently on say, a D chord, and they say "Okay let's hear that banjo!" that I should be doing fancy stuff using notes from the D scale?
Thanks y'all!
Edited by - msv133 on 08/10/2026 09:17:34
I doubt it'll help you much, but my go-to is, "Pass" accompanied by a head shake. 
On an unfamiliar tune listen closely to the full A and B parts (and notice if there's also a C part) go around once. Identify high and low parts and repeats. Then using primarily the 'motifs' or rhythm patterns lock on to the lead fiddle. In an OT session you know what key you’re in and therefore the simple chords. Focusing attention on the guitar doesn't give you enough.
The fiddle gives you the rhythmic patterns via the bowing and the shape of the melody - those two elements are your way in. The banjo has licence to play the bare bones of melody if the rhythm is there. We fill the details of melody as the tune goes around.
Edited by - EEB on 08/10/2026 10:22:17
This may help.
youtube.com/watch?v=-Hfqr8WBxuA
Learn the tunes they are playing, then you can play the tune.
Now learn the melodies. Play that.
What Rusty said.
Melody/paired down melody, and/or counterpoint. The guitar's got the chords covered.
It takes time and developing your ear.
Just like this- no guitar needed:
Can you/Do you play any tunes? G tuning? Standard C or Double-C tuning? Do you know the commonly played tunes in the jams you attend? What type of music—bluegrass or old-time? Start by learning one tune. Three good start tunes are Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark and Ground Hog. All are in G tuning (likely capoed to A). But the key is learning tunes yourself and not relying on following guitar chords.
Two approaches to cheating your way through a break that I have employed when I don't have a nice solo treatment worked out... 1) pick up enough of the melody that you can plausibly outline some of it, and add drive via double thumbing through it; 2) use the chords you've nailed down and "bluegrassify" it a bit using drop thumb roll-like structures (1-2-1-5, 1-2-3-5, 2-3-1-5, etc.).
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