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IMO, The ability to hear a note and correlate it to the place on the banjo to find it.
Ken
The skill of learning to adapt to age limitations and learning to know what something is going to sound like before playing it.
Edited by - steve davis on 09/24/2026 05:54:16
quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaallquote:
Originally posted by ScruggsMcGeeFor the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?
Some skills to consider.
Circle of Pain? Thats a new one. Is that where my wife smacks me for buying/building a new banjo, and I skip to the fast version of the last step?
quote:
Originally posted by steve davisThe skill of learning to adapt to age limitations and learning to know what something is going to sound like before playing it.
Ooh, that sounds good. Or what if you have some stock chord or lick, that works universally? I can do it on fiddle, but my buddy ( deceased) could do this descending arpeggio that would catch the active chord on the fly. He was a genius.
Great licks are wonderful,but I'm more into surprising myself.
quote:
Originally posted by DRL777quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaallquote:
Originally posted by ScruggsMcGeeFor the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?
Some skills to consider.
Circle of Pain? Thats a new one. Is that where my wife smacks me for buying/building a new banjo, and I skip to the fast version of the last step?
I think in the back of my mind, I had a recollection of Conan and the tree of woe.
quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaallquote:
Originally posted by DRL777quote:
Originally posted by mmuussiiccaallquote:
Originally posted by ScruggsMcGeeFor the grass community - What playing skill takes the longest to develop?
Some skills to consider.
Circle of Pain? Thats a new one. Is that where my wife smacks me for buying/building a new banjo, and I skip to the fast version of the last step?
I think in the back of my mind, I had a recollection of Conan and the tree of woe.
That wood would be old enough for making banjo pots. :D Only us old wise guys would remember that Conan...the rest think it's a late night talk show host.
quote:
Originally posted by LouieCheeI’ve found the skill that has taken the longest to develop for me is the ability to improvise a break that has a clear melody in it.
In jams I’ve found it relatively easy to improvise licks over a chord structure, but it’s a lot harder to make the melody pop within the licks and rolls if I’ve never heard it or played it before.
What is the secret to being able to do that? Clear melody...
quote:
Originally posted by USAF PJquote:
Originally posted by LouieCheeI’ve found the skill that has taken the longest to develop for me is the ability to improvise a break that has a clear melody in it.
In jams I’ve found it relatively easy to improvise licks over a chord structure, but it’s a lot harder to make the melody pop within the licks and rolls if I’ve never heard it or played it before.What is the secret to being able to do that? Clear melody...
You have been asking this question for years.
ken
Just like you can think of chords as 145 think the same way for melody notes using 1234567
quote:
Originally posted by From Greylock to Bean Blossomquote:
Originally posted by USAF PJquote:
Originally posted by LouieCheeI’ve found the skill that has taken the longest to develop for me is the ability to improvise a break that has a clear melody in it.
In jams I’ve found it relatively easy to improvise licks over a chord structure, but it’s a lot harder to make the melody pop within the licks and rolls if I’ve never heard it or played it before.What is the secret to being able to do that? Clear melody...
You have been asking this question for years.
ken
You are right, it still eludes me after all these years. You have a good memory Ken.
quote:
Originally posted by USAF PJquote:
Originally posted by LouieCheeI’ve found the skill that has taken the longest to develop for me is the ability to improvise a break that has a clear melody in it.
In jams I’ve found it relatively easy to improvise licks over a chord structure, but it’s a lot harder to make the melody pop within the licks and rolls if I’ve never heard it or played it before.What is the secret to being able to do that? Clear melody...
A "quick ear" picks up the melody after hearing it played once through.
Very predictable chord progressions and melodies (like Mt. Dew or Columbus Stockade) can be "guessed at" quite successfully first time through.
I’ve gone through three 3 distinct musical phases in my life… I first started playing guitar and leaned heavily into it from about 10 through my 30’s… started playing drums in my mid 20’s and carried that through my late 30’… And most recently in my 40’s, picked up banjo…
Experience acquired in guitar and even drumming definitely helped jump start my banjo playing — but at the start, my answer to this question would have been understanding how melody syncopation fits into rolls from a listening perspective, and quite frankly attaining the dexterity required to effectively use finger picks (I was already able to play some finger style on n guitar without picks).
But over the years, dexterity issues, training my ears to hear the melody inside of complex rolls, and timing issues have slowly begun to sort themselves out (though still a work in progress). While the skill that’s managed to allude me the most is one I would’ve never expected at the outset!
GOOD TONE. Which I guess is really the culmination of many distinct qualities — not playing too aggressively, and with balanced dynamics… choosing accents wisely… how close to the bridge you choose to pick… picking with precision so as not to tap the head, or accidentally lean against the bridge, dulling tone… the angle of attack and how you pick through the strings…
On those other instruments I had played, my "tone" seemed to improve alongside my general progress learning the instrument. But on banjo, I find this aspect has very much been lagging behind for me.
Maybe it’s just me? Or the fact that some of the dexterity aspects of guitar gave me a jump start on the technical fingerings…. But I guess, no shortcuts for the development of good tone…
Edited by - TimFoster on 09/25/2026 08:07:42
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