I love playing a busy backup and do not stay off the one chord. I do variations on rolls, slides, hammers, chokes, go up and down the neck The one thing I do that keeps it from being distracting is: I stay in the background, the notes are there, but they don't interfere or get in the way of the lead picker/singer.

That is a very interesting thought. Certainly will make one think outside the box

Maybe someone can post a clip of Mr. Cory playing busy back up in a band situation without the root note in each chord so that responders can listen to what exactly is going on and what he means.

Such as, how is "busy" different from just a rolling back-up -- versus chunking along with chords.

That's sounds like too much thinking for me.

Not sure what avoiding the root notes does but I always try not to play the same note as the vocalist. It competes, rather than supports the singer.

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Originally posted by kayakeradam

. . . he avoids playing the 1 note in the chord.

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I'd sure like to know what he plays against a G chord. Does he stop using the 5th string?

I'm going to have search out this discussion, because it seems to me someone is perhaps misunderstanding or misinterpreting what Cory might have said or meant.

Alecsorensen13 Alex Z

If you want to hear a busy (but beautiful) backup, listen to J. D. Crowe. I love his busy backups and they never interfere with the lead picker/singer.

I've always tried to imitate what he does. Never be as good, but I have fun trying.

Sounds like what he may be getting as it to maintain tension throughout the backup. If you keep the one note present in the roll, the backup always feels resolved and safe. Whereas, if you avoid the one, you can keep things interesting and always pulling to the one, but not landing on it until it feels satisfying to you. 

Just a guess - along with what Laurence said, it's a good idea to avoid the melody/same note as the vocalist, this could make for some more interesting backup. There's a time and place for everything of course

The ultimate banjo player when it came to backup was Sonny Osborne. He borrowed licks from the pedal steel and who knows what else, but he made it work like no one else could. His improvisation in the background always had a strong presence, but it didn't interfere with the lead singing. I heard him say in an interview that he never played the same thing twice except when he was recording.

It was my comment about talking to Cory after his show in Decatur

To clarify (as well as I can remember), I was referring to his up the neck backup mostly. Cory had some great, moving up the neck backup that was interesting in itself and also didn't draw the ear too much.

When I asked him how he accomplishes that he said someone (I can't remember who) gave him a tip about avoiding the 1 note in the chord because it's less distracting. He said he worked a long time on it.

I looked for an example of what I was talking about on YouTube but didn't find one. He might have been improvising and trying more things in the live show

Thanks for the information.

Am going to have to hear this -- "avoiding the root note of chords in busy back-up up the neck" -- to understand what is going on and what is meant.  And, to assess what effect it has or does not have on the other instruments/voices.

It  appears that the original poster may not have yet heard an example yet.

We'll all know more when we hear an example from Mr. Cory.

Busy/distracting is a somewhat ambiguous term in this context...Dropping the root (and sometimes the 5th) is common practice in jazz piano/guitar comping as it contributes nothing to the identity of the chord and just makes things sound thicker. In a bluegrass context I would assume the same but less extreme, just avoiding overlapping too much with the vocalist and other instrumentalists. But I too would be interested in hearing a specific example.

I'm not familiar with Cory Walker, so today I listened to (or re-listened to) his episode of Keith Biliks' Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast. It's from December 2021, so maybe I heard it already but forget. An hour well-spent. Highly recommended.

He's a very interesting guy to listen to. Thoughtful insights into banjo playing and music in general. And I love hearing players' stories.  He started playing at seven! He plays a range of styles, seeing as his biggest influences were (are?) Earl Scruggs and Bela Fleck. 

Now to seek out some of his playing.

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Originally posted by banjoboyd

Busy/distracting is a somewhat ambiguous term in this context...Dropping the root (and sometimes the 5th) is common practice in jazz piano/guitar comping as it contributes nothing to the identity of the chord and just makes things sound thicker. In a bluegrass context I would assume the same but less extreme, just avoiding overlapping too much with the vocalist and other instrumentalists. But I too would be interested in hearing a specific example.

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My thought is might be about role of the instrument.

Rhythm accompaniment, often described or think of triad chord blocks... often with the root/fifth on bottom playing big role defining chord. As in typical role of BG guitar/bass accompaniment.

To go beyond that, expanding the harmonic space; or opening voicing/range options; giving color and movement. In that role, and given consideration in pragmatic limitation of fingering, number of strings, tuning, something has to drop. If in context of playing in group; the above basic triad acc. already covered by role of another instruments, the bass or guitar. Thus in this other role, root/fifth (esp on bottom) can be less important notes to need to get in, so can be dropped. I wouldn't describe as about need purposely avoiding all instances, in all octaves... just more opening up possibilities.

Should add, basic triad notes (root/fifth/third) can sometimes also just be contextually implied/expected; by melody or other chords, where sits in progression.

I'm not sure if this is what OP is referring?