Banjo · Chapter 10 of 23

Melody Inside the Roll

In bluegrass banjo, the tune is hidden inside the rolls. Find the melody note, put it where the roll lands on the beat, and let the open strings fill in around it.

Sing “Boil Them Cabbage Down” and you sing a handful of notes: B B B B, C C, B B B B, A A… On the banjo, each of those notes becomes the first note of a roll, and the roll keeps the banjo ringing until the next melody note.

Hear the difference

First just the melody notes, as you would sing them. Then the same notes with rolls around them. Listen for the tune inside the second one.

How it works

1. Find the melody note

Which string and fret plays it? For Cabbage, the melody lives on the 2nd string (B open, C at the 1st fret) and the 3rd string (A at the 2nd fret, G open).

2. Pick it with the right finger

The finger that normally plays that string picks the melody: here the index on the 2nd string, starting a forward roll: I M T, I M T, I M.

3. Fill with the chord

The other notes of the roll come from the chord you are holding, usually the open 1st and 5th strings. They ring under the melody like a soft halo.

Because a 3-note roll doesn’t divide evenly into the beat, some melody notes land on the beat and some just after it. That syncopation is the bluegrass sound. Play the melody notes a little louder than the others, and the tune comes through.

Your first tune with rolls

Here is the whole of Boil Them Cabbage Down, with first and second endings. Turn on Loop to repeat a bar or two while you learn it, and bring the tempo down as far as you need.

Try it. Learn the tune two bars at a time: loop bars 1–2 until they flow, then 3–4, then play it all. When you can play it at 72, try it at 90. Then sing the melody while you play; it’s harder than it sounds, and it locks the tune into your fingers.

Check each one as you work through the tune.

I can find the melody note in each bar of the tab.
I play the melody notes a little louder than the roll notes.
I can play Boil Them Cabbage Down with rolls from start to finish.

Remember

Find the melody note’s string, pick it with that string’s finger, and fill the roll from the chord.
Melody notes fall on the beat or just after it; play them a little louder.
Learn tunes a few bars at a time, slowly, with the loop.