Do you know the 3 chord forms?
Any good banjo player that you can name can be said to “know his or her neck well”. The sooner you develop an intimate working knowledge of the neck the better. But there are so many directions you can go in, and so much to know, that it can feel overwhelming to think about getting it all learned.
The good news
You don’t have to learn everything all at once. In fact, with the banjo, you can begin using it after getting a few basics under your belt. This is one heck of a fun instrument, and if you’ve been shown some basics by another competent picker, then you can start enjoying some jam sessions or social picking parties fairly early on.
Banjo chords: learn ‘em, live ‘em, love ‘em
Playing Scruggs style bluegrass banjo centers around knowing your banjo chords. Chords factor in very very heavily. On the 5 string bluegrass banjo, there are only 3 ways, or shapes, for making major chords. I have included a chart below which shows those shapes. You should be sure that you are very comfortable with these chord shapes and that you can make them effortlessly.
The D-form shape is usually a tough one for most beginner’s left hands. You’ll probably find the F-form shape easier. The D-form shape is more easily made up-the-neck, so I suggest trying your hand at making this shape at around the 10th-15th fret or somewhere thereabouts.
A little exercise for switching between chord forms
Find your favorite place up the neck to make the D-form shape, then practice switching from the D-form to the F-form without moving. For instance, if you are making the D-form shape at the 12th fret, stay right there and switch to the F-form shape while still at the 12th fret. Go back and forth a couple of hundred times, switching shapes. Drive those chord shapes into the muscle memory of the left arm: D-form, then F-form, then D-form, then F-form, then….you get the idea. Do this often, and do it many times. Perhaps even give a soft little strum of the strings with each chord: D-form (strum) F-form (strum) D-form (strum) F-form (strum) etc. If any of your strings are unclear/buzzy/rattly/etc. with either of the chord shapes, you know that you need to work extra hard on that chord shape.
The 3 chord forms on the 5 string banjo
Chords are an important part of Scruggs style bluegrass banjo
Notice the labels next to each of the dots? These are finger tip initials. i=index, m=middle, p=pinky, r=ring. With the bar form, that’s not 4 fingertips. Just lay one finger across all the strings.
Stay tuned for part 2
I’m going to walk you through all the positions for the key of G using a 5 part series on this blog, culminating in a great exercise I made up to help you drill all of your G, C, and D positions. Keep an eye on My Banjo Life, and in fact, if you would like to be notified automatically when the next blog post is out, fill in your email address in the form below to receive an email notification the day after I post any new entries.
Show Banjo Paul some comment love!
I‘d love to know what you think. Do you have any issues with chords? What kinds of challenges are you running up against when it comes to learning the 5 string bluegrass banjo? I’d love to know your thoughts, your struggles, your tips and your suggestions. Please consider creating a username and password using the sign-in form below, then leaving some comments about what you’ve read here. I and my blog readers can learn a lot from the comments you leave, or I might be able to help with a struggle you may be having.
Thanks so much, and as I always say: pick ‘em if ya got ‘em!
Banjo paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
www.banjosrule.com (main site)
www.mybanjolife.com (blog)
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Just wanted to inject a bit of “clarification” about Part 1 of the 5-part beginner banjo series.
First point, when you talk about there being “three ways” to make “whole chords”, the three ways you show pertain to the forming of “Major Chords”. There are, as well, three seperate finger patterns/Chord patterns for forming “Minor Chords”, which are also “whole chords”, they’re just not Major Chords. Hope I’m not getting too far ahead of you. I assume you’ll be moving into Minor Chords in the future.
Second point, I disagree with the statement pertaining to a “D-shaped Chord”, sometimes called a “Second Position Chord”, as being “a tough one”. Neither do I believe a beginner will find an “F-shaped Chord”, sometimes called a “First Position Chord”, to be any easier.
Actually, I’ve always felt it to be “defeatist” for a beginner to think of anything as being “hard” or “difficult”. Some efforts may come easier than others, but everything does require effort to perform.
Music is a game you play against yourself in your own mind. It’s not a contest of you against the instrument. It’s a contest about overcoming your own mental blocks. Always remember that.
So, don’t throw up any extra mental blocks to hinder your progress. Trying not to consider something as being “difficult” or “hard” will go a long way towards helping you overcome any mental obstacles you have about performing any certain procedure.
Rather, think in terms of “familiarity”. Some things are merely unfamiliar to you. As you become more and more familiar with any certain process, it will become a natural extension of your abilities.
Therefore, a D-Position Chord (Second Position) is no more difficult to perform than is an F-Position Chord (First Position) or even a “Barred Chord”. It’s only different…and different is good…different is progress.
-Jesse
Hi Jesse,
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback. I appreciate the back-and-forth with my readers, and I’m glad you commented. It’s especially nice having a world-class picker like yourself paying attention to my stuff. For anyone viewing these comments who might not know it, Jesse Taylor is a phenomenal banjo picker, formerly of Foxtail Grass. If you ever get the chance to pick with him, don’t turn it down. You’ll learn a ton. So…let me chime in on your comments Jesse:
First of all, I have no idea why I used the word “whole” chords in the text previously. I fully meant to say “major”. I never caught my mistake, even in the editing process, so thanks for that. (Admin. note: In case you read the text and can’t figure out what we’re talking about, I already edited the text. The word “whole” was changed to “major”.)
And lastly Jesse: your optimism and advice about not putting up road blocks to beginners is important advice and well taken. However…as a 15+ year teacher of the banjo, I throw in the statement that someone might find the D-form shape hard because in reality, most or all of my students have found the D-form shape hard. I have actually had people quit taking banjo lessons over that chord. I have been able to observe that every single one of my students, BAR NONE, can make the F-form shape much easier than the D-form shape. The D-form shape is one that you definitely have to condition yourself for and work into. If you personally didn’t find it hard then that’s wonderful and I can introduce you to 4 or 5 dozen people who are extremely envious of you…including me! I simply could not make that shape smoothly or quickly for many weeks when I first started.
I think that when people read through my stuff they will find lots of optimism and encouragement, whether it be these blog posts or over on my main websites. I think people can and should do this thing called “banjo”! No doubt about it. If you work at it, you will get it, even if something like the D-form shape is hard. I also think that people value my willingness to give them the straight story on things. I’ll be direct, I’ll alert you to things that people have found tough in the past, but I’ll also give you tips and advice on how to deal with those things. (I even put together a whole lesson on this D-form shape over at http://www.banjosrule.com.)
Thanks for being there and keeping me honest Jesse. I look forward to seeing more comments in the future. Take care and pick ‘em if ya got ‘em!
Banjo Paul
[...] in Beginner tips, Miscellaneous, Multi-part series Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.Powered by WP Greet Box(Admin note: this is part 2 of a 5 part series on chords. To start at the beginning of the series, click here) [...]