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Now what I want you to do is repeat the tap & count exercise, but this time I want you to say "and" as your foot comes up after each tap. Count, "one" as your foot hits the floor for the first time. Bring your foot back up and say, "and". Tap again and count," two". Bring your foot back up and say, "and". Keep that going until you get to four.
One and two and three and four Tap tap tap tap
Now keep repeating that a few times. Count on each tap and after four go back to "one". Try to keep the space between each tap the same.
What you have just done is tap out an eighth note rhythm in 4/4 time.
Compare the two different counts. In the first example we were counting four beats and in the second example we were counting eight beats. By adding the "and" between each tap we were changing the count to cut the quarter notes in half.
Spend a little bit of time tapping and counting the eighth note rhythm:
One and two and three and four Tap tap tap tap
In bluegrass banjo the basic picking pattern is made up of eighth notes. That, "one and two and three and four and" count is going to be the core of almost everything you do down the road. I don't mean to imply that you will only be playing eighth notes. As you gain skill down the road you will be able to alter this rhythm using any convincible note value to phrase out melody lines, but for right now you'll be sticking to an eighth note roll.
What's a roll? A roll is just banjo slang for a repeating pattern of notes. The "sound" of bluegrass banjo is really created by playing a string of eighth notes - and as you get better you'll find all kinds of ways to play that string of eighth notes. Starting out with a repeating roll just makes things easier when you are starting out.
Rather than talk about it, let's play a roll.
Go back to where we were before we started talking about rhythm. You should be sitting with your arm resting lightly on the rim or the armrest drop your hand down so that your thumb is on the fifth string, your index and middle fingers are on the first and second string and either your ring or little finger (or both) is/are resting on the head to steady your hand.
The way we are going to be picking is really simple. Your thumb is going to pick 'down' towards the floor and your index & middle fingers will be picking 'up' towards your chin.
Relax; this is going to be easy.
* Pick the third string with your thumb. Count "one".
* Pick the second string with your index finger. Count "and".
* Pick the fifth string with your thumb. Count "two"
* Pick the first string with your index finger. Count "and"