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"One and two and". We've just played half of a measure. I told you this was easy.
Run through that a few times and then add in the second half of the measure.
* Pick the fourth string with your thumb. Count "three".
* Pick the second string with your index finger. Count "and".
* Pick the fifth string with your thumb. Count "four"
* Pick the first string with your index finger. Count "and"
"One and two and three and four and"
That's a full measure.
Let's play this all together:
* 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"
* Pick the fourth string with your thumb. Count "three".
* Pick the second string with your index finger. Count "and".
* Pick the fifth string with your thumb. Count "four"
* Pick the first string with your index finger. Count "and"
Play through this a few times at a nice easy pace. Be sure to count out loud and tap your foot while you pick so you can keep the rhythm smooth.
Mess around with that for a while and, when you're ready, we'll look at this roll in tablature.
What's tablature?
Tablature, "TAB" for short, is a teaching tool. If you look at the snippet of tab below you'll see the five strings of your banjo with the D or "first-string" on top and fifth or the short string on the bottom.
Numbers on a tab line tell you what string to hit and on which fret to- you guessed it- fret the string. "0" tells you to play a string open and "1" would mean to play a string at the first fret.
Sometimes below a tab you will see symbols to tell you which finger you should use to pick a string.
T = thumb I = index M = middle
That roll we just played would look like this in TAB:
|
* Pick |
the |
fourth string with your thumb. Count "three" |
. |
|
* Pick |
the |
second string with your index finger. Count |
"and". |
|
* Pick |
the |
fifth string with your thumb. Count "four" |
|
|
* Pick |
the |
first string with your index finger. Count " |
and" |
|
* |
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" |
|
* |
Pick |
the |
fourth string with your thumb. Count "three" |
. |
|
* |
Pick |
the |
second string with your index finger. Count |
"and". |
|
* |
Pick |
the |
fifth string with your thumb. Count "four" |
|
|
* |
Pick |
the |
first string with your index finger. Count " |
and" |
|
T |
= thumb |
|
I |
= index |
|
M |
= middle |