Music Education

Learning Banjo - Frailing Backup Banjo

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Frailing Banjo Backup Patterns and Licks By Patrick Costello

The basic backup pattern I use the most is just a banjo version of the alternating bass run used by guitar players. It's the basic frailing strum played of the third and fourth strings:

The tab above is showing the fourth and third string but you can mix up the pattern anyway you want like starting off on the third string:

If you want to start using licks to emphasize phrases in songs or tunes it's a good idea to get really used to playing a run like this because it gives you something to play between the licks that wont interfere with the singer or whoever is taking a break- and the back and forth between the third and fourth strings has a nifty way of creating the illusion of motion. The folks listening "feel" the song moving- which is why this sort of thing has been used so effectively in blues and country guitar.

Here is a simple version Banks of the Ohio using this pattern. It's just the basic bump dit-ty strum but I've spaced out a couple of the measure to fit the lyrics into the flow of the song. Banks of the Ohio