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Putting Melody In Your Solos

by Ned Luberecki

Here's a simple way to learn a tune beginning with the melody and then turning it into a banjo arraignment. Example 1 is the basic melody to "I'll Fly Away" played very simply (mostly on open strings) and played the way you would sing it. One note per syllable. Practice this until you can play it from memory (without looking at the tab) and you can hear the melody well enough to sing along with it. (Sing along with it too! This is excellent practice!) Tap your foot to keep the rhythm and remember to leave plenty of space in measures 5, 7, 8 and 13.

Next we'll start filling in the holes. In example 2 after each melody note, we'll insert a quick fifth then first string. The rhythm should be dah dee-dah.

In example 3 (measure 5 of the song) the melody takes a rest and we will fill the space with a forward roll. The chord also changes to "C" here, and it would be good form to hold down a "C" chord, but if you want to… I'll let you get away with just holding down the first string, second fret.

The final example is the whole arrangement of the tune. Just remember to play the melody as clearly and in the same rhythm as in the first example and practice it slowly. Try this with other easy to sing tunes. Remember you can use tunes from anywhere… TV show themes, classical music, pop tunes… Try simple songs first like "Yankee Doodle" and see if you can work one out on your own. Next time, well add some licks (slides, pull-offs and hammer-ons) and make this sound a little more like Bluegrass.

Later,
Nedski