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Janet Davis – Backup Banjo: Commonly Used G, C, & D Chord Patterns
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Backup Banjo: Commonly Used G, C, & D Chord Patterns.

by Janet Davis

What Is Back-Up?

A banjo player normally plays accompaniment at least 75% of the time when he is playing with a band or with another musician, or when he is singing, while only about 25% of his effort involves playing the melody of the song. Therefore, an important aspect of playing the banjo is the art of playing back-up. “BACK-UP” is simply another term for “ACCOMPANIMENT”.

Back-up played on the banjo consists essentially of a combination of two elements: CHORDS & RHYTHM. For most styles of back-up, the left hand works from chord positions, while the right hand plays specific fingering patterns. The same patterns can be used as back-up for many different songs. Which patterns are used for a specific song will be determined primarily by the tempo of the song, and by which instrument is playing the melody.

The art of playing back-up on the banjo can, in many respects, be compared to the art of building a structure with a set of blocks of various shapes and sizes. The same set of blocks can be used to build many different structures. All of the blocks might be used for one type of building, whereas only a few blocks of a specific shape might be required for another building. Certain blocks might be more useful for foundation purposes (i.e. for support), while other blocks might serve more ornamental functions. Each style of back-up contains a definite set of patterns which can be used over and over as back-up for many different songs. How the patterns are used, where they are placed in the context of the songs, when embellishment techniques are used, --all of these things work together to determine the overall effectiveness of the back-up for a specific song.

Commonly Used G, C, & D Chord Patterns.

Because the G, C, and D chords employ open strings when they are played with the deeper tones of the banjo, and because these chords are used so frequently in backup played on the banjo, several variations of the standard roll patterns have become widely used in back-up when playing each of these chords. The examples below are listed according to the chord for which they are used.

MP3 files of the above examples are available at BanjoSessions.com.
G Chords.mp3
C Chords.mp3
D Chords.mp3

Editor Note: This article is contained within Back-Up Banjo by Janet Davis available from Mel Bay Publications. Back-Up Banjo presents many different aspects of playing backup banjo in a bluegrass style.