Playing in the key of C out of G tuning gets some banjo players confused. It is not that hard a thing to do because you have been playing songs in C since the
beginning of this book.
That said there is one tricky side to playing in C and that is learning to use your little finger to reach some notes.
If you remember back in the chapter on licks we had a deceptively simple little piece of tablature called the “pinky lick”:
There is not a whole lot going on in a lick like this but getting your little finger into play can be tricky. In our day-to-day lives we do not use the little finger the same way that we use our ring or index fingers.
There really is no easy or fast way to strengthen your little finger. Some players have gone to extremes trying to develop “pinky power.” I used to pile big heavy books on top of my fretting hand and would try to lift them by pressing my
fingertips off a tabletop. One of the finest three finger players I have ever known told me once that he used to stick metal pipe fittings on his fingertips and do “pinky curls” like a weight lifter pumping up his biceps. Both of us can tell you from experience that these things will not work. They will, however, do some rather nasty things to your tendons.
So how do we build up some “pinky power?” Well, like I said in the first chapter on setting up your banjo, light gauge strings and a super low action are really important here. The less effort it takes to fret a clean note the easier it will be to build up your fretting hand.
Do not worry about light gauge strings not being loud enough. On a decent banjo with the right set up they can be a lot louder than heavy gauge strings.
After set up the other “secret” ingredient is practice. You will want to add a couple of licks and one or two songs to your daily practice routine and just start to slowly build up strength and flexibility in that fretting hand. Work on getting your little finger as strong and agile as your other digits.
Also start using “full” chords that use all four strings. Hopefully you have already been doing that for at least a little while. If you haven’t I suggest that you start. Make a daily routine of just running your C, F and G chords. You do not have to play a specific song. In fact it would really help your playing by ear skills if you
start experimenting with chord progressions. See what chords fit together and just have some fun exploring on your own.
Do that everyday for a few weeks and then add this lick to your practice routine:
This is a C7 lick. It starts out easy but the two hammer-on’s in the third measure can be tricky at first. Take this lick nice and slow. Give your fingers time to get used to moving like this.
If you start to feel a lot of tension in your hand or it starts to actually hurt take a break. That whole “feel the burn” routine might work for aerobics but when it comes to playing an instrument it is bad mojo.
If you take a break and it starts to hurt again right away then the odds are you need to look at your hand position. Is your thumb on that imaginary line down the center of the banjo neck? Maybe you have your elbow stuck up in the air rather than in a relaxed position. Analyze what is going on and find a way to correct it. Give yourself a few weeks to work on that lick. Then add another to your routine.
Just like the last lick this one works out of a C7 chord. The difference is the pull-
off and the single string trick in the first measure. The timing in that first measure
is two eighth notes, two quarter notes and two eighth notes.
Give yourself some time to work on that and then start experimenting with the first part of “Home Sweet Home.”
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“Home Sweet Home”
4/4 Time Key of G
This isn’t the whole tune but it is enough for your practice routine.
Once you get comfortable reaching those notes holding a C chord move it up the neck and try all of this in the key of D.
Give yourself time. If it hurts stop and see what you are doing wrong. Most of all have fun!
Playing In D
While you can get away with using a capo at the second fret and playing out of the
C position for songs in the key of D it is sometimes kind of cool to play in D
without using a capo.
If we go back to the Nashville Number System for the key of D we’ll find that the 1-4-5 progression for the key of D is D, A and G.
To play melodies in the key of D we will also need to work out our D scale:
In order to use the scale while holding the D chord (you need to hold the chord in order to keep the rhythm going) you will want to take advantage of the two open D strings in open G tuning.
If you strum the D chord with the first & fourth strings open you not only get a pretty cool drone string effect but you also have two fingers free to work the scale notes.
Now this is not a D chord but it is close enough to pass as a D chord as long as you don’t use it for more than a couple of measures in row. This also lets you get away with leaving the first or the fourth string open. This is a real advantage with a chord that uses all four strings because it opens up a lot of neat effects like hammer-on’s and pull-off’s. You also might want to try out a few of the C licks we discussed earlier in this position. Use the partial D chord as a sort of framework to keep the fingering easy.
Before we go on take a little bit of time to play some of the songs we have already gone through in G and C and use the Nashville Number System to play them in D with a simple rhythm.
The one tricky part of playing in D is the fifth string. Technically the fifth string
116 to A your open G chord will not always work and you’ll be forced to play an F position G chord at the fifth fret.
Now that works fine and it is something you should be able to do anyway but in some arrangements that open G chord really sounds cool. So if we leave the fifth string tuned to G we will have to use a lighter touch with our thumb. You may also wish to mute the fifth string with the heel of your hand occasionally. Experiment with this and use whatever sounds best to your ears.
Let’s play “Boil Them Cabbage Down” in D. I wrote out a simple version in tab. Once you get comfortable with this start adding some hammer-on’s and whatnot like we did for the key of C.
“Boil Them Cabbage Down”
4/4 Time Key of D
“Dicey Riley” is a neat old Irish song. I learned this when I was playing with a band from Belfast. It is one of the first songs I ever worked up in D. I had to figure this out on stage in front of a pretty rowdy audience so it always brings back a lot of memories.
“Dicey Riley”
4/4 Time Key of D
She walks along Fitzgibbon Street with an independent air.
And then it’s down by Summerhill where the people stop and stare She says it’s nearly half past one and it’s time I had another little one Ah the heart of the poor old Dicey Riley.
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A Part
B Part
“Wind That Shakes The Barley”