The Banjo Roll

A banjo roll is a series of quarter and eighth notes that make up a single four beat measure. The right hand pattern is what defines the name of the roll. For instance, a common forward roll pattern is TIMTIMTM, an alternating thumb roll is TITM.

A common mistake beginners make is believing that the strings they played their first alternate roll on is what defines the roll. You can play any roll pattern on any combination of strings. To illustrate that better, for example,you could play the forward roll pattern above on the first string only, or the third and fourth strings only.

When studying and learning rolls be sure to memorize the patterns and try them on as many combinations of strings as you can create. By doing that you've created a whole vocabulary of right hand patterns that you can use for improvising and making your playing more interesting. Anytime that you spend working on your rolls and other aspects of your right hand is time well spent.

Keep on pickin'

Angie's Banjo.com