Strumming a Banjo

Video Transcript

"Though some people might disagree with me on this point, I think it's perfectly fine to strum a banjo. When you are just learning how to play it might be hard to keep up the picking patterns with other people. Especially if you are playing really fast blue grass. But there are certain things you might want to be careful of when strumming. What you don't want to do sometimes is strum on the fifth string. On an open g chord it sounds alright, but if you are playing something like an e chord which has a g sharp in it, this string is pretty dissonant against that chord. So if you are strumming away it's not going to sound very good. So I suggest keeping your hand in the locked position and just strumming with your thumb rather then using your whole hand. This way you can keep away from hitting the fifth string when it's not appropriate. Also you can interplay with the double picking and also the strumming. This sounds especially good in folk styles that aren't quite as fast as most blue grass music."