Bluegrass Duets Glossary

Accent is that action which puts rhythm in your music. Remember from western movies you've seen, Native American peoples playing drums that sounded: Da da da da Da da da da. Notice if you pronounce the Das louder that the das there is a rhythm added to the chant? That same placement of ' accent ' in your three finger banjo picking or guitar and mandolin cross-picking will be heard by audiences as rhythm.

Alternating Bass with Runs Guitar Accompaniment :

A type of guitar accompaniment that uses a bass note followed by a brush of a chord, then a second bass note and a second brush of a chord.

Placing your fingers in a guitar chord position. Then pick the bass note with the same name as the chord, then follow through by brushing across the remainder of the strings. Repeat this using a second bass note and another brush of the remaining strings.

Consider guitar chord, D. After placing your fingers in a D chord, with your picking hand pick the fourth string. It will be an open D string. With a single stroke brush across the fretted ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd ) strings. Then, pick the fifth string. It will also be an open string, A. As before brush with a single stroke across the same three strings.

During any song, just before a chord change, a bass note and a brush stroke may be removed and replaced with a two bass note run that leads to the next chord. Sometimes an entire measure of alternating bass may be replaced with a four note run to the next chord. These ' Runs ' add a counter melody to the lead and add harmony to the overall work.

Vertical lines on a staff of music used to separate measures. See ' Measure ' below for more detail.

A device that clamps over the neck of a stringed instrument. Since each fret raises the pitch of the strings a half note, placing a capo behind the second fret will change a fretted C chord to the pitch of a D chord. If you were the accompaniment for a song being played in the key of D by others but you wanted the bass notes and action of a C chord, simply ' capo ' your instrument as above.

Note that between the keys of E to F and B to C there is only a half step. That is, capo one fret only to accomplish these key changes. All other key changes require a capoing of two frets.

A capoed guitar allows for shorter reaches and generally easier fretting. Especially in the beginning, one might practice and accomplish more with a guitar capoed off two frets. Later, when the capo is removed, acquired skills will be maintained.

Chart of Twenty-four ( also ' Chart of 24 ' ) :

Considering just 2/4th timing music, Scruggs style banjo requires the picking hand to play eight notes per measure. Best thought of as two groups of four notes, with the first note of each group to be played louder than the remaining three. See ' Accent ' above. This action will put rhythm in your work.

For five-string banjo the question arises, " How many four digit combinations are there of Thumb, Index and Middle, not using thumb-thumb, index-index or middle-middle ? " The Chart of 24 contains them all. If only certain entries from the Chart of 24 are used and then only in certain orders, playing with accent will be at its easiest.

This same Chart of 24 also applies to cross-picking, a style of playing the guitar and mandolin.

Cross-Picking, Cross picking :

A style of playing a guitar or mandolin that emulates that banjo sound, a delight to play and be heard by audiences. Cross-picking may be done using the Thumb, Index and Middle fingers of your picking hand as is done on a banjo.

It can also be done using a flat pick. The pick direction, down or up stroking, is very important and is completely prescribed by the Chart of 24 and implemented on the guitar and/or mandolin roll pages found in all Bluegrass Duets guitar and mandolin books.

A measure is a group of notes found between two bar-lines. For 2/4th timing music there will often be eight notes per measure.

A song is a poem. Although not always evident in some written music, each line of music will generally be four or five measures long. The entire song might be eight lines long, then it repeats itself. Viewing a song in this way shows chord progressions and musical phrasing more efficiently.

A series of four or eight notes. For 2/4th timing and using only the thumb, index and middle fingers on a five-string banjo, there are only twenty-four combinations of four note rolls. Likewise, for cross-picking across any three strings of a guitar or three sets of strings of a mandolin there are still only the same rolls.

The term ' roll ' also applies to the playing of two sets of the rolls mentioned above. This creates a series of eight notes and fills a single measure of 2/4th timing music. Sometimes the term ' lick ' is used to describe these full measure passages.

Where as standard written music tells us the pitch of the note to be played and uses treble and bass staves, tablature tells us the location of the note and uses only one staff. With tablature, where the note is written tells us the string to be played. The number itself tell us where to fret that string.

By using the six spaces of a standard music staff, the spaces above and below and the four within, one staff fits all. Guitars with their six strings would require all six spaces, with the space above the staff representing the first or lightest gauge E string. Banjo tablature would never have anything written in the space below the staff as they have no sixth string. Because mandolins have four sets of strings the inner four spaces of a standard music staff are used.

Tablature can be written two different ways, using the spaces or the lines. If the lines were used one would need four, five and six line staves to write for mandolin, banjo and guitar.

The inclusion of timing stems and measure (bar) lines brings the time honored advantages of standard written music to tablature. Adding picking-hand work, ( Thumb, Index, Middle, or down, up picking direction ), below each measure completes tablature.

It must be remembered that accent, that which bring rhythm to your work, is implied rather than expressed. That is, accent is not usually written into music unless it fall in an unexpected place. Notice with our tablature, written in two groups of four notes per measure, the first note of each group is to be played louder that the remaining three. The fundamental premise of our musical arrangements is that they are human engineered to be performed with accent.

	Glossary

	We strive to keep the glossary useful for your musical needs. Your questions may result in new definitions being included in this work. Check back frequently for any updates to the glossary. Thank you.

	Accent : Accent is that action which puts rhythm in your music. Remember from western movies you've seen, Native American peoples playing drums that sounded: Da da da da Da da da da. Notice if you pronounce the Das louder that the das there is a rhythm added to the chant? That same placement of ' accent ' in your three finger banjo picking or guitar and mandolin cross-picking will be heard by audiences as rhythm.

	Alternating Bass with Runs Guitar Accompaniment : A type of guitar accompaniment that uses a bass note followed by a brush of a chord, then a second bass note and a second brush of a chord. Placing your fingers in a guitar chord position. Then pick the bass note with the same name as the chord, then follow through by brushing across the remainder of the strings. Repeat this using a second bass note and another brush of the remaining strings. Consider guitar chord, D. After placing your fingers in a D chord, with your picking hand pick the fourth string. It will be an open D string. With a single stroke brush across the fretted ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd ) strings. Then, pick the fifth string. It will also be an open string, A. As before brush with a single stroke across the same three strings. During any song, just before a chord change, a bass note and a brush stroke may be removed and replaced with a two bass note run that leads to the next chord. Sometimes an entire measure of alternating bass may be replaced with a four note run to the next chord. These ' Runs ' add a counter melody to the lead and add harmony to the overall work.

	Bar, Bar-line : Vertical lines on a staff of music used to separate measures. See ' Measure ' below for more detail.

	Capo, Cappo : A device that clamps over the neck of a stringed instrument. Since each fret raises the pitch of the strings a half note, placing a capo behind the second fret will change a fretted C chord to the pitch of a D chord. If you were the accompaniment for a song being played in the key of D by others but you wanted the bass notes and action of a C chord, simply ' capo ' your instrument as above. Note that between the keys of E to F and B to C there is only a half step. That is, capo one fret only to accomplish these key changes. All other key changes require a capoing of two frets. A capoed guitar allows for shorter reaches and generally easier fretting. Especially in the beginning, one might practice and accomplish more with a guitar capoed off two frets. Later, when the capo is removed, acquired skills will be maintained.

	Chart of Twenty-four ( also ' Chart of 24 ' ) : Considering just 2/4th timing music, Scruggs style banjo requires the picking hand to play eight notes per measure. Best thought of as two groups of four notes, with the first note of each group to be played louder than the remaining three. See ' Accent ' above. This action will put rhythm in your work. For five-string banjo the question arises, " How many four digit combinations are there of Thumb, Index and Middle, not using thumb-thumb, index-index or middle-middle ? " The Chart of 24 contains them all. If only certain entries from the Chart of 24 are used and then only in certain orders, playing with accent will be at its easiest. This same Chart of 24 also applies to cross-picking, a style of playing the guitar and mandolin.

	Cross-Picking, Cross picking : A style of playing a guitar or mandolin that emulates that banjo sound, a delight to play and be heard by audiences. Cross-picking may be done using the Thumb, Index and Middle fingers of your picking hand as is done on a banjo. It can also be done using a flat pick. The pick direction, down or up stroking, is very important and is completely prescribed by the Chart of 24 and implemented on the guitar and/or mandolin roll pages found in all Bluegrass Duets guitar and mandolin books.

	Lick : A battery of notes one plays with a single thought. See ' Roll ' below for more detail. With practice, you envision the roll and your fingers do the work automatically and therefore, with speed.

	Measure : A measure is a group of notes found between two bar-lines. For 2/4th timing music there will often be eight notes per measure. A song is a poem. Although not always evident in some written music, each line of music will generally be four or five measures long. The entire song might be eight lines long, then it repeats itself. Viewing a song in this way shows chord progressions and musical phrasing more efficiently.

	Roll : A series of four or eight notes. For 2/4th timing and using only the thumb, index and middle fingers on a five-string banjo, there are only twenty-four combinations of four note rolls. Likewise, for cross-picking across any three strings of a guitar or three sets of strings of a mandolin there are still only the same rolls. The term ' roll ' also applies to the playing of two sets of the rolls mentioned above. This creates a series of eight notes and fills a single measure of 2/4th timing music. Sometimes the term ' lick ' is used to describe these full measure passages.

	Tablature : Where as standard written music tells us the pitch of the note to be played and uses treble and bass staves, tablature tells us the location of the note and uses only one staff. With tablature, where the note is written tells us the string to be played. The number itself tell us where to fret that string. By using the six spaces of a standard music staff, the spaces above and below and the four within, one staff fits all. Guitars with their six strings would require all six spaces, with the space above the staff representing the first or lightest gauge E string. Banjo tablature would never have anything written in the space below the staff as they have no sixth string. Because mandolins have four sets of strings the inner four spaces of a standard music staff are used. Tablature can be written two different ways, using the spaces or the lines. If the lines were used one would need four, five and six line staves to write for mandolin, banjo and guitar. The inclusion of timing stems and measure (bar) lines brings the time honored advantages of standard written music to tablature. Adding picking-hand work, ( Thumb, Index, Middle, or down, up picking direction ), below each measure completes tablature. It must be remembered that accent, that which bring rhythm to your work, is implied rather than expressed. That is, accent is not usually written into music unless it fall in an unexpected place. Notice with our tablature, written in two groups of four notes per measure, the first note of each group is to be played louder that the remaining three. The fundamental premise of our musical arrangements is that they are human engineered to be performed with accent.