Vamping Basics Beginner Banjo

[Mike]

This is the discussion topic for the lesson Vamping Basics Beginner Banjo. Please leave your comments or any questions you might have about the lesson here!

[Michael L Landau]

Mike, what is the trick to knowing which chord to vamp when in a jam session? Is the idea to watch the guitar player and see what chord they are playing in any particular song and that would tell you, as the banjo player, which chord to vamp? If that is so, then doesn’t it mean that you need to know by sight how guitar players form a C chord or an F or D chord on their instruments?
Do I have this right?

Mike Landau

[FFTrumpy]

Many bluegrass tunes share the same chord progression. Learning the various common chord progressions and being able to hear them for a song is probably the best way to stay with the jam. Following the guitar players chord shapes is a good fall back but can be tricky if they’re doing lots of runs etc.

[Author]

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