Chords for St Anne's Reel: Banjo Lesson

_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [Bm] _
_ [G] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [A] _
_ [D] _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [G] _
_ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
G'day, it's Heath here from PickingLessons [G#m].com.
In this banjo lesson we're going to take a look at Sinan's Reel, a really pretty tune
played [A] in the key of D.
We're going to play this arrangement out of standard open G tuning.
As part of this lesson we're going to run through both Part A and Part B nice and slow.
We're going to take a look at some technical work which is going to help us play the tune,
so we'll have a look at a couple of ways of playing the D major scale in standard G tuning.
We'll also have a look at some exercises that will help us play the tune including triplets,
hammer-on pull-offs and a bar position that we need for the arrangement.
And we'll also take a look at a way of backing up the tune.
Because we're in the key of [G#] D in standard tuning, sometimes the fifth string needs to
be avoided in some of our chords when we're playing back up.
So we'll take a look at all of these things as part of this lesson.
Up first [G] we're going to take a slow play through Part A.
1, _ 2, _ _ 3.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [G] _ _
_ [F#m] _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [F#m] _ _ _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _
_ [F#m] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [F#m] _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ [C#] _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
Alright, so there's the slow play through Part A.
Take a look at the fingering in both
left and right hand as you're working your way through the tune.
Okay, so up next we're going to take a look [A#] at the D major scale played in the open position.
The tune Sinandreau uses some of these scale notes and understanding where they lie on
the banjo neck is really useful for when you're trying to play tunes in D and in particular
while we're working on this one.
So let's have a slow play through the D major scale.
Open D major scale, one octave. _
1, _ [D] 2, _ 3, _ _ 4.
_ _ _ [E] _
_ [F#] _ _ [G] _ _ _ [A] _ _
[B] _ _ [C#] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [C#] _
_ [Bm] _ _ [F#m] _ _ _ [G] _ _
[F#] _ _ [E] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
_ So, as you can see, those notes are all found in the open position starting on string 4,
working our way through to string 1.
And _ [G] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ so some of those notes are definitely used in the [F#m] tune.
_ _ _ [D] The F sharp there, the low D, [Am] _ _ the A.
_ [G] _
_ [C#] _ [G] _ _ Being comfortable with the positioning of those
notes down in that open position is going to help when you're playing in the key of D.
Spend some time practicing that.
Get comfortable with it up and down. _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [E] _ [D] _ _ It's definitely going to help with your technique for your right hand, for your left hand, [E] and
for also being able to play this tune.
Alright, so finishing off this first lesson, we're going to take a look at an exercise
helping us to play the triplet hammer-on pull-off that we find a number of times in part A.
First of all, the triplet hammer-on pull-off, _ _ _ we're going to play three notes.
And those three notes are the second fret on string 4, the fourth fret on string 4,
and as we hammer-on, _ then pull-off, we get our triplet.
So if our pulse is 1, 2, 3, _ 4. _ _
Triplet, triplet.
_ So we have three notes played in the one beat, so they're quaver triplets. _
_ _ And so to play this and this technique, first of all, when we're hammering on, we need to
be quite firm with our third finger as it plants on string 3.
So we're going to pluck the second fret, and then we're going to hammer-on finger 3 there
to the fourth fret.
[F#] _ _
[G] _ So we can break this down into [G#] two parts.
We can first of all work on the hammer [F#]-on, _ _ _ _ _ and getting a nice firm placement of that
third finger in the hammer-on technique.
And make sure you're right across in the [Cm] fret, make sure your first finger's right across
to the edge of the second fret, it's going to help your third finger. _
[G#] So hammering on, _ [F#] just spend some time on that one first.
[B] Make sure you're getting a nice _ firm placement of the finger, sort of [E] instantly placed to
the string, [F#] _
so we can hear the second note sound.
The other part of this is the pull-off, and so we can practice that separately as well.
So right now you can start with finger 3 in place on fret 4, pull-off to finger 1 on fret 2.
[E] _ _
_ [Em] _ _ [F#] And when we're pulling-off, you can go up, [D#m] or [E] you can go down, whichever's [C#] comfortable,
you're going to get the same sound.
_ _ [E] _ _ So either flick your finger upwards, or flick your finger downwards.
But the real key to this is to flick the string.
Don't just lift your finger off, flick it.
So you're plucking the string with the third finger.
[Em] _ _ [E] _ So work on the hammer-on, [F#] _ _ _ _ [E] pluck the string, hammer down the third [F#] finger.
Work on the pull [C#]-off, start with both fingers on, [E] and flick the string back to fret 2 with
finger 1 there in place.
_ Once you start to get those two, try putting the two together.
So hammer-on, then pull-off. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ And then the rhythm that we need for those three notes, well the three notes need to
fall within one beat.
So that's the triplet, triplet, triplet. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ So if you're having trouble with the hammer-on, pull-off, triplet there, definitely break
[G] down into the smaller [E] sections and work on the individual parts.
Then bring it together. _
_ Sounds great?
Take your time with it, give it a go.
Head on over to www.picknlessons.com, you're going to find part 2 and 3 of this video lesson.
We're going to cover part B of the arrangement, we're also going to cover how we can back
up the tune, the fact that we're in standard tuning and we're playing in the key of D.
That can be a little [G] tricky, so we'll talk about that.
We'll also take a look at a melodic D major scale, and there are some backing tracks and
you can play along tracks there at three different tempos as well.
So head on over to www.picknlessons.com and I'll see you there. _ _