By Buddy Zincone.

The problem of not knowing when to change chords comes directly from not knowing anything about chord structure. This, in my judgement, comes from learning to play from tab or by any way other than by ear.

Though I don’t do any formal teaching, I sometimes help new banjo players. I recently had a young man come to me who had learned several songs from tab, but didn’t have the slightest idea what chords he was making or when to change. I immediately told him to forget the tab and listen to CDs. I told him “when you hear a song you want to learn, determine the key, set the capo, and *vamp* until you can change the chords automatically. Then and only then start on the melody.”

In groups, you have the advantage of deciding what key to play in. So, if you use a capo, you only have to learn the chords for the keys of G major and C major and you can get all the keys. But still the advice holds: don’t try to play a break until you know the chords and have learned to ‘read’ the guitar player.

Finally, remember the motto of our band: “At least one person must know a song if we try to play it… most of the time. Happy picking,

Louis H. (Buddy) Zincone,

1730 Beaumont Drive, Greenville, NC. USA 27858.

Write to: bgrassnut@prodigy.net

Updated 23rd Jan 1999