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The Melodic Style

[and a few comparisons]

The Melodic style of picking is often referred to as 'Chromatic' or 'Fiddle Scale' style and is most often linked with the name of a great player called Bill Keith, in fact, he has been credited with the creation of this style and some even refer to it as 'Keith Style' It has to be said though that others were also developing this style around the same time as Bill, some say even earlier and another great name that emerged in this style is Bobby Thompson. I won't touch on any 'Chicken or Egg' theories here because I like fried chicken and I also like my eggs fried, if you get my drift ;-) With the advent of more contempory music a lot more people are adopting this style of picking in preference to the older Scruggs style which purists deem to be the only way that bluegrass should be played. Newgrass has tempted many pickers to take the Melodic route while many others embrace both styles and blend the two together with flawless seams. It's extremely common now to hear pickers today performing a hard driving Scruggs style tune interspersed with flashy chromatic/melodic tag licks. I personally see nothing wrong in mixing the styles, letting them stand on their own or even mixing the two with other styles, such as single string or Don Reno style! I will try and adopt whatever it takes to belt out something that sounds presentable to my ear. If the objective is to play a tune note for note, say a fiddle tune, country song or even a Charlie Parker jazz lick... then the melodic approach is the best way because it's scale based and if you know your scales then you can grab all the notes wherever suits you best while following the simple rule of using right hand finger rotation, i.e. Trying to avoid using the same finger twice in a row. That sounds like I'm over simplifying the situation but it's the basic concept. To get the notes you want sometimes requires some strange rolls, strange that is, if you're moving into Keith from Scruggs style. Inside rolls are often a feature where sometimes the only way to hit a required note is on the second string with the middle finger. Another time your index finger may have to take a trip across to the 4th string. An important point here is - because each note is a melody note it has to be played correctly. There is no room for error as each note is an integral part of the tune. If you miss out a note it throws all your right hand picking patterns into disarray, if you play an incorrect note it sticks out like a sore thumb and you'll undoubtedly have to use the sore thumb as an excuse! In contrast, Scruggs style is a bit more lenient and strict adherence to the melody is not as important. This is because the style is chord based and relies on a lot of fill notes in between melody notes, so if you happen to hit a note on an adjacent string by accident - it forms part of the chord anyway and you can often get away with doing that, particularly if you're improvising. Playing in melodic style can also be very demanding on the left hand too and sometimes requires more than a few left hand gymnastics in order to grab the notes. It depends how involved a particular tune is and how many open strings can be used to effectively make the task of getting the notes a little easier. Sometimes a good sprinkling of 'Stretcheroo' finger contortions are needed in order to play certain tunes, while other answers may involve learning tunes in a different tuning, in which case new scales need to be learnt and different picking patterns. Getting a fast fiddle tune up to tempo can also take much time and practice and it usually takes a seasoned picker to play the more difficult examples. Some of the purists, while accepting the Melodic style, would never be convinced that the 'Drive' 'Dynamics' and 'Syncopation' prevalent in Scruggs style bluegrass could be achieved in the Keith style. The jury is still out! If you listen to Tony Trischka and Bill Keith performing "Blackberry Blossom" together, you'll know you've been treated to a virtuoso act. Also, listen to Allison Brown, Béla Fleck and Ron Block when they play in Melodic style..... Draw your own conclusions.

Below are the common scale picking patterns and left hand fingerings in the Key of G. first ascending and then descending. The object here is to completely familiarize yourself with these patterns. If you follow the correct left hand finger assignments and practice until you can play each scale smoothly then you can consider purchasing a fiddle tune banjo tab book or simply browse the web for some. You'll find a couple right here on my Tabs Page to start you off. If you don't like them, let me know - but if you do like them...still let me know... Have fun and practice hard!

Ascending Scale

NOTE: Circled numbers denote left hand fingering and double bar lines indicate position shifts.

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Descending Scale

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Since July 16 2003