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The Don Reno Banjo Workshop

By Jason Skinner

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The Thumb Brushing Technique

To me this is the most defining characteristic of Reno Style.  “I Know You’re Married” was the first bluegrass tune I remember catching my ear.  I didn’t even know it was a banjo.  I thought “What is that?  Is this bluegrass? That sound’s awesome!”  It is done by slightly muting the banjo by putting the side of your hand on the bridge while you brush down on the strings with the thumb.  It is usually done in conjunction with “double stops” with left hand.  “Double Stops” are two strings fretted and strummed together at same time.  A technique mandolin and guitar players both use.  The “double stops” are not always fretted with two separate fingers.  Sometimes when doing a brush style lick or break you will fret two strings by barring you finger across them.  Don used this especially when starting it out of a barred position as compared starting out in a “F” or “D” position. And it is not always brushed with just the thumb.  To get the really fast up and down licks like the ending of Don’s break on “Love Please Come Home” you have to brush down with the thumb then come back up with the first finger.  Also the amount of pressure you put on the bridge can determine the sound that you want. 

For example “I Ain’t Gonna Walk Your Dog No More” by Don Reno.  He really put pressure on the bridge to get an almost electric guitar sound out of the banjo.  Genius at work!  It sounds simple but it can be tough for some to get the hang of it.  Remember as mentioned before when figuring this stuff out most of Don’s licks are played out of a chord position.  So the notes you are looking for will probably be in or around a particular chord position.  We’ll go over some of his best brush licks. 

 

 

The Chuck Berry Lick

 

Ok here it is rock and roll on the banjo!  This was used in a lot of Reno’s instrumentals and great breaks.  Don uses variations of this in “Love Please Come Home”, “Bringing In That Georgia, and “Another Day” among others.  This is also the basis for “I Know You’re Married.”  Remember you need brush down with the thumb then come up with the first finger on some of these tunes.

 

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The Tumble Lick

 

This lick is really hard to explain.  It can be transferred to any where on the neck but we’ll use the “D” chord as an example.  It begins out of barred “D” position at the 7th fret. You don’t bar all the strings but it is based on that position.  Then it “tumbles down to a “D7” position at the first and second frets.  It is done by using a combination of pull off’s, double stops, and brushing down with the thumb and up with the 1st finger.

 

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"I Know You're Married"

 

This kick off is probably one of his most famous. It sounds very “rock and roll-ish” and it’s one of my favorites.  We will dissect it into separate parts. Again, this is where learning your neck and knowing how to go in and out of a chord comes in handy.  The licks used to create this break can be applied to many tunes in any key, but especially the key of “D”. Don had a certain knack for playing in the key of “D”.  It seems he could always count on “D” to come up with a great tune.  I almost like playing in “D” more than the key of “G” myself.  Once you get the hang of it, you’ll love it. 

 

I Know You’re Married- Part 1

 

We’ll be going from the regular lower “D” position to the higher “F” position “D” chord. As mentioned before, it is mainly all inside the chord position itself.  Timing and phrasing are the key.

 

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The last part is walk down from the bar position “D” to the lower “D” position we started with.  The first position is based out of the “D” bar position but a 7th is added.  This the same walk down position used in Reno’s Ride just moved up to the “G” barred position at the 12th fret.

 

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Getting To Know Your Neck

 

Ok, so we’ve touched on a small amount of Don’s most famous techniques.  Now we need to make it all work.  To do that you’ll have to know your banjo neck.  In this section we’ll discuss walk ups and downs from one chord position to another.  We’ll use the thumb brushing technique, rolls, and single string to do it.  As with most Reno licks and patterns the walk ups and walk downs are all based out of chord positions which are usually with in the scale of the key you’re playing.  Some of it will be full chord positions and some will be partial two string chords positions.  Let’s get to walking!

 

Walking around the neck

 

This little walk is very simple but is very important.  We’ll do this out of the key of “D”.  There are a lot of variations that can be done. I’ll show you how to do it with the brush technique and the using the thumb and first finger to walk it up.  The same notes can be used in reverse to walk down.  Don used these licks to great extent.  The second break on “I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could” and the end of his break on “Pretending” come to mind.  As with most of Reno’s licks they can be transferred any where.

 

Two finger version

 

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Thumb brush version - A special note here.  Instead of starting at the “D” chord position the brush version is usually started at the barred position.  The notes on the 2nd and 3rd strings at the barred “D” position are the same as the notes on the 1st and 2nd strings in the normal “D” chord position. Remember the “double stops” are played by barring your finger across two strings.  They are not noted using one finger on each string.  This is also part of the “tumble” lick we discussed earlier.  Basically he was tumbling through the scale of the chord by using walk down positions.  I still don’t see how Don thought of it!

You can also add another kick to these licks throwing open notes between the double stops and don’t forget to brush down with your thumb and back up with you first finger to get the faster notes.  Check out the last sound bite for the “Pretending” lick that uses these extra notes.

 

 

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Alright we’ll stick with working in “D” for now.  This time we’ll be walking up and down from “D” to “D” but on different strings.  We’ll use the 2nd and 4th strings to do the walking this time.  Sometimes the notes are “pinched” (played at the same time) with the thumb and first finger.  But it can be rolled or use two fingers to walk it like the previous “D” licks.  Don would sometimes add the open 1st string in these positions using it as a drone string.  This is very characteristic of Don’s style.  Don used this technique beautifully in “Cary Me Back To Old Virginia”, Blue Christmas”, and “Banjo Signal”.  However, using the open 1st string as a drone doesn’t work in every key.  Usually it is reserved for the keys of D, G, and sometimes C.

 

 

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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact Jason directly at

renoman22@hotmail.com

 

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