Rolling with the Metronome

Playing a Square Roll with Quarter Notes

OK, we have our metronomes or Tunefox player set to 60 BPM, have thoroughly practiced counting and clapping aloud with the metronome, and are now ready to try and play with it. The square roll, also known as the alternating thumb roll, is one of the simplest rolls on the banjo and a great vehicle to begin learning to play with accurate timing while using the metronome.

The process is going to be no different than clapping with the metronome, and you should continue to count aloud while playing this exercise. If you think you are too good to count aloud, you're not. If you have ever questioned your own timing then you should commit to counting while playing, especially when working with a basic exercise such as this.

Again, listen for a while before playing. Count aloud for several measures to make sure you are regulating your tempo accurately and consistently, then try and play with the metronome. If you get a little off beat try and catch up, or slow down. If you get a lot off beat and are lost, stop, listen, and repeat the process.

A second tier of this exercise not mentioned in the video, would be to try to play with the metronome at different volume levels. Try playing very quietly while staying in time. Aim to keep that up for 1-2 minutes. So many players struggle with controlling their dynamics and don't even realize it. Ideally we should be able to control our dynamics at any speed we play. If you can't control your dynamics at a certain speed, then it's too fast for you and there's some work to be done. Also try playing at Loud and medium volumes. You could even try to increase, or decrease your volume steadily over several rolls. This is known as crescendo, or decrescendo.

In the Tunefox players there are two measures of rest before the roll starts in the tablature. This is merely there to encourage listening and counting before you play. . Also, you may want to lower the banjo volume or raise the metronome volume all the way. Remember, you can do this in the playback tab. The metronome should be louder than you, or you should play quieter than the metronome. You need to hear it to stay in time with it! This is an important skill to develop as it directly translates to playing and staying in time with others when jamming or in a band.

In the next lesson we will learn to gain even greater control of our dynamics and rhythm by adding accents to the rolls.