Playing By Ear II

Now let's start by picking out a melody on the banjo. We're not going to be trying to put these in a Bluegrass context yet, just play some simple children's tunes. So before you move on to the next lesson I want you to pick out Mary Had A Little Lamb. Strum the open strings and see if you can find the first note. If so go ahead and work out the complete tune. Take your time and try it on your own before reading any farther.

If you're having trouble I'll walk you through it. First try and get the tune in your head. The first note is on the open B -2nd string. Now the second note, the 'ry' in 'Mary', is that note higher or lower than the first? Try to 'play' the melody in your head and then sing it. Would you go up or down from that first note? Is it a big jump or a small one? Find that note on the banjo.

Then the 'had' in 'Mary had', is that note higher or lower than the last note? Again, is it a big jump or a small one? These 3 notes make up almost the entire song. In fact there's only one more note to find so keep going and listen for where the melody repeats itself or where it goes backwards and then go to the next lesson.