When you are learning to play a musical instrument it’s not uncommon to get burnout in your practice sessions. A friend who was learning to play banjo once said to me, “Every day I practice all the tunes I’ve learned and then I don’t know what else to play.” Much has been said and written about how to learn, including aims and objectives, programmed learning, left hand and right hand exercises, major, minor and modal scales, and so on and so forth. There is a time and place for everything, but sometimes we overlook the value of just noodling around. This term seems to have been adopted by musicians to describe experimental and throwaway licks used when you are trying just to fill in or do something different without thinking too much about it. I have read that Earl Scruggs developed his unique three-finger banjo style as a boy when he was noodling on his banjo at home. He was almost daydreaming while playing an old song called “Reuben” with his thumb and first finger. Then he suddenly realized that he had integrated his second finger into the roll and had created something new and different. Scruggs style was born and the rest is history.
By noodling around you can allow yourself to wander down the road not taken during your more intense and focused practice. It will at least provide you with some respite, variety and entertainment, and may lead you into new musical awareness of the possibilities of your instrument. You can move from known territory into the unknown. In his instruction book “Melodic Banjo” Tony Trischka gives valuable insight into experimenting in the four pages of his chapter “Improvising Melodically”. I have found his advice invaluable over the years, in relation to both banjo and mandolin playing. Tony ends the chapter as follows: “So don’t let yourself get caught up in old patterns. The possibilities are limitless, and as your technique and imagination expand, you can start exploring the depths of your own creative potential.”
Here are a few practical suggestions for noodling around. First off, make sure you know the chords for whatever you are playing. As Jethro Burns said, “If you don’t get the chords right, you might as well forget the whole thing.” So start with the chords! You are then searching for ideas for solos, fill-in licks, back up or whatever. You want something which will sound right, and hopefully good, even inspired, in relation to the chord sequence. Don’t be frightened off by this. After all, you are noodling at home, in the woodshed or wherever, ideally without an audience. If you have learned a piece from your instructor’s tablature, experiment with some variations which will fit the chords. You could add some double stops, and, on the mandolin, tremolo some of the notes, particularly on slower tunes. If you are familiar with the notes of the major scale, change some of them. Start off by introducing some flattened sevenths and thirds instead of the “regular” (natural) notes – it just means playing them one fret down. You need to listen carefully to the results of your experiments, but at least some of your output may be pleasing to your ear – so keep for future use.
You are now taking your first steps in improvising. A benefit of this, particularly in your early years of playing, is evident when you are learning a new piece and you come up against a lick which you cannot yet master, even with focused practice. A solution to get you by, particularly when you are performing for others, is to substitute something which you can play. Necessity is the mother of invention. You will find this principle invaluable in jam sessions when you are given the nod for a break on a tune which you haven’t yet learned. Providing you can follow the chords (remember Jethro’s advice), you can cope by pulling out some licks and musical ideas with which you are already familiar – and it has the merit of making you sound different from everyone else. You can borrow musical phrases from other tunes, changing them as necessary to meet your current requirements. This may not suit an old-time session where everyone is strictly following the melody, but it is very bluegrass!
A useful ‘get out of jail’ technique is to learn some bluesy patterns which can sound great against major chords. And to develop greater facility and confidence, try creating alternative breaks to songs you already know, and exploring the higher reaches of your fretboard. Learn chord sequences in different keys, and then find something to play over them. To break away from the standard I, IV and V chords so common in bluegrass, try working out with a new sequence. You could go with the ‘Alice’s Restaurant’ sequence, which is clearly demonstrated by guitar player Uncle Raggy (I love his teaching style!) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMlH0Wwdq9w And for further inspiration in how to create your own style of playing watch Uncle Raggy at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtPzr6fXy_s&index=2&list=RDdMlH0Wwdq9w
By ‘just’ noodling around you are following the right instinct in your musical development. By remembering those ideas which are successful you will be laying the foundation for being able to jam and improvise, and to develop your own distinctive style and approach to playing music.
John Baldry
May 2018
