Lesson #043, Rhythm and Counting VI

Hi All,

In this lesson we are going to talk about the all important 1/8 note or eighth note. In playing the Bluegrass Banjo ..... you will be playing the 1/8 note the most. The Banjo in Bluegrass is a very busy instrument, there are a lot of notes happening in one measure. So to fit all of these 1/8 notes into one measure, we have to cut the measure, or the pie, into 8 evenly sliced pieces.

We still have to work with the 4 beats in 4/4 time. So lets count to four again.... only this time we are going to count like this......1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. We still have our 4 beats..... 1 2 3 4.... we just need to squeeze 4 more notes in between those numbers to make up our 8... Those notes are going to be played on the.......and.

Try using the forward/backward roll now over the guitar track. Remember if we want to fit all of the 1/8th note into one measure... we have to play eight notes per measure!

Now... our foot is going to go up and down the same as before. But to fit the 8 notes into this 4/4 time, we have to play two notes every time our foot hits the floor and comes off the floor....all nice and even. Just like our evenly sliced HUCKLEBERRY PIE!

Man I'm getting hungry, seeya next time everyone.

David