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This particular page was created 07/11/2003 and last updated 28/11/2004
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| | Ornaments are used to create variety in the music and - hopefully - make it more interesting to play and listen to. They are also used to overcome the short sustain of the banjo and make a note sound longer than what the instrument is really capable of.
TripletsIrish dance music often includes "rolls", fairly complex ornaments notated with a ~ above the note. It's often virtually impossible to play anything like fiddle or flute ornaments on a banjo, so we use a simple triplet instead: three short notes in place of a long one (usually a quarter note). It's mainly used in reels and hornpipes, but also occasionally in jigs.The triplet is usally played downstroke-upstroke-downstroke, although some musicians prefer down-down-up. It's quite tricky for beginners, partly because it's so fast but mostly because the frst note after the ornament usually is a downstroke, meaning you get two downstroke very close to each other. The most important thing is to relax your wrist and to think of the triplet as a unity rather than as three separate strokes. Imagine the pick bouncing like a ball on the string!
TremoloSince the banjo doesn't have much sustain, the way to keep a note sounding is to repeat it rapidly over and over again. This is called tremolo.
One of the most common beginner mistakes is to try to play tremolo too fast. A relatively slow relaxed tremolo actually sounds faster than a tense and uneven fast one. Just as with the triplet, the important thing is to relax and let go.
Fill in notesTremolo can be - and often is - overused. Sometimes it's better to simply repeat the sustained note slowly and rhythmically (in fourth or eight note speed). It's important to get some dynamics into the fill in notes to get them to sound good. Imagine a slowly dying echo, each repeat slighty softer and lighter than the previous one.
Grace notesThe grace note is used to emphasize a note or two separate two notes of the same pitch. On the irish banjo we usually use a grace note higher than the main note (how much higher might vary), but lower grace notes also occur.
MordentsThe mordent can be seen as a kind of "double" grace note and is used in the same places as the grace note. You hit the main note, then quickly fret the note right above (upper mordent) or below (lower mordent) before returning to the main note.If you repeat it a couple of times on the same note, it's called a trill, but that's hardly ever used on a banjo since the instrument's limited sustain makes it hard to do.
UnisonsThe unison is an "ornament" borrowed from the fiddle. It's quite simple: you play the note on an open string and on the 7th fret of the string below at the same time. Needless to say, it only works for the notes that actually are on open strings.
In irish music, unison notes are practically always combined with a slide.
SlidesThe slide is a fun ornament. You fret the note a couple of frets to low and then quickly slide the finger up to the right note.
The effect is very common on the guitar, but banjoists tend to use it less frequent, mainly because the banjo's limited sustain makes it hard to play it effectively. Combining it with a unison open string note solves that problem, though, and that's the way slides are almost always played in irish banjo music.
String bending (choking)Bending (or choking) is something everybody who plays the electric guitar knows well. Play a note and then squeeze the string sideways across the fretboard to raise the pitch. Used sparingly it can be very effective in irish banjo music. But don't overdo it unless you want your music to sound like blues or country!
ArpeggiosBroken (or "staggered") chords are mainly useful for marches, waltzes and such, although it may come handy if you play a hornpipe too.
Play the notes of a chord as an upbeat leading up to the melody note.
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