The Blue Note

Putting the Blues into Bluegrass

Adding this note on the 3rd fret of the G string really changes the sound. It's what is known as a "Blue Note". It's a note that's not a natural part of the key. It's called that because these notes are characteristic of American Blues music.

Blues music is a huge component of Bluegrass music. Bill Monroe was heavily influenced by Arnold Schultz. Arnold was an African American miner who lived near Bill. Arthur played the fiddle and fingerstyle blues guitar.

Use your second finger for the note on the 3rd fret of the G string, but keep using your first finger for the 2nd fret of the d string.

Music Theory Warning! In music theory, notes in a scale that have a more happy sound are usually "major" and the notes with a more sad sound are known as "minor". The standard banjo tuning is a G major chord. The "happy note" is your B string. It's known as a major third. That's because it's the third note in the G major scale, which is G - A - B -C - D - E -F# - (G). That B note could be played on the 4th fret of the G string. The minor note is just one note lower than B, and it's on the third fret. It's called a B flat. Playing around with the major and minor notes in a key is a genre defining characteristic of American Blues music.

In the next lesson we'll work on a tricky Scruggs style technique.