Music Lesson: Timing with "Eliza Jane"

The next song we're going to learn has an arrangement that will help you work on your timing. One of the most important things on the banjo is to have good solid timing and to understand how notes connect.

Song Overview: "Eliza Jane"

• The melody is this:
• It's going to make a lot of use of chickaboom patterns.

Key Points to Remember

There are some things to keep in mind when you play these chickabooms or when you play anything. We'll just use this as a vehicle to work on these concepts:

• Connection: You need everything to connect up.
• Finger Readiness: All your fingers have to be ready before you play the note.

One of the places people get the most stuck on the banjo is getting their thumb up to the fifth string. Often, they leave it down by the third string when other fingers play. When it's time to play, they have to jump.

The Trick

• Lift your thumb up right away.
• Make sure the other fingers are also ready.

"Lift."

Notice how I really connect those two notes. This connection happens right over the bar line too, as I mentioned before.

Variations and Endings

As a variation of this, there's also a little ending pattern that follows a very similar concept. It will end up in a measure like this, for instance, at the very end of the tune.

• At the beginning of the tune, it serves as a pickup to the beginning chickaboom right into the start.

If you play the tune several times in a row, you'll use this to connect, so the ending will also become the beginning. This is the whole idea of learning to get that timing to connect.

Practice Tips

• Lifting the Thumb: Make sure to lift your thumb up.
• Timing: Ensure you're ready to play the next thing immediately.
• Connection: Listen to that timing.

We can even try this with a short scale, which has very similar aspects to the song. It gives you a way to practice those connections while you're also moving your left hand. Remember, your left hand also has to be completely ready to play the next note.

"Or you'll be waiting exactly at the time it needs to connect the most."

Conclusion

Here's the whole song. Notice the pickup at the beginning.

Let's do a slow version:

There you have it.

Make sure you really practice the timing and the connection of those notes. Always try to connect up to your next measure.