Editing Scruggs style (section)

==Technique==
{{stack|[[Image:Tab forward.png|thumb|250px|Variant of forward roll above, shown only in tab. {{audio|Tab forward.mid|Play}}]]}}
Scruggs-style banjo is played with picks on the thumb, index, and middle fingers; the pinky and ring fingers are typically braced against the head (top) of the instrument. The [[Strings (music)|strings]] are picked rapidly in repetitive sequences or [[banjo roll|rolls]]; the same string is not typically picked twice in succession. [[Melody]] notes are interspersed among [[arpeggio]]s, and [[musical phrase]]s typically contain long series of staccato notes, often played at very rapid [[tempo]]s. The music is generally [[syncopation|syncopated]], and may have a subtle [[swung note|swing or shuffle]] feel, especially on mid-tempo numbers. The result is lively, rapid music, which lends itself both as an [[accompaniment]] to other instruments and as a solo.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

{{quote|"Scruggs-style back-up is effective for any...break when it is played with the deeper tones of the banjo... However, it is particularly effective [with]...fiddle, mandolin, and vocal breaks. The deeper tones of the banjo counter-balance the higher pitched tones of the fiddle and mandolin, and the activity of the roll patterns creates a [[counter-melody]] which enhances the effectiveness of the melody."|Janet Davis<ref name="Davis 56">Davis (2002), p.56.</ref>}}

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[[Image:Banjo rolls on G major chord.png|thumb|center|550px|Banjo, "standard roll patterns", on G major chord: {{audio|Banjo forward roll on G major chord.mid|Play forward}} (above), {{audio|Backward banjo roll on G major chord.mid|Play backward}}, {{audio|Mixed banjo roll on G major chord.mid|Play mixed}}, and {{audio|Forward-reverse banjo roll on G major chord.mid|Play forward-reverse}}.<ref name="Davis"/><ref name="Hohwald">Hohwald, Geoff (1988). ''Banjo Primer'', p.14. {{ISBN|1-893907-32-5}}. Shown without rhythm.</ref>]]

Beginning with his first recordings with [[Bill Monroe]] and His Blue Grass Boys, and later with [[Foggy Mountain Boys|Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys]], Earl Scruggs introduced a vocabulary of "[[lick (music)|lick]]s", short musical phrases that are reused in many different songs. Because these licks were widely copied (with variations) by later players, they have become one of the defining attributes of the style, and give it its characteristic sound.<ref>Adler, Thomas (1974). "Manual Formulaic Composition: Innovation in Bluegrass Banjo Styles," ''Journal of Country Music'' 5 no. 2: 55–64.</ref> These licks often contain fretting-hand embellishments such as [[legato|slides]], [[damping (music)|chokes]] ([[glissando|bends]]), [[hammer-on]]s, or plucking the strings with the fretting hand (left hand [[pizzicato]]), which add to the [[harmony|harmonic]] and [[rhythm]]ic complexity. Many licks also make use of [[blue note]]s, giving the music a [[blues]]ier feel.{{fact|date=September 2023}}