The Dillard Roll

ByJody
banjo players right hand with picks on

Today I want to talk about what I call the “Dillard Roll.” I call it this because it was a roll used a good bit by Doug Dillard. You can hear it in the famous bluegrass song “Dooley” in the Andy Griffith show.

There aren’t many well-known banjo rolls that start on the first string.  This roll works great when you have a melody on the first string.

The Doug Dillard Roll

The basic roll is done as follows:

1 2 1 5    1 2 1 5

If we look at the fingers alone, we see they are

Middle-Index-Middle-Thumb.

These fingers can then be transferred to any set of strings.

Let’s try this:

1 3 1 5     1 3 1 5

 

banjo roll in tab, all open strings, 1315

I will use this roll in conjunction with sixths and move them around a bit over a G chord like this:

two measures of a G chord using a dillard roll, banjo tab

Using the Dillard roll with sixths gives you a bit more of a modern sound.  Perhaps something like you’d hear Scott Vestal or Bela Fleck play.

As always, if you need private one-on-one instruction for banjo, I teach anywhere in the world online via ZOOM.  Contact me and I’ll help you out!

Looking to try some new banjo strings? These are what I run on all of my bluegrass banjos.  To purchase from Amazon, click on the link (I’m an affiliate and earn a commission on anything purchased via this link):

 

GHS PF145 banjo string package
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Professional musician and educator of 27 years. I've played Banjo and Acoustic Guitar on the stages of Carnegie Hall, The Grand Ole Opry, and The Ryman Auditorium. 4X winner of the Georgia State banjo and flatpick guitar competitions. My banjo playing was featured in the "A Waltons Thanksgiving" movie.

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