View source for Scruggs style

{{Short description|Banjo playing style}}
{{ref-improve|date=May 2016}}
[[Image:Banjo forward roll on G major chord.png|thumb|right|300px|Forward [[banjo roll|roll]] on G major chord in both standard notation and banjo [[tablature]], [[accompaniment]] pattern characteristic of Scruggs style<ref name="Davis">Davis, Janet (2002). ''[Mel Bay's] Back-Up Banjo'', p.54. {{ISBN|0-7866-6525-4}}.</ref> {{audio|Banjo forward roll on G major chord.mid|Play}}.]]

'''Scruggs style''' is the most common style of playing the [[banjo]] in [[bluegrass music]]. It is a [[fingerpicking]] method, also known as '''three-finger style'''. It is named after [[Earl Scruggs]], whose innovative approach and technical mastery of the instrument have influenced generations of bluegrass banjoists ever since he was first recorded in 1946. It contrasts with earlier styles such as minstrel, [[Banjo#Classic_era%2C_1880s–1910s|classic]], or parlor style (a late 19th-century finger-style played without picks), [[clawhammer]]/frailing/two-finger style (played with thumb and nail of the first or middle finger), [[jazz]] styles played with a [[plectrum]], and more modern styles such as [[Keith style|Keith]]/melodic/chromatic/arpa style and single-string/Reno style. The influence of Scruggs is so pervasive that even bluegrass players such as [[Bill Keith (musician)|Bill Keith]] and [[Don Reno]], who are credited with developing these latter styles, typically work out of the Scruggs style much of the time.{{fact|date=September 2023}}

==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>}}

<!--this image displayed wider than 400px for clarity-->
[[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}}

==Influence==
Some have debated how much of the "Scruggs style" was actually "invented" (instead of merely popularized) by Scruggs. For example, Scruggs names [[Snuffy Jenkins]] as a major influence.<ref>Garner, Steve (2007). ''Mel Bay's American Banjo: Three-Finger and Scruggs Style'', p.4. {{ISBN|0-7866-5127-X}}.</ref> Either way, no one doubts that Scruggs did more to popularize the elements of his [[eponymous]] style than any of his contemporaries; it is hard to overstate his influence. In 1968, the instructional manual ''Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo'' (revised in 2005 under {{ISBN|0-634-06042-2}}) was published. This made Scruggs' technique more widely accessible, and as one of the earliest books of its kind for bluegrass banjo, helped spread Scruggs' influence considerably. The style was also popularized by Scruggs' recording of the theme song of the television program ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]'' (1962–1971), "[[The Ballad of Jed Clampett]]", as well as the use of "[[Foggy Mountain Breakdown]]" in the film ''[[Bonnie and Clyde (film)#Music|Bonnie and Clyde]]'' (1967).

On {{start date and age|2019|1|11|paren=y}}, a [[Google Doodle]] paid homage to Scruggs by featuring a "close-up" animated demonstration of the "Scruggs style".<ref name=2019CNET>{{cite web |title=Google Doodle celebrates Earl Scruggs, banjo-picking pioneer  |publisher=[[CNET]] |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/google-celebrates-earl-scruggs-banjo-picking-pioneer/ |first=Steven |last=Musil |date=2019-01-10 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Crosspicking]]

==References==
{{reflist|1}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |title=Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo |first1=Earl |last1=Scruggs |first2=Burt |last2=Brent, M.D. |year=1968 |publisher=Peer International Corp. }} 
*Castelnero, Gordon and Russell, David L. ''Earl Scruggs: Banjo Icon''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

==External links==

{{Banjo}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs Style}}
[[Category:Musical performance techniques]]
[[Category:Bluegrass music]]