Chop turns Sock

[ralph johansson]

I don't think of BG rhythm as 1-and-2-and but more as 1-and-a-2-and-a-and (except on very fast numbers that we don't really need). How best to achieve that feel in a group is a matter of listening. It's up to the guitar to supply the bounce and the mandolin to add something on top of that. In other words: 1) use your ears, 2) use your imagination.

[DavidKOS]

In other words: 1) use your ears, 2) use your imagination.

When I listen to some early Bill Monroe, my ears hear him almost playing stuff that a Dixieland banjo would do...the simpler chop style seemed to evolve from that.

[ralph johansson]

There were several changes in Monroe's music from 1946 on. The early band (with Flatt&Scruggs) had Howard Watts on bass, with a lot of 4/4, and Monroe twinning with the fiddle, or playing behind Flatt's vocals. When both the fiddle and mandolin play behind Flatt it gets a bit busy. In the early Decca years Joel Price often switched from 2/2 to 4/4 on instrumental solos. Ernie Newton (on records) stuck mainly to a 2/2, emphasized by that slap gadget of his on the offbeat. Also, Monroe took to singing solo lead on the verses of most songs. I believe these changes brought about a cleaning up and a simplified role for the mandolin. But really there is a bit more to Monroe´s rhythm playing than just chopping on the offbeat.

And I do believe on slower numbers one should strive for a more even, more fourish, groove.