At the Okeechobee Swamp Picker's festival this past weekend we were treated to a free mandolin workshop by Wayne Benson, mandolin player for headline act Russell Moore & IIIrd Time Out. It was a very informal affair, held in a picnic pavilion with just Wayne and a dozen or so interested pickers.
His first topic / suggestion? How important it is to have a basic understanding of theory! He started with the G major scale over two octaves across all four strings, then built on that to show the chord scale for G and how they are constructed - G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F#dim (I think that's the seventh chord following the progression, he did mention it was not generally used).
He then touched on the value of knowing the pentatonic scales, and how in general notes played within the pentatonic scale sounded good with any of the scale chords.
He stressed the importance of backup, saying 85% of his living was spend on stage doing a simple chop. He emphasized the importance of the chop keeping the rhythm for the band, along with the bass.
All in all, a great workshop that reinforced many Fretmentor lessons.
Then he treated us to some really cool riffs and some amazing jazz play done chordally.
I've had the privilege of meeting his wife (IBMA banjo player of the year 3 times running) Kristin Scott Benson several times, and have always said she was one of the nicest people I've ever met. I'm here to tell you, Wayne is every bit as nice to meet. If you ever get the chance to see either of them (Kristin plays with The Grascals) DO IT! Then go say hi after the show.
