Hey Jesse,
WOW,This is SO WEIRD...The most theory knowledgable picker I know . who plays jazz grass/swing with all the Ab maj7-5 /Ebm9 type chords, is JESSE is OH.....
....Ive been and melodic/scruggs banjo player 29yrs.
As you have prolly figured out, you wont find that many theory people in BG...BUT, Ill give my experience about BG vrs other genres...My progress on this instrument covering the many forms of BG has been made by using the LEAST amount of theory as possible...Just enough to have a # composition of the chord progressions....THEN ,its letting the original MELODY bring out my improv skills...As you know ,most traditional BG is built around the major and minor ( b3 ,b7) scales...It rarely uses the maj 7as a chord -5 or +5 ...9ths etc..It will almost always be the dominate 7...BG is a very emotionally played music...When Im playin Blackberry Blossom, (a very notey fiddle tune) ,I have a happy bouncey (dotted 8ths) feeling..(all major scale).Playing Hot Burrito breakdown, Im drivin very fast straight 8ths whose melody is very long gated which makes room for alot of hot lick arpeggios and improv using chromatic scales which would SUCK in BB blossom...They would fit somewhat BUT, totally kill the mood /motif of the tune....Yeah , I try to apply my thoery knowledge to BG early on but found it hampered my improv skills and melody comprehention...BG tunes , even simple 1-4-5 traditional tunes are best learned, retained. and improvise on by having a good command of the melody FIRST, and that means knowing which beat each note falls on...THEN , you can really go nuts later with sycopation, chromatic notes, improvising BUT, still keeping the origianl melody somewhat in play...Now the more JAZZ grass ,like what is being played today by the cutting edge players including myself, alllows for alot more improv due to the more abstract chord progresssions...Even in those tunes, I try to comprise the medody first so I have a base to work with...Sounds like you already have enough scale knowledge, NOW , put your EMO /Ear /muscle memory skills to work...LISTEN TO ALOT OF TODAYS BG..It will get "in ya"..It will create moods for you to play in the moment ..Beleive me , it is very rewarding to jam that way...Some people ya might wanna check out are Clay Jones, Aubrie Haney, Scott Vestal, , Bryan Sutton, David Grier, Norman Blake, Jerry Douglass ..These guys cover the most traditional to the jazz/classical stuff thats being played today...Bela' Fleck has gotten alittle TOO "out there" for most BGer's but he's still held in high regard...Ive been teaching banjo 15 yrs, and I see students progress best when they approach this music with basic theory and LOTS of melody/ear training....Checking these cats out will give you a good song list to choose from also letting you know what is being play out at the jams, fests and stage shows....Check out the band "The infamous String Dusters" OMG, these guys inpressed me to no end in Columbus 2 weeks ago...
John
