Learn Clawhammer Banjo

Banjo Lessons for the Adult Beginner

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Clawhammer Song of the Week: “Deep River Blues”

Clawhammer Banjo Song and Tab of the Week: “DEEP RIVER BLUES”

(RELATED: A step-by-step tutorial will be available this week for “Deep River Blues” inside the new Breakthrough Banjo Tune & Song of the Week series. Click here to learn more.)

I remember the first time I heard Doc Watson play “Deep River Blues” on guitar.

Up to that point, I was already a fan of Doc’s flatpicking. Every fiddle tune he played on guitar became the definitive version in my mind. Perfection.

But “Deep River Blues” clearly wasn’t flatpicking! And it was incredible.

It sounded like a full band was playing, yet I knew it was just Doc and his guitar. I had no idea how he did it, but I loved it. It was even better than flatpicking (it would be several years before I cracked the code of country blues fingerpicking).

It turns out there are a lot of similarities between country blues fingerpicking and clawhammer.

Both provide a rich and complete musical texture, with rhythm and melody all wrapped into a single package. And lots of opportunities for syncopation.

So no wonder I enjoy them both so much.

And I enjoy trying to adapt songs I’ve first learned for fingerstyle guitar to clawhammer banjo (including some prior MJH classics like Corrina, Stocktime, and Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me, all of which are available in the Breakthrough Banjo Vault). 

Note that the tab for this song is Brainjo Level 4, meaning it’s on the advanced side of things. If you’re in the beginner to intermediate stage, don’t be discouraged if you find a bit too challenging right now  – use it as inspiration for what to look forward to as your skills develop (I’ll also be demonstrating some simpler ways of playing it as part of the Breakthrough Banjo Tune of the Week this week). 

The Banjo Player’s Songbook contains over 50 classic banjo songs, and you can grab it for free. Click here to learn more.

“DEEP RIVER BLUES”

fCFCD tuning, Brainjo level 4 

Deep River Blues clawhammer banjo tab part 1

Deep River Blues clawhammer banjo tab part 2

 

Need a refresher on how to read banjo tabs? Then click below to take the short quiz. 

CLICK to take the "How To Read Banjo Tab" QUIZ

Many more tabs, plus step-by-step video tutorials for how to play them, are available inside the Brekathrough Banjo course, which is now FREE for 30 Days

Click here for a list of songs in The Breakthrough Banjo Vault.

Brainjo

Clawhammer Tune of the Week: “Flying Indian”

Clawhammer Banjo Tune and Tab of the Week: “FLYING INDIAN”

(RELATED: The tab-walkthrough for this tune is now available in the Breakthrough Banjo course, which you can now enroll in for FREE for 30 days. Click here to get started.)

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a…Flying Indian?

Like many curiously named old-time tunes, we often have little to go on when it comes to the origins of their titles. Our selection today is no exception.

Some speculate it’s a reference to a Native American who, despondent over unrequited love, commits suicide by cliff diving.

Others think it may be about a train (The “Flying Engine” becomes “Flying Injun'” becomes “Flying Indian”…).

Since there’s no way to know for sure, I’m just gonna stick with my superhero theory.

The Banjo Player’s Songbook contains over 50 classic banjo songs, and you can grab it for free. Click here to learn more.

“FLYING INDIAN”

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 3 

Clawhammer Banjo Tab for FLYING INDIAN

Need a refresher on how to read banjo tabs? Then click below to take the short quiz. 

CLICK to take the "How To Read Banjo Tab" QUIZ

Many more tabs, plus step-by-step video tutorials for how to play them, are available inside the Brekathrough Banjo course, which is now FREE for 30 Days

Click here for a list of songs in The Breakthrough Banjo Vault.

NEW! The "Banjo For Adult Learners" Facebook Group

Click here or on the image below to join the “Banjo For Adult Learners” Facebook group. It’s a place to have conversations all about learning the 5-string banjo!

Banjo for adult beginners facebook group
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2 for 1 Clawhammer Song/Tune and Tab of the Week: “Dark Hollow” & “Bell Cow”

Click on the relevant buttons below to get the PDF download for the tabs

Click Here To Get The Tab

Click Here To Get The Tab

I’m fairly finicky when it comes to country and bluegrass vocalists. Some are a little too pinched and closed off for my taste, others lay on the “country” affectations a little too thick.  

Del McCoury’s voice has always been one that sits in the sweet spot for me. The goldilocks zone.

And one of my favorite performances has always been his rendition of “Dark Hollow,” performed with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. 

That’s our selection of this week’s song, and his version the specific inspiration. 

Bell Cow, our Tune of the Week selection, is a delightful fiddle tune in the key of A. 

I was introduced to it by Adam Hurt, who teaches it inside of the Brainjo Fiddle for All course (click here to learn more about the Fiddle for All course). 

Video tutorials for both these are now available inside the Breakthrough Banjo course. 


(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, which is played in both these videos, you can click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.


“DARK HOLLOW”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3

Clawhammer banjo tab for Dark Hollow part 1

Clawhammer banjo tab for Dark Hollow part 2

 

 

“BELL COW”

aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Bell Cow clawhammer banjo tab

 

Notes on the Tab: For the song arrangements, I’ve tabbed out the part I play in the banjo “solo,” as well as the vocal backup I play on the banjo while singing.

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes – to learn more about skips and syncopated skips, check out my video lesson on the subject. For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

The Banjo Player’s Songbook – a free bonus with Breakthrough Banjo

Banjo Player's Songbook


The BANJO PLAYER’S SONGBOOK is a collection of over 50 classic songs for banjo, with the lyrics, chord progressions, and melody banjo tabs for each.

Click here to learn more and to see the full song list. 

 


 

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

  • Episode 1: “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow”
  • Episode 2: “Gumtree Canoe”
  • Episode 3: “Crawdad Hole”
  • Episode 4: “Oh Susanna”
  • Episode 5: “Freight Train”
  • Episode 6: “Grandfather’s Clock”
  • Episode 7: “Hop High Lulu”
  • Episode 8: “Been All Around This World”
  • Episode 9: “I’ll Fly Away”
  • Episode 10: “Leaving Home”
  • Episode 11: “Poor Orphan Child”
  • Episode 12: “Mr. Tambourine Man”
  • Episode 13: “Swanee River”
  • Episode 14: “Big Sciota”
  • Episode 15: “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”
  • Episode 16: “Darling Corey”
  • Episode 17: “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
  • Episode 18: “America the Beautiful”
  • Episode 19: “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”
  • Episode 20: “Way Out There”
  • Episode 21: “New Slang”
  • Episode 22: “I Saw the Light”
  • Episode 23: “Amazing Grace”
  • Episode 24: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
  • Episode 25: “Yankee Doodle”
  • Episode 26: “Budapest”
  • Episode 27: “Wildwood Flower”
  • Episode 28: “Paradise”
  • Episode 29: “Mountain Dew”
  • Episode 30: “Blue Tail Fly”
  • Episode 31: “Otto Wood”
  • Episode 32: “Down on the Corner”
  • Episode 33: “City of New Orleans”
  • Episode 34: “Big Rock Candy Mountains”
  • Episode 35: “Come to the Bower”
  • Episode 36: “Old Kentucky Home”
  • Episode 37: “Long Journey Home”
  • Episode 38: “Dixie”
  • Episode 39: “Hard Times”
  • Episode 40: “Corrina Corrina”
  • Episode 41: “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
  • Episode 42: “Johnson Boys”
  • Episode 43: “Bad Moon Rising”
  • Episode 44: “Reuben’s Train”
  • Episode 45: “Let the Mermaid’s Flirt With Me”
  • Episode 46: “Rocky Top”
  • Episode 47: “Groundhog”
  • Episode 48: “Lazy John”
  • Episode 49: “The Gambler”
  • Episode 50: “8 More Miles To Louisville”
  • Episode 51: “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
  • Episode 52: “Pretty Polly”
  • Episode 53: “You Are My Sunshine”
  • Episode 54: “Old Molly Hare”
  • Episode 55: “The Miller’s Will”
  • Episode 56: “Walking Cane”
  • Episode 57: “Feast Here Tonight”
  • Episode 58 “Let Me Fall”
  • Episode 59: “Little Birdie”
  • Episode 60: “Train on the Island”
  • Episode 61: “Handsome Molly”
  • Episode 62: “Willie Moore”
  • Episode 63: “Tom Cat Blues”
  • Episode 64: “Big Eyed Rabbit”
  • Episode 65: “Jimmy Sutton”
  • Episode 66: “What Does the Deep Sea Say?”
  • Episode 67: “Shortnin’ Bread”
  • Episode 68: “Worried Man Blues”
  • Episode 69: “Who Broke the Lock?”
  • Episode 70: “Mole in the Ground”
  • Episode 71: “Fireball Mail”
  • Episode 72: “Nine Pound Hammer”
  • Episode 73: “Wreck of the Number Nine”
  • Episode 74: “Take Em Away”
  • Episode 75: “Man of Constant Sorrow”
  • Episode 76: “The Fox (went out on a chilly night)”
  • Episode 77: “Goin’ Down That Road Feelin’ Bad”
  • Episode 78: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  • Episode 79: “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing”
  • Episode 80: “Loch Lomond”
  • Episode 81: “Deep Ellum Blues”
  • Episode 82: “House of the Rising Sun”
  • Episode 83: “Wayfaring Stranger”

Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault

Learn More About Breakthrough Banjo
 

About the Author
Josh Turknett is founder and lead brain hacker at Brainjo Productions

 

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

brainjo larger musical mind

2 for 1 Clawhammer Song/Tune and Tab of the Week: “Wayfaring Stranger” & “Logan County Blues”

Click on the relevant buttons below to get the PDF download for the tabs

Click Here To Get The Tab

Click Here To Get The Tab

For our Song of the Week selection, I had to go deep.

To the deeper tones of my voice, that is.

Playing “Wayfaring Stranger” in the key of G (in gDGBbD, or G minor, tuning) puts it towards the bottom end of my vocal range – a place I seldom venture (the women out there will probably find this one fits comfortably in their range). 

And yet, on this song, it seems to work. 

Our Tune of the Week, “Logan County Blues,” comes from the fiddling of Round Peak legend Fred Cockerham. The prevailing wisdom is that he wrote it as well.

This will actually be the first in a series of “blues-ish” tunes and songs that will appear here in upcoming weeks. 


(RELATED: The walk-through tutorials for “Wayfaring Stranger” and “Logan County Blues” are both available now in the Breakthrough Banjo workshop archives. Click here to learn more about the tab-walkthrough videos).


(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in these videos is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.


“WAYFARING STRANGER”

gDGBb tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Wayfaring Stranger clawhammer banjo tab 1

Wayfaring Stranger clawhammer banjo tab 2

 

“LOGAN COUNTY BLUES”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Logan County Blues clawhammer banjo tab part 1

Logan County Blues clawhammer banjo tab part 2Notes on the Tab In arrangement, I’ve tabbed out the part I play in the banjo “solo,” as well as the vocal backup I play on the banjo while singing.

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes – to learn more about skips and syncopated skips, check out my video lesson on the subject. For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

The Banjo Player’s Songbook – a free bonus with Breakthrough Banjo

Banjo Player's Songbook


The BANJO PLAYER’S SONGBOOK is a collection of over 50 classic songs for banjo, with the lyrics, chord progressions, and melody banjo tabs for each.

Click here to learn more and to see the full song list. 

 


 

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

  • Episode 1: “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow”
  • Episode 2: “Gumtree Canoe”
  • Episode 3: “Crawdad Hole”
  • Episode 4: “Oh Susanna”
  • Episode 5: “Freight Train”
  • Episode 6: “Grandfather’s Clock”
  • Episode 7: “Hop High Lulu”
  • Episode 8: “Been All Around This World”
  • Episode 9: “I’ll Fly Away”
  • Episode 10: “Leaving Home”
  • Episode 11: “Poor Orphan Child”
  • Episode 12: “Mr. Tambourine Man”
  • Episode 13: “Swanee River”
  • Episode 14: “Big Sciota”
  • Episode 15: “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”
  • Episode 16: “Darling Corey”
  • Episode 17: “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
  • Episode 18: “America the Beautiful”
  • Episode 19: “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”
  • Episode 20: “Way Out There”
  • Episode 21: “New Slang”
  • Episode 22: “I Saw the Light”
  • Episode 23: “Amazing Grace”
  • Episode 24: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
  • Episode 25: “Yankee Doodle”
  • Episode 26: “Budapest”
  • Episode 27: “Wildwood Flower”
  • Episode 28: “Paradise”
  • Episode 29: “Mountain Dew”
  • Episode 30: “Blue Tail Fly”
  • Episode 31: “Otto Wood”
  • Episode 32: “Down on the Corner”
  • Episode 33: “City of New Orleans”
  • Episode 34: “Big Rock Candy Mountains”
  • Episode 35: “Come to the Bower”
  • Episode 36: “Old Kentucky Home”
  • Episode 37: “Long Journey Home”
  • Episode 38: “Dixie”
  • Episode 39: “Hard Times”
  • Episode 40: “Corrina Corrina”
  • Episode 41: “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
  • Episode 42: “Johnson Boys”
  • Episode 43: “Bad Moon Rising”
  • Episode 44: “Reuben’s Train”
  • Episode 45: “Let the Mermaid’s Flirt With Me”
  • Episode 46: “Rocky Top”
  • Episode 47: “Groundhog”
  • Episode 48: “Lazy John”
  • Episode 49: “The Gambler”
  • Episode 50: “8 More Miles To Louisville”
  • Episode 51: “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
  • Episode 52: “Pretty Polly”
  • Episode 53: “You Are My Sunshine”
  • Episode 54: “Old Molly Hare”
  • Episode 55: “The Miller’s Will”
  • Episode 56: “Walking Cane”
  • Episode 57: “Feast Here Tonight”
  • Episode 58 “Let Me Fall”
  • Episode 59: “Little Birdie”
  • Episode 60: “Train on the Island”
  • Episode 61: “Handsome Molly”
  • Episode 62: “Willie Moore”
  • Episode 63: “Tom Cat Blues”
  • Episode 64: “Big Eyed Rabbit”
  • Episode 65: “Jimmy Sutton”
  • Episode 66: “What Does the Deep Sea Say?”
  • Episode 67: “Shortnin’ Bread”
  • Episode 68: “Worried Man Blues”
  • Episode 69: “Who Broke the Lock?”
  • Episode 70: “Mole in the Ground”
  • Episode 71: “Fireball Mail”
  • Episode 72: “Nine Pound Hammer”
  • Episode 73: “Wreck of the Number Nine”
  • Episode 74: “Take Em Away”
  • Episode 75: “Man of Constant Sorrow”
  • Episode 76: “The Fox (went out on a chilly night)”
  • Episode 77: “Goin’ Down That Road Feelin’ Bad”
  • Episode 78: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  • Episode 79: “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing”
  • Episode 80: “Loch Lomond”
  • Episode 81: “Deep Ellum Blues”
  • Episode 82: “House of the Rising Sun”

Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault

Learn More About Breakthrough Banjo
 
About the Author
Josh Turknett is founder and lead brain hacker at Brainjo Productions

 

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

brainjo larger musical mind

2 for 1 Clawhammer Song/Tune and Tab of the Week: “House of the Rising Sun” & “Folding Down the Sheets”

Click on the relevant buttons below to get the PDF download for the tabs

Click Here To Get The Tab

Click Here To Get The Tab

It’s another 2-for-1 special to help you fill any extra time you may have on your hands. 

Our song selection, “House of the Rising Sun,” has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I’d occasionally dabbled with it on the banjo over the years, but had never come up with an arrangement I was completely happy with.

Then, not long ago, Doc Watson’s fingerpicked version came across my Spotify playlist, providing the inspiration that led to the version you hear. Now it’s a regular in banjo playing rotation. 

“Folding Down the Sheets” is an addictive little fiddle tune that came by way of Alan Jabbour by way of Henry Reed by way of Civil War fifer Quince Dillion.

It was reportedly well known to Civil War musicians from both sides of the country.

 


(RELATED: The walk-through tutorials for “House of the Rising Sun” and “Folding Down the Sheets” are both available now in the Breakthrough Banjo workshop archives. Click here to learn more about the tab-walkthrough videos).


(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in these videos is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.


“HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

House of the Rising Sun clawhammer banjo tab part 1

 

House of the Rising Sun clawhammer banjo tab part 2

“FOLDING DOWN THE SHEETS”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

clawhammer banjo tab for folding down the sheets

 

 

Notes on the Tab In arrangement, I’ve tabbed out the part I play in the banjo “solo,” as well as the vocal backup I play on the banjo while singing.

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes – to learn more about skips and syncopated skips, check out my video lesson on the subject. For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

The Banjo Player’s Songbook – a free bonus with Breakthrough Banjo

Banjo Player's Songbook


The BANJO PLAYER’S SONGBOOK is a collection of over 50 classic songs for banjo, with the lyrics, chord progressions, and melody banjo tabs for each.

Click here to learn more and to see the full song list. 

 


 

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

  • Episode 1: “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow”
  • Episode 2: “Gumtree Canoe”
  • Episode 3: “Crawdad Hole”
  • Episode 4: “Oh Susanna”
  • Episode 5: “Freight Train”
  • Episode 6: “Grandfather’s Clock”
  • Episode 7: “Hop High Lulu”
  • Episode 8: “Been All Around This World”
  • Episode 9: “I’ll Fly Away”
  • Episode 10: “Leaving Home”
  • Episode 11: “Poor Orphan Child”
  • Episode 12: “Mr. Tambourine Man”
  • Episode 13: “Swanee River”
  • Episode 14: “Big Sciota”
  • Episode 15: “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”
  • Episode 16: “Darling Corey”
  • Episode 17: “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
  • Episode 18: “America the Beautiful”
  • Episode 19: “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”
  • Episode 20: “Way Out There”
  • Episode 21: “New Slang”
  • Episode 22: “I Saw the Light”
  • Episode 23: “Amazing Grace”
  • Episode 24: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
  • Episode 25: “Yankee Doodle”
  • Episode 26: “Budapest”
  • Episode 27: “Wildwood Flower”
  • Episode 28: “Paradise”
  • Episode 29: “Mountain Dew”
  • Episode 30: “Blue Tail Fly”
  • Episode 31: “Otto Wood”
  • Episode 32: “Down on the Corner”
  • Episode 33: “City of New Orleans”
  • Episode 34: “Big Rock Candy Mountains”
  • Episode 35: “Come to the Bower”
  • Episode 36: “Old Kentucky Home”
  • Episode 37: “Long Journey Home”
  • Episode 38: “Dixie”
  • Episode 39: “Hard Times”
  • Episode 40: “Corrina Corrina”
  • Episode 41: “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
  • Episode 42: “Johnson Boys”
  • Episode 43: “Bad Moon Rising”
  • Episode 44: “Reuben’s Train”
  • Episode 45: “Let the Mermaid’s Flirt With Me”
  • Episode 46: “Rocky Top”
  • Episode 47: “Groundhog”
  • Episode 48: “Lazy John”
  • Episode 49: “The Gambler”
  • Episode 50: “8 More Miles To Louisville”
  • Episode 51: “Who’ll Stop the Rain”
  • Episode 52: “Pretty Polly”
  • Episode 53: “You Are My Sunshine”
  • Episode 54: “Old Molly Hare”
  • Episode 55: “The Miller’s Will”
  • Episode 56: “Walking Cane”
  • Episode 57: “Feast Here Tonight”
  • Episode 58 “Let Me Fall”
  • Episode 59: “Little Birdie”
  • Episode 60: “Train on the Island”
  • Episode 61: “Handsome Molly”
  • Episode 62: “Willie Moore”
  • Episode 63: “Tom Cat Blues”
  • Episode 64: “Big Eyed Rabbit”
  • Episode 65: “Jimmy Sutton”
  • Episode 66: “What Does the Deep Sea Say?”
  • Episode 67: “Shortnin’ Bread”
  • Episode 68: “Worried Man Blues”
  • Episode 69: “Who Broke the Lock?”
  • Episode 70: “Mole in the Ground”
  • Episode 71: “Fireball Mail”
  • Episode 72: “Nine Pound Hammer”
  • Episode 73: “Wreck of the Number Nine”
  • Episode 74: “Take Em Away”
  • Episode 75: “Man of Constant Sorrow”
  • Episode 76: “The Fox (went out on a chilly night)”
  • Episode 77: “Goin’ Down That Road Feelin’ Bad”
  • Episode 78: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  • Episode 79: “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing”
  • Episode 80: “Loch Lomond”
  • Episode 81: “Deep Ellum Blues”

Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course.

Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault

Learn More About Breakthrough Banjo
 
About the Author
Josh Turknett is founder and lead brain hacker at Brainjo Productions

 

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

brainjo larger musical mind

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