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(NOTE: I’ll be teaching a live, step by step “tab walk-through” for this tune and “Colored Aristocracy” for Breakthrough Banjo members on Jan. 14. Click here to learn more, and see the full schedule.)

Most songs grow on you.

Our fondness increases for them the more we listen. It may grow even more if they attach themselves by circumstance to beloved memories.

The same is often true of people. If we consider our closest friends, our fondness for them likely grew over time as well.

Love at first sight is a rare thing. But once in a great while, it happens.

Such was the case the first time I heard the tune “Shuffle About,” off Sheesham and Lotus’s album “Five Miles from Town” (which contains many other gems). And I’m sure that instant liking was in no small part to their exceptional rendering of it.

Still, it’s a relatively rare phenomenon.

You may have had a similar experience in a jam – you hear a dozen or so tunes you’ve never heard before, but one in particular makes you stop and say “what was the name of that again?”

“Shuffle About” is a tune with loads of personality, infused with an infectious, joyful spirit that I’m sure is part of its instant appeal.

It’s also a rare fiddle tune where the name doesn’t seem to be arbitrarily chosen – as if the mission of its composer was to produce a bounce in the listener’s step, to drive him or her to “shuffle about” (unfortunately, I can find scant information regarding its origins).

So happy shuffling!

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

Notes on the Tab

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.

[RELATED: 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. Learn more about it here.

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

A New Series (Clawhammer Banjo Tab “Walk-Throughs”)

I’ve recently started a new series of video tutorials in the Brainjo Virtual Classroom where I “walk-through” one of the tabs in The Vault, measure-by-measure, as you see in the video above for the tune “Cold Frosty Morn”.

These videos air live on YouTube, and then the entire archive of recordings are available to members of the Breakthrough Banjo course.

(RELATED: click here to view the tunes and songs currently in The Vault)

The purpose of this series is to help you work through the tab arrangements, and in particular to understand how the various techniques of clawhammer banjo sound, and how they fit together to produce a final arrangement.

This will also include demonstrations of the vocal backup for the song tabs, so that you can understand how the backup part and singing fit together.

If you want to make sure you catch these when they air, and be notified in advance, make sure you’re subscribed to the Clawhammer Banjo youtube channel by clicking here.

Related Links

The Brainjo “Tune Learnin’ System” – To prevent “tab dependency” and to help build the ability to play by ear, I strongly recommend using this system when learning from tabs.

The Schedule of Upcoming Live Workshops

The Breakthrough Banjo Course. Access to the entire archive of workshops, The Vault library, plus all of the primary learning modules is included with membership.