Click on the button below to get the PDF download for this tab delivered to you, and get 2 new tunes and tabs sent to you every week!

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(REMINDER: The “Getting Started with Fretless & Gourd Banjo” Workshop will be held Mon., Dec 17 at 2pm EST in the new Brainjo Virtual Classroom. Click here to learn more, and see what workshops are up next.)

It may come to you as a surprise that Angelina Baker hasn’t officially been a tune of the week installment. Why? Because it’s a tune just about every banjo player plays – often one of the first learned in “double C” (or “double D”) tuning.

I’ve recently been adapting a lot of the classic clawhammer repertoire for 2 finger thumb lead for the fingerstyle course, as having familiar material makes it that much easier to pick up.

In fact, you’ll hear that 2 finger version in this week’s video, presented as a duet of the two styles.

(RELATED: If you’re a clawhammer banjoist looking to try your “hand” at fingerpicking, including old time 2 and 3 finger, click here to check out the fingerstyle course.)

The rendition played most of the time these days – and the one played here – I believe is a mash-up of several versions.

While the illustrious Stephen Foster published a song of the same name (“Angeline the Baker”), its melody bears almost no resemblance to this one. And the story of how the name of that song got mapped onto this fiddle tune appears to have been lost to history.

By the way, if you play clawhammer, and you’ve never tried “double C” tuning (or double D, which is the same tuning, just tuned 2 frets up to place it in the key of D), this is a great tune to start with (note that it’s a Brainjo level 2).

(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.)

 “Angelina Baker”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 2

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

Click on the button below to get the PDF download for this tab delivered to you, and get 2 new tunes and tabs sent to you every week!

Click Here To Get The Tab

(REMINDER: The “Clawhammer Backup Made Easy” Workshop will be held Mon., Nov 26 at 7pm EST in the new Brainjo Virtual Classroom. Click here to learn more, and see what workshops are up next.)

I believe that economist Tyler Cowen is responsible for the concept of a “quake” book – a book that you read that causes a tectonic shift in how you see the world.

In retrospect, we can often trace a major inflection point in our lives to reading it. Our life, or our worldview, is heading one way, and then a profound idea causes it to deflect in another direction.

I also think there are “quake” songs. Songs we hear that also fundamentally alter the direction of our lives.

I’m sure all of us have certain songs that came around in our most formative years, somewhere between the ages of 15 and 21, that had a substantial influence in shaping our forming identity.

But I imagine banjoists also have a separate set of songs that had a disproportionate influence over their trajectory as musicians.

“Forked Deer” was one of those for me. Rather, Mac Benford’s rendition of Forked Deer. Or rather, Mac Benford’s rendition of Ed Haley’s fiddle version of Forked Deer.

I listened to that track off his wonderful album of Ed Haley tunes in the car far more times than I count, and it has remained an aesthetic touchstone ever since (regrettably, I don’t have any digital versions to link to).

And it’s the 4-part Ed Haley version you’ll hear in this week’s Tune of the Week, which contain elements not found in the more commonly played 2-parter that was featured as a prior TOTW. While unmistakably rooted in Mac’s original arrangement, I’m sure mine has drifted a bit over the years.

So what about you? Do you have a “quake” song, or songs? If so, feel free to share in the comments.

(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.)

 “Forked Deer”

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

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

Click on the button below to get the PDF download for this tab delivered to you, and get 2 new tunes and tabs sent to you every week!

Click Here To Get The Tab

Announcing the Brainjo Virtual Classroom and the “Clawhammer Backup Made Easy” Workshop

Before we get to this week’s tune, I wanted to first announce a new feature from Brainjo – the Virtual Classroom.

The classroom will have regular live workshops (once a month or more) on essential topics in clawhammer, banjo with special focus on topics that are common sources of frustration, or that are underrepresented in traditional instruction.

During these workshops, attendees will be able to ask questions before and during the session.

These workshops are included as part of the Breakthrough Banjo membership (along with access to recordings and supplemental materials from all prior workshops), however, non-members can also register to attend single sessions (click here to sign up for Breakthrough Banjo).

Our first workshop is “Clawhammer Backup Made Easy“.

It’s a topic many of you have asked to learn more about, and it’s one where there’s not a lot of instructional material on, particularly for the clawhammer player (which is strange because clawhammer is so perfectly suited for playing backup!).

Click below to learn more about what’s covered in the workshop and to register.

Now, on to this week’s tune, “Jawbone”!

So….why is there an old time tune about the mandible???

Folk musicians are known for being resourceful and thrifty, and that includes the creation of music making implements from whatever materials are available.

Bones make for great percussion, with certain bones – like the jawbone of a horse, donkey, or cow – being especially well suited for the task.

Hence the affinity for jawbones amongst the forebears of the old time tradition, and the inspiration for this week’s tune – one that incidentally began as a minstrel song.

I think you’ll find that this one easy to pick up, with a melody that sticks quickly and lays out nicely on the banjo.

(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.)

 “Jawbone”

aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3

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