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Everyone knows that the best deals on holiday-related merchandise can be had just after that holiday has passed. So it’s in that spirit that I give you a 2-for-1 post-Christmas Tune and Song of the Week special!
Technically, it’s 3-for-1, as the first video here is a medley of two songs: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “We Three Kings.”
This duet, which I perform here with my daughter Jules, was inspired by the one performed by the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan, which has been a staple in our home’s holiday playlist for many years. The tab download includes the solo played for “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” along with the chords and lyrics for both songs (in double D tuning).
Making an appearance for our Tune of the Week is one of the world’s most ancient and beloved melodies: “Greensleeves.” The song was first registered in 1580 (and so the oldest in our trio) by Richard Jones under the title “A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves.“
Its beguiling melody was subsequently co-opted by many a lyricist, including a William Chatterton Dix who, in 1865, wrote the words for ”What Child Is This?“ Only then – 300 years later – did it secure entry into the canon of Christmas carols.
Which is why you can easily get away with playing this melody year-round! All you need do is change the title. If it’s during the Christmas season, you’re playing “What Child Is This?” Otherwise, it’s “Greensleeves.”
In the video, you’ll note that the song begins in its usual 3:4 time signature for the intro, then switches to 2:4 – a common strategy for “banjofying” a melody in triple meter (I’ll be reviewing this in the tab walk-through workshop later today in the Brainjo Virtual classroom).
Note that all three of these songs are in a minor key, imparting a bit of extra old-time street cred.
(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.
“GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN”
aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4
“GREENSLEEVES”
gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 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.)
PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES
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- 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: “Sons & Daughters”
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
View the Brainjo Course Catalog
Notes on the Tab In this 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 
Notes on the Tab
Notes on the Tab