Blog – Page 39

Clawhammer Song and Tab of the Week: “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”

The Clawhammer Banjoist’s Guide to Crashing a Bluegrass Jam:

Learn some bluegrass standards (like this week’s song!)
Follow bluegrass jam etiquette. Play sparse-ish, chord based backup (or play nothing at all) while the other instruments are playing, and while the singer is singing. Then play your banjo solo “break” when it’s your turn.
Nod head vigorously from side to side should you choose to not take the aforementioned solo.
Act like you belong.

It’s a little bit – or a lot bit – absurd that the worlds of bluegrass and old-time music, and the banjo styles that are commonly associated with them, so seldom collide.

The two genres are about as close as two genres can be, so much so that they’re entirely indistinguishable to the casual observer, even in spite of attempts to educate said observer on the finer points of their subtle distinctions.

Because of this peculiar predicament, you’re far more likely to hear clawhammer banjo in an old-time jam, and fingerstyle banjo in a bluegrass jam.

But there’s no reason this should be so, the occasional prickly “purist’s” point of view notwithstanding.

So if you’re a clawhammer enthusiast, fear not the bluegrass jam. Yes, the protocol is slightly different, but otherwise there’s no reason you shouldn’t feel right at home. More than likely, your co-jammers will embrace the refreshing change of pace.

I’ve been known to play 3 finger banjo in an old time jam, and clawhammer in a bluegrass jam, and have lived to tell about it. It usually works out great, especially if there are other banjoists already filling out the traditional role.

Songs, like this week’s classic, popularized by Flatt and Scruggs, are also more common in bluegrass circles. And there will be many more selections from the Song of the Week that double as bluegrass fare (along with prior selections “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow,” “Grandfather’s Clock,” and “I’ll Fly Away”).

Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo Level 3

roll in my sweet baby's arms clawhammer banjo tab part 1

roll in my sweet baby's arms clawhammer banjo tab part 2
Notes on the Tab

In the tab above, you’ll note I’ve tabbed out both a “lead break” (something to play in between verses) and the “vocal backup” (what I play while I’m 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.

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

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 Breakthrough Banjo

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune of the Week: “Big Sciota”

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

Big Sciota. Or Scioto. Or Scioti. Or Scioty….

The only point over which everyone seems to agree is that the “c” should be silent. I think.

Regardless of what trisyllabic moniker you choose to refer to it by, it remains a 231-mile stretch of river in Ohio, one that was important to many Native American cultures (from which the orthographically contentious name for it was derived)

“Big Sciota” began life as an instrumental fiddle tune, credited to Burl Hammons. Somewhere along the way a lyrical tributary was added. My research indicates that Ritchie Stearns was the first to attach words to this melody. Later on, the song was covered by Old Crow Medicine Show, sending it semi-mainstream (ahh, wordplay).

As such, these days you may hear it in multiple circles. It’s a staple in bluegrass jams, but is equally at home amongst those with old-time, folk, and Americana-ish tendencies.

The melody for the sung version differs slightly from how it’s typically rendered on fiddle. Here, I’ve kept the banjo solos more in line with the fiddle melody, in hopes of keeping the best of both worlds.

Big Sciota

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

big sciota clawhammer banjo tab part 1

Notes on the Tab

In the tab above, you’ll note I’ve tabbed out both a “lead break” (something to play in between verses) and the “vocal backup” (what I play while I’m 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.

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

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 Breakthrough Banjo

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune of the Week: “Yellow Barber”

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

On an otherwise ordinary day, Mike, the protagonist in this opening parable, happens upon someone playing clawhammer banjo. Captivated by its rhythmic, driving sound, and the pleasing drone of the 5th string, he decides he MUST learn how to play it.

He happens upon some instructional materials, and begins his studies in earnest. After getting some fundamentals under his belt, he takes a stab at some more advanced arrangements.

Yet, once he begins to play them, he notices something peculiar. Despite being more complex and “advanced,” something seems to be missing. Like the foot-tap-inducing, hypnotic drive that sucked him into clawhammer in the first place.

And the 5th string drone seems to have vanished without a trace.

Mike’s story is not uncommon: a player progresses to learning more “advanced” clawhammer arrangements and find things sound different, perhaps worse.

What’s happening here? More than likely, Mike is learning arrangements in the “melodic” style of playing.

For those unfamiliar, “melodic” style is when a banjoist tries to include as many of the melody notes as possible when playing a tune.

Melodies that have been written for the human voice (i.e. a song) tend to have their fair share of space. Aside from the occasional auctioneering outlier, there’s a limit to how fast we can sing.

So, when adapting songs for clawhammer, it’s usually not too difficult to include most, if not all, melody notes while still maintaining the driving sound of a downpicked banjo.

On the other hand, melodies written for instruments capable of producing a lot of notes per unit time – like the fiddle – tend to be quite busy. Adapting these melodies for clawhammer requires you to make decisions.

Decisions about when to leave out a melody note in favor of preserving drive, and when to leave them in favor of preserving something melodically essential.

Take this week’s tune, Yellow Barber, as an example. The original is a busy little beast of a fiddle tune by Kentucky fiddler Buddy Thomas, who was known for playing busy little beasts of fiddle tunes.

In sitting down to arrange this for banjo, there weren’t many instances where I felt that dropping a melody note wouldn’t sacrifice too much of the tune’s essence.

In other words, there weren’t many melody notes I felt I could cut from “Yellow Barber” (pun fully intended). As a result, I ended up with about as “melodic” an arrangement as you’ll typically see from me, and one that serves as a great example of “melodic” clawhammer.

(RELATED: For more on the distinction between melodic and other styles of banjo, check out the melodic-style arrangement of Soldier’s Joy from the “Round Peak Recipe” post)

As discussed above, you’ll find that the thumb, when employed, is now typically called into the service of melody over drone. And the 5th string only makes an occasional cameo.

You may also hear a bit less drive. For me, for this particular tune, that’s ok. “Yellow Barber” is more baroque than breakdown.

Of course, these finite categories only exist in our collective imaginations. Every arrangement can be plotted on a continuous spectrum from “rhythmic” to “melodic,” with the dividing line between the two existing only in the ear of the beholder.

(RELATED: learn how to arrange any tune anywhere along the “rhythmic to melodic” spectrum as part of the “How To Play By Ear” module in the Breakthrough Banjo course.)

So what about you? Do you like clawhammer banjo that’s mellifluous and melodic, driving and droning, or somewhere in the middle? Let me know in the comments section below.

Yellow Barber

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

yellow barber clawhammer banjo tab

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.

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.

Learn More About Breakthrough Banjo

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Core Repertoire Series: “Been All Around This World”

Season 3: Songs for Singin’!

Episode 5: “Been All Around this World”

Sign up here to get a downloadable PDF of Seasons 1 and 2 of the “Clawhammer Core Repertoire Series!”. You’ll also be notified whenever a new episode comes out, and when the next book is ready.

Take a story of a man coming to terms with his impending demise from the gallows, combine it with an unforgettable melody, and what do you get?

Our 5th selection in the “Songs for Singin’” season of the Core Repertoire Series, that’s what!

This song has been in my stable of performance tunes for many years. While it may not be recognized by most in a general audience, it’s one of those rare songs folks seem to like in just a single listen, without the customary “getting to know you” period that most songs require.

I also love it because a) it has just one part, and b) it’s very well suited to playing out of double C/D tuning.

So let’s get crackin’!

Step 1: Know Thy Melody

You know the drill, right?

No plucking of thy banjo in search of the tune until said tune can be sung, hummed, whistled or otherwise generated from one’s own bodily vibrations.

Once you’ve got it, move on to….

Step 2: Find The Chords

I typically play this song in the key of D, and as mentioned above, I use double D (aDADE) tuning to do so. We know then, that our root, or I, chord will be D. Our IV chord is a G, and our V chord is an A. And those are the only 3 chords you’ll need to know! Now it’s just a matter of knowing where to put em.

See if you can figure out the chord changes yourself first. Then consult the answers below to check your work (I’ve also included the chord shapes for each chord in this tuning):

Step 3: Play A Basic Backup Pattern While Fingering the Chord Progression

Now with our chord progression firmly in mind let’s create a straightforward vocal backup to serve as the perfect backdrop for some singing. A nice bum-ditty pattern will do just fine, like this:

Here’s what that looks like in tab:

Step 4: Add some easily accessed melody notes

As discussed in prior episodes, and easy way to dress up your vocal backup a little bit is to add in some melody notes as you play. And the best place to look first are the melody notes you can play that don’t require you to do anything else with your fretting hand (besides hold down the chord shape, as you’re already doing).

So first, let’s locate where the melody notes for this tune are located. Here’s what the basic melody of “Been All Around this World” sounds like:

And here’s that melody tabbed out. Melody notes that fall on the downbeat (the “bum” in the bum ditty pattern):

Now, let’s incorporate these melody notes that require not extra fretting hand movement into our backup. Doing so give us this:

If we play and sing that, it sounds like this:

Voila!

Not only does this make for great vocal accompaniment, but it also gives the impression that a lot is going on your banjo.

In my version in the video above, I’ve added a few additional embellishments to double the melody as I sing, and I throw in a solo in between the verses.

More Playing and Singing Material?

You’ll find an ever-expanding library of arrangements for songs and tunes, with lead and vocal backup arrangements, along with video demos for folks of all abilities inside of the Breakthrough Banjo course.

So, if you’re looking for more material for playing and singing, come and check it out! Click here to learn more.

Learn More About Breakthrough Banjo

Go to the Core Repertoire Series Table of Contents

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

Clawhammer Song and Tab of the Week: “Swanee River”

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

He’s baaaack!

Stephen Foster, that is. And it won’t be the last time.

Stephen Foster I’m sure Stephen had little idea when composing this minstrel song in 1851 that, over 150 years later, its melody and lyrics would be recognized the world over. Or that it’d adopted as the state song of Florida. Or that he’d be immortalizing a body of water (and a state) he’d never actually see with his own eyes.

Here’s more on how the subject matter for this song was selected:

Foster had composed most of the lyrics but was struggling to name the river of the opening line, and asked his brother to suggest one. The first suggestion was “Yazoo” (in Mississippi), which despite fitting the melody perfectly, was rejected by Foster. The second suggestion was “Pee Dee” (in South Carolina), to which Foster said, “Oh pshaw! I won’t have that.” His brother then consulted an atlas and called out “Suwannee!” Foster said, “That’s it, exactly!” Adding it to the lyrics, he purposely misspelled it as “Swanee” to fit the melody.[2]

Imagine: “Way down up on the Pee Dee River?”

Yeah. Good call, Stephen.

Swanee (Suwannee) River

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Notes on the Tab

In the tab above, you’ll note I’ve tabbed out both a “lead break” (something to play in between verses) and the “vocal backup” (what I play while I’m 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.

PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES

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 Breakthrough Banjo