Blog – Page 49

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “John Henry”

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Several weeks ago I introduced you to Justin Manglitz, professional whiskey maker and fiddler extraordinaire, with the tune Rockingham Cindy.

The response was favorable. You seemed to enjoy his fiddling as much as I do, and the requests for more came in.

Given that he and I aim to please, we set about to do just that! We gave ourselves a name, The Georgia Jays, and got busy working on an album.

And I’m pleased to announce that today marks the release of said album: “Round Peak, Georgia“.

Justin and I are both especially fond of the music and musicians from the area of Round Peak, North Carolina, and for both of us this was really the gateway drug that hooked us both on this music forever.

So, naturally, we thought it appropriate to pull the music nearest and dearest to us from our first effort.

Today’s tune of the week, “John Henry,” is one of those tunes. Specifically, this is Fred Cockerham’s distinctive version, not the more widely known melody by the same name. This one has way more funk and grit.

I’m playing it here on Justin’s Mogi half fretless banjo, which I used on several of the tracks on the album. Here I’m tuned up to the key of A (aEAC#E), though on the album I was down a full step in the key of G (gDGBD). Feel free to take your pick of where to play it!

If you’re interested in purchasing, the album is available for sale either as a digital download or physical CD over at thegeorgiajays.com. To hear audio samples of every tune, go here.

Also, I’ve also created a “Banjo Players Edition” of the album, which includes the album, a book of banjo tabs for every tune on the album, solo fiddle jam tracks at performance and slowed speed, and the “How To Play Banjo With A Fiddler” video course – all the tools you need to take my place alongside Justin in our fiddle and banjo combo. More information on the Banjo Players Edition can be found here (note: if you’re a member of Breakthrough Banjo, you already have access to all of it).

We’ve already started making plans for our next effort, where we’ll be mining chestnuts from another musically fertile region of the country.

Thanks to all those who encouraged us, as you’ve given me a convenient excuse to play more tunes with Justin!

John Henry

aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

[ws-facebook-likebox url=”https://www.facebook.com/georgiajays” width=”340″ height=”500″ show_faces=”true” show_Header=”true” show_border=”false”]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.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Core Repertoire Series: “Wandering Boy”

I defy you not to grab your banjo after listening to this tune.

There’s just something about Wandering Boy. Instantly likable. And I’d bet after only a few listens its melody is indelibly embedded in your memory.

And while the tune itself is traditionally traced back to a Frank Jenkins fiddle recording from 1927, it has more recently taken on a life of its own as a solo banjo tune. As you’ll soon discover, it sounds great on solo banjo, and it’s melody seems tailor made for clawhammer banjo. So let’s do it!

Step 1: Know Thy Melody

The learning of thy tune shall not commence until its melody is firmly established inside one’s mind. As usual, don’t go looking for notes on your instrument until you can hum, sing, whistle, or otherwise recreate the tune inside your mind. Give it a few listens until you can do so from start to finish, then proceed to step 2.

Step 2: Find the Melody Notes

Before we take out our fretboards and go note hunting, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about the basic melody of this tune. Remember, here, we want to distill this melody down to its essence, minus all the clawhammery bits.

Here’s what I hear as the basic melody Wandering Boy:

I’m playing this tune in the key of C, and am tuned to gCGCD, or “double C” tuning. Once there, see if you can find those core melody notes on the banjo, then consult the tab below if needed:

Wandering Boy, Core Melody

gCGCD tuning

Step 3: Add Some Clawhammery Stuff

It won’t take much to turn this basic melody into a great sounding clawhammer piece. And this is a tune that doesn’t need a whole lot of embellishments, as the core melody is already so strong and compelling.

So, to create a basic clawhammer arrangement, we’ll adopt our usual protocol of keeping the notes that occur on the downbeat (the bolded notes in the tab), and then adding a ditty strum afterwards, like this (chords listed above the tab):

Wandering Boy, Basic Arrangement

gCGCD tuning

And here’s what this version sounds like:

Now it’s time to add some personal flavor to the arrangement. In my particular version, I’ve syncopated a number of the melody notes through hammer ons and pull offs. The 5th measure also is a great place for inserting the “Galax” lick, in which the picking finger plays multiple notes in succession (in this case the 2nd string, followed by the 1st). This lick is indicated by the up arrow above the tablature (listen to the video to hear how it sounds).

Here’s what the tab for the arrangement I play in the video looks like:

Wandering Boy, Full Arrangement

gCGCD tuning, Brainjo level 3

Clawhammer Tune of the Week: “Winder Slide”

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Last week we relaxed our pace a bit with the lovely “Dry and Dusty.”

Since those of you in the U.S. may still be emerging from the mass-turkey-ingestion-induced tryptophan fog, I thought it best to keep things on the slow and easy side for one more week with this week’s installment, “Winder Slide.”

In fact, I often link both of these two tunes together in my mind under the “slow and sweet D tune” category.

Winder Slide is actually a “modern old-time” tune — a relatively recent composition that still sounds as if it could’ve been around for a century or so. Written initially by fiddler Joe Larose in 1980, according to sources, it was modified at some point a few years later to add a B part.

Combine this with the fact that it’s also a bit crooked (i.e. it doesn’t conform to the classic fiddle tune form, thanks to the little tag thrown in at the 2nd to last measure) and it’s not surprising that there are several variations of this tune that tend to show up in jam circles.

But don’t let that intimidate you! This is not a difficult tune to get under your fingers, and well worth the effort. Plus, it makes for a nice medley when tagged onto last week’s tune.

Winder Slide

aDADE 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.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Dry and Dusty”

Click here to subscribe to the tune of the week (if you’re not already a subscriber) and get a new tune every Friday, plus tabs to all the ones to date.

Different moods call for different music. And the banjo, as the world’s most versatile instrument, can easily accommodate.

Sometimes it’s nice to rip a fiddle breakdown as fast as your wrist will flicker, to set your pulse pounding by bringing out the banjo’s brash, stoccato jangliness.

Other times, it’s nice to slow things down and relish in its sweet and pensive side.

With this week’s tune, “Dry and Dusty”, we’re aiming for sweet and pensive. Yes, you can play it quick if you like, maybe if there’s a fiddler at your side. But played solo, this tune of Ozarkian ancestry sounds great as a slow number, a perfect piece for sitting back and reflecting while your hands provide the appropriate atmosphere.

And, as I think you’ll find, it’s not too difficult a tune to pick up. Just be careful, once you’ve got it up and running, you may lose track of a minute or thirty in dulcet toned banjo reverie.

There are worse things.

Dry and Dusty

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3

Notes on the tab:

Dry and Dusty is typically played in the key of D on the fiddle, so I’ve placed it here in “double D” (aDADE) tuning. However, if playing solo, it’s also fine to play it out of “double C” (gCGCD).

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.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Wandering Boy”

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If you’ve just listened to the above tune and are anywhere within reasonable proximity to a 5-stringed banjo, I defy you to resist the urge to go grab it and start trying to pick it out.

Originally introduced to the wider world as a fiddle tune by Frank Jenkins in 1927, in recent years “Wandering Boy” taken a life of its own as a solo banjo number. I think it’s easy to hear why. It’s an instantly likable and irresistible melody, and fits snugly inside the clawhammer rhythm.

You won’t hear it too often as a jam tune, which means you can feel completely free to learn and play it in any key. It actually works out well either in standard G or double C, but I think the latter tuning puts it in the best light.

Wandering Boy

gCGCD 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.

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