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If it appears as if I had a good time in the creation of this installment of the Song of the Week, it’s because I did.

After all, how many sanctioned opportunities in life to you get to deliver your  your best yodeling/train whistle impersonation. So when the occasion presents itself, one must be ready to take full advantage!

I was first introduced to this song via the Highwoods String Band, through their “Feed Your Babies Onions” album, which heavily influenced the version I present here.

I’ve since learned that it was originally written by Bob Nolan of the Sons of the Pioneers (who first recorded it in 1937), that it was a favorite of Pete Seeger’s, and that it was the theme song for the movie Raising Arizona.

With a protagonist who’s riding the rails out west, this song is particularly well suited to the pulsating sound of clawhammer banjo. Be sure to drive this train hard!

And special thanks to Ryan Marshall for suggesting this as a Song of the Week!

(RELATED: Breakthrough Banjo members can now suggest new tunes and songs. Click here go make your suggestion).

Way Out There

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). For this particular song, what I play as backup could also work as a solo break (it’s just an octave down from the other solo).

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

• 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”

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 To Get The Tab

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl (or vice versa). Girl spurns boy. Boy loses all hope for the future, rendering the remaining of his days empty and meaningless.

In the great catalog of song theme categories, surely none takes up more space than that of unrequited love. It may be the oldest song archetype known to man.

Failing to include a song on the subject in one’s own personal catalog of material would be a glaring oversight.

Not to fear, “Bury Me Beneath the Willow” is here. It’s not just any old song about unrequited love (of which the willow tree is apparently an ancient symbol), mind you, but one of the earliest recorded songs on the topic.

It happens to also work out very nicely in standard G tuning, and, in my opinion, sounds best with only a minimum of fanciness. In fact, not a single thumb was dropped in the making of this arrangement (hence the Brainjo level 2 designation).

Be sure to include an extra dose of lonesome in your voice when you sing it.

Bury Me Beneath the Willow

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 2

Notes on the Tab

In this particular song, I play the same thing while singing as I do on the banjo “solos,” which is why there’s no separate vocal backup arrangement.

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

• 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”

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 To Get The Tab

By the time you receive this, the fireworks will have all detonated (well, mostly….).

The poolside grilled burgers and hot dogs will have all been digested (well, mostly…).

And noteworthy memories from another 4th of July celebration will have begun their migration to long term storage in the hippocampi.

For those who are stateside, hopefully your celebratory fervor hasn’t been snuffed out entirely, and you can humor one last gasp of nationalistic pride, delivered by none other than America’s instrument. Included in the video are iconic images of the American landscape that reportedly inspired Katherine Lee Bates to pen the words to “America the Beautiful” back in 1893  (I even wore my Millenium Falcon shirt with the red, white, and blue streaks of exhaust to commemorate the occasion).

America the Beautiful

gDGBD tuning (key of C), Brainjo level 3-4

Notes on the Tab

In this particular song, I play the same thing while singing as I do on the banjo “solos,” which is why there’s no separate vocal backup arrangement.

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

• 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”

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.