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Several months ago when my friend and fiddling companion Justin Manglitz and I set out to create our track list for upcoming album “Round Peak, Georgia”, the hardest part of the whole thing was deciding what tunes to include. Or, rather, what tunes to leave out!

I love virtually every tune that’s associated with the Round Peak tradition, and have come to know many of them like old friends. Picking which ones to put on the album was like choosing your favorite child.

But John Brown’s Dream, that was a no brainer.

It’s one of the most iconic tunes from that region, plus it’s one that really shines when the fiddle and banjo are marching in lockstep.

And playing in lockstep with a fiddler is in my opinion one of the great thrills of playing the banjo.

Yet, I know that not everyone has easy access to an ace fiddler like Justin to play along with, which is in part why I created the “Banjo Players Edition” package as a supplement to the album. Something for all the banjo players out there.

With the tab arrangements for my banjo part in all the tunes, plus solo fiddle tracks at performance and slowed speeds, it provides you the chance to take my spot in the banjo-fiddle duet (it’s also included as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course).

I’ve personally spent many hours playing along with recordings and backing tracks like this, and consider it to be instrumental (pun partially intended) to my own musical development.

The New “Georgia Jays” Shirt

Lastly, a few folks spied the new “Georgia Jays” shirt I was wearing in the video last week, and asked where they can grab one. They’re currently available through Amazon – you can click here or on the image below to get one.

Below you’ll find not just the tab for this tune, but also the solo fiddle tracks at performance and slowed speed if you want to play alongside Justin (be sure to turn up the volume so you can hear it easily over your banjo). And if you end up enjoying yourself, then you might check out the “Round Peak, Georgia” Players Edition.

 

John Brown’s Dream – Solo Fiddle – Performance Speed:

 

John Brown’s Dream – Solo Fiddle – Slowed Speed:

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John Brown’s Dream

aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Interested In Simpler Arrangements for the Tune of the Week?

Many of you have asked for some slightly simplified arrangements for the tunes in the Tune of the Week series. I’m pleased to report that Level 2 versions of the Tune of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course (along with many others!). And, of course, all of the main Tune of the Week arrangements are there as well. Click here to learn more–>

 

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.

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The year was 2002. Late winter, I believe.

On Christmas 2001 I’d received a banjo, a Deering Goodtime. It was also the year of my medical internship.

The place I was training had recently been sanctioned by the accrediting board for violating the rules on intern work hours, and were still trying to figure out how to make it appear as if we were working under the newly established 90 hours a week requirement.

Needless to say, my schedule didn’t leave a whole lot of time for banjo practice.

I’d messed around with my new banjo a bit over the short Christmas holiday, but once the daily grind began anew, it was soon pushed aside.

And then one evening, driving back from the hospital, I slipped in the “Foggy Mountain Banjo” CD by Flatt and Scruggs. I’d just bought it, and was still listening through it for the first time.

The song Home Sweet Home came on.

Mind blown.

I didn’t know a banjo could sound like that. I still even remember the stretch of road I was driving on. My lacrimal glands may or may not have secreted a drop of saline solution that ran down my maxilla.

I got home, took the banjo came out of the closet, and I decided come hell or high water I was gonna learn how to play it. I just had to learn how to make music like that (and I also had to figure out how to learn with very little time for practice….).

I’ve been playing “Home Sweet Home” ever since. I first learned it Scruggs style, like Earl.

But it makes a great clawhammer number, too, fitting perfectly into double C tuning, easily allowing for a two octave variation, which you can hear in the video, and which I’ve tabbed out below.

What about you? Was there a particular song that set you going? If so, please share it in the comments below.

Home Sweet Home

gCGCD tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes, which are used often in this arrangement (especially the low variation) to created “syncopated skips”. 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.

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.

Like I said yesterday, the chain of events that resulted in yesterday’s holiday video extravaganza all started innocently enough with a little request for a clawhammer arrangement of “Carol of the Bells”.

With that now out of my system (much to my future teenage daughter’s embarrassment), it’s time to get back to the business of Tune of the Week.

As is the case with several of the holiday classics, this tune offers us an opportunity to play out of G minor tuning. All that’s required to get there from standard G is just to tune the 2nd string down a half step to B flat. And it gives us a chance to get some reps in playing in 3/4 time signature.

I’ve made some slight modifications to the structure of the song in order to make it a bit more suitable as a solo banjo arrangement.

Carol of the Bells

gDGBbD 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.