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Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Over the Waterfall”

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.


One of the questions I receive on a recurring basis from folks has to do with “alternate” tunings (the alternate in parentheses since the term implies there’s a primary tuning that you’re deviating from, which is a matter of debate).

Specifically, why do I use them? The subtext here is can you please stick to one tuning to make things a little easier? 🙂

Those who’ve been around old-time banjo for any length of time surely recognize the tunings used in the Tune of the Week tunes as familiar friends.

But for those somewhat new to clawhammer style, the use of multiple tunings on the banjo may seem a bit confusing, and perhaps intimidating. This is especially true if you played guitar prior to learning banjo.

With the guitar, there is a “standard” tuning out of which most everything is played, and most guitarists seem to view alternate tunings as an esoteric consideration (even though they can sound incredible on that instrument as well).

Not so for the banjo.

I’ll be covering this subject a bit more in depth in the near future, but now let me say this: please do not be intimidated by alternate tunings. They make you sound better, and they make playing easier.

What’s more, you’ll find that I really just use two primary tunings for the majority of my tunes:

1) gDGBD, aka “standard” G, for G tunes. For A tunes, I raise this up two half steps to aEAC#E (since the pitch relationship between strings is the same in each of these, they aren’t viewed as separate tunings; merely, the same tuning adjusted for different keys), and

2) gCGCD, aka “double C”, for C tunes. For D tunes, I raise this up two half steps to aDADE, aka “double D”.

There are other tunings I use occasionally as well, but the above two are the mainstays.

And if I were forced to choose just one tuning to use for the rest of my days, it’d probably be the 2nd (double C/D), the tuning of choice for today’s tune: “Over the Waterfall.”

Learn From My Folly

When I first started playing clawhammer style banjo, I too was skeptical and apprehensive about alternate tunings. I had two strikes against me: I’d learned guitar before the banjo, AND I’d learned 3-finger bluegrass style before trying my hand at clawhammer (pun partially intended).

In 3-finger bluegrass banjo, gDGBD is considered the standard, thanks to the towering influence of Earl Scruggs on the genre.

But when I first got the nerve to move by banjo to “double C” tuning, it took me all of about 1.5 seconds to realize the folly of my prior apprehension. My banjo sounded amazing, as if it had just awoken for the first time. In fact, I was so worried I would lose that glorious sound that I didn’t re-tune for about 6 months!

So, once again, don’t be afraid of the alternate tunings. They exist for very good reason.

And today’s tune, “Over the Waterfall”, wouldn’t sound half as good without them.

Over the Waterfall

aDADE tuning, Brainjo Level 3

Over the waterfall clawhammer banjo tab

Notes on the tab:

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my [free] video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out my complete guide on reading banjo tabs.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: Say Darlin’ Say

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.


A few weeks ago, with the release of Big Liza as a tune of the week, I mentioned that my daughter Jules and I were busy rehearsing for our first full public performance.

That performance of The Unicorn Mountaineers took place late yesterday afternoon(the band logo below was Jules’s brilliant design – my mustache is a bit of artistic license on her part). Jules’s first show was almost literally a trial by fire, as the temperature was in the solid mid-90s at start time.

The Unicorn Mountaineers

But I’m pleased to report that the event was a success. No tears were shed. No limbs were lost. The audience appeared to be enjoying themselves. And we were invited back to do it again.

This week’s tune, Say Darlin’ Say, is another song from that set, and it has bit of special significance for us.

You may recognize the lyrics from the classic lullaby “Hush Little Baby”, one my wife and I have sung many a time to both our kids when tucking them in at night (albeit to a different melody). Say Darlin’ Say was also the first song Jules and I ever played in front of an audience (back in 2011).

I tend to vary what I do a bit each time through on this tune, but have tried to tab out a few of the variations I typically play (the melody itself covers 6 measures, so below you have 3 variations).

Say Darlin’s Say

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3 

 

Clawhammer Banjo tab for Say Darlin Say

Notes on the tab:

Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my [free] video lesson on the subject.

For more on reading tabs in general, check out my complete guide on reading banjo tabs.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Old Mother Flanagan”

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.

 

Recipe for the ideal  jam tune:

1. A strong, memorable melody line so that those unfamiliar can pick it up quickly.

2. Enough notes to keep things interesting, but not so many that half the participants are forced to surrender their instruments defeat.

3. A strongly suggested chord progression, so that the guitarists and bassists can readily create a suitable harmonic atmosphere.

4. Sounds best at a moderate tempo, so that participants of all abilities can keep with the pace.

5. Squared tune structure. No extra or odd measures, or other surreptitious crookedness.

Mix these ingredients together and you get a tune like today’s classic jam booster, “Old Mother Flanagan”.

Turns out it also makes for a great solo clawhammer tune, and one I suspect you’ll have under your fingers in short order.

Old Mother Flanagan

aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3

old mother flanagan clawhammer banjo tab

old mother flanagan clawhammer banjo tab part 2

For more on reading tabs in general, check out my complete guide on reading banjo tabs.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Tune and Tab of the Week: “Pink Kitchen Girl”

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.


Years ago, while my daughter – now 10 – was still a toddler, I was sitting in her room noodling around on a mandolin. It was just before her bedtime, and I was letting her play around in her toy kitchen for a bit before commencing with our bedtime routine.

Her pink kitchen, that is.

Naturally, her being a girl and all, we’d chosen toy appliances that were pink. Many an imaginary muffin, cupcake, and hot dog topped with sprinkles were brought to life in that kitchen, of which I would imaginarily devour with gusto.

That evening, with mandolin in my hand, I decided to compose some background music to her kitchen adventures.

With the tune completed, all that was left was to give it an appropriate name.

As you know, “Kitchen Girl” was already taken. So “Pink Kitchen Girl” was born.

So, for the first time in the Clawhammer Tune of the Week series, I have an original composition for you. May visions of the most delicious imaginary muffins, cupcakes, and hot dogs with sprinkles fill your mind as the notes spring from your banjo.

Pink Kitchen Girl

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Pink Kitchen Girl clawhammer banjo tab 1

Pink Kitchen Girl clawhammer tab 2

The notes in parentheses are “skip notes”, meaning they aren’t sounded by the picking finger (for a full tutorial on these, go here). And for more on reading tabs in general, check out my complete guide on reading banjo tabs.

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

View the Brainjo Course Catalog

Clawhammer Core Repertoire Series: “Simple Gifts”

Though the majority of the classic clawhammer repertoire consists of tunes – i.e. melodies without words – there are certain songs that sound splendid when clawhammerated, and have slowly worked there way into the hands of frailers.

“Simple Gifts” is one of those songs. Originally a Shaker hymn that was subsequently popularized by composer Aaron Copeland, ultimately becoming one of those timeless melodies you know without knowing how you know it.

Step 1: Know thy Melody

One great thing about learning a song is that they have words! Words that tap into our innate linguistical capacities and thereby greatly enhance our memorizational abilities.

In the video above, I was fortunate enough to recruit my daughter Jules to sing those words for us. Once you’ve listened enough that you can sing along (which some of you may be able to do from the get-go), then you’re ready to find them pretty notes on your instrument.

 

Step 2: Find the Melody Notes

This tune seems tailor made for double D tuning (or double C if you’d prefer), so go ahead and bring your banjo to aDADE. Once you’re there, see if you can locate the melody notes on your fretboard.

Here’s what I hear as the essential melody:

https://corerepertoire.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/simple-melody.mp3

 

And here’s that melody represented in tab:

Simple Gifts basic melody

 

Step 3: Add Some Clawhammery Stuff

To clawhammerize that core melody, let’s go ahead and play all the melody notes that occur on the downbeat (the “bum” stroke in the “bum-ditty”) and follow with a ditty strum while fingering the appropriate chord tones (relevant chords listed above the tab).

Simple Gifts basic clawhammer 1Simple Gifts basic clawhammer 2

 

And here’s what it sound like:

https://corerepertoire.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/simple-basicclaw.mp3

 

Step 4: Embellish to Taste

Now it’s time to take things a bit further should you so desire. Perhaps first priority is to see if you can add in a few more melody notes from our core melody we worked out earlier. There’s a bit of melodic space in this song, which frees you up a bit to add any additional flourishes (triplets, Galax lick, etc.).

Don’t get too carried away here – it is called Simple Gifts, after all…

You can hear my dressed up version during the banjo solos in the video above. Here’s what it looks like in tab:

Simple Gifts clawhammer banjo tab

Go to the Core Repertoire Series Table of Contents

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