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Despite popular culture’s attempts to pigeonhole it, I think the banjo is one of the most versatile instruments around. With the number of playing styles, tunings, setup possibilities, etc. you’d be hard pressed to find an instrument capable of a fitting in so well with such a variety of styles and moods.

This week’s tune, played out of the “A modal” tuning (aEADE, or gDGCD (“G modal) with a capo at the 2nd fret)) provides us with another opportunity to showcase that versatility. Raise one string from standard A tuning – a tuning that’s very well suited for bringing out the bright and joyful qualities of the banjo – and you’re instantly transported into a completely different world. A world where the sounds are ancient, mysterious, and brooding.

According to my research, Kitchen Girl was first “collected” by folklorist Alan Jabbour from fiddler Henry Reed of Galax, Virginia. It was then recorded by Jabbour’s “Hollow Rock String Band”, and it seems the rest was history. Many others followed suit, and it made its way into jam circles in short order.

It’s also one of those tunes that sounds great a variety of tempos, and with enough melodic breathing room to allow all those modal banjo tones to waft into the sonic ether.

In other words, no real need to get too speedy or fancy! 🙂

(p.s. – thanks to all for the kind words about last week’s tune with my daughter Jules. As you can imagine, getting to perform with her is a unique thrill for me, and I can’t express enough how much your words of encouragement and appreciation to her means to me.)

Kitchen Girl

aEADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

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.

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.

Kyle Creed’s sound is one of the most uniquely identifiable amongst all the legends of old-time banjo. His tone alone is unmistakeable, so sought after he’s almost solely responsible for the proliferation of scooped banjo necks.

But his style, and the choices he makes on the banjo, are equally compelling. Sweet and lyrical. Economical and seemingly straightforward, but with hidden complexities that only reveal themselves upon closer inspection.

A few days ago I was listening to his Liberty album when the song “Big Liza” grabbed my ears. It’s not first time that’s happened, yet somehow it had escaped my repertoire until now.

Clearly that needed to change.

As it happens, my daughter Jules and I are in the midst of preparing a set for an upcoming performance, and I thought this song would make a perfect addition. So the two of us set to work on it, the results of which can be heard in the video.

Though I play a few variations along the way in my rendition, I’ve kept the tab pretty true to how Kyle plays it. There are a couple of ways to get that signature roll across the strings that appears in the 10th and 14th measure, and I’ve tabbed out both. The first, as in measure 10, is to use the “Galax lick” by executing a slow strum across the strings and then following it with a thumb on the 5th.

The other is to drag the picking finger (indicated with the letter “M” for middle) across strings 1 through 3, a move that was popular in the minstrel style. To my ear, this sounds like what Kyle does. Either way sounds good.

Also, in the video I’m tune to the key of D#, or up a half step from “double D”.

Big Liza Jane

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

For info on how to interpret the tabs, check out my “How to Read Banjo Tabs” post.