We’re living in a golden age of banjo making it seems. The number of skilled craftsmen putting out gorgeous playing and sounding banjos seems to be growing all the time.

For those of us afflicted with Banjo Acquisition Syndrome, living in a moment like this and still maintaining a positive bank balance requires Herculean amounts of willpower.

Up until recently, I’d been doing well.

And then temptation struck in the form of a Cedar Mountain banjo up for sale in the Banjo Hangout classified section. Specifically, a Cedar Mountain banjo with an integral Rosewood tone right, offered at a price too good to overlook.

I’d known for a few years that this particular combination of materials produced a tone I love – a round, woody, and bell-like voice not found in my current stable of banjos (and I love all of them, don’t get me wrong!). So I caved.

I’m only human, after all.

When it arrived, it was every bit the banjo I thought it would be, and more.

One of the first things that fell out when I grabbed it for the first time was this week’s tune: “Green Willis.” Who knows why, perhaps because it affords so many opportunities to hear the growl of that throaty open fourth string.

Green Willis is a notey little bugger, with enough going on to keep both hands busy. And this one is arranged in full-on melodic style, which in my opinion suits this tune best.

Green Willis

aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

For the last installment of the week, things got a bit rough and rowdy with everyone’s favorite rags to riches ode to the mountain man: “The Ballad of Jed.”

So, to help restore order and balance to the universe, we’ll be taking it nice and easy this week with the tune “Waterbound” (also known as “Stay All Night”).

Not that you can’t get rowdy with this tune – it’s often played uptempo at a pace for dancer driving, but, as I hope you’ll find, it also sounds quite good slowed down a bit. Which makes it a little easier for adding your voice to the mix, too.

My favorite version of this Round Peak classic comes from one of my favorite albums of all time, the Paul Brown and Mike Seeger collaboration “Way Down in North Carolina.”

For this version, I’ve taken it down from it’s usual key of A setting to the more vocal-friendly key of G (so just capo 2 if it comes up in a jam, as your fiddlin’ friends will be playing it in A).

In the arrangement below, I’ve tried to include several of the variations I play in the video in both the A and B parts.

Waterbound

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 3

Notes on the tab: I tried to include the variations I play on the A and B part in the tab above.

Notes in the shaded box are to be played as “skip notes”. Check out this video for a detailed explanation (with exercises)  on skip notes and “syncopated skips.”

The number of tunes that the average US citizen recognizes on the banjo can be counted on one hand.

And chances are, if you find yourself playing your 5 string in public and a random passerby musters the courage to make a request, chances are it’ll be one of those tunes.

Said passerby won’t care that all of those tunes were originally played 3-finger style and not clawhammer, nor will they likely be interested in you enlightening them as to the stylistic differences between the two. You, sir, have a banjo in your hands, and are expected to know banjo songs.

The Ballad of Jed Clampett, a.k.a the theme song to the Beverly Hillbillies TV show, is one of those songs (for those unfamiliar with it, The Beverly Hillbillies was a TV show that aired on American TV from 1962-1971. It was about a poor mountain family who strike it rich by finding oil on their property, and naturally end up moving to Beverly Hills, California to be amongst fell rich folk. Clashing of cultures and hilarity ensues.).

So for this week’s tune, I’ve taken this popular Scruggs classic and adapted it for clawhammer banjo.

Love em or hate em, these iconic banjo songs are virtually guaranteed to bring smiles to people’s faces. So if evoking smiles is something you enjoy, I think it’s worth knowing em.

The Ballad of Jed Clampett

gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 3-4

Notes on the tab

Skip Notes: The notes denoted as a shaded box are “skip” notes, meaning they’re not actually sounded by the picking finger. Instead, you continue the clawhammer motion with your picking hand, but “skip” playing the note by not striking it (this is a technique used to add space and syncopation). The fret number you see in the shaded box is the suggested note to play should you elect to strike the string.

Addendum

By request, here’s the bluegrassy tag lick I play at the end:

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