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.
Only one tune I know of starts with the first five notes ascending straight up the D scale…Spotted Pony. Which makes it one of those tunes that’s almost immediately recognizable after it’s kicked off. It also makes for a great first tune to learn in “double D” tuning.
And it’s one of my favorite kind of tunes – relatively simple to play, but sounds great. I imagine this is largely why it’s become such a favorite at old-time jams. I’ve classified it here as Brainjo level 3, but that’s only on account of the very occasional drop thumb.
Who knew the D scale could sound so good?
REED MARTIN says
January 25, 2015 at 7:09 amHow did you get the spotted pony to pose for the entire tune ?
Josh says
January 25, 2015 at 1:50 pmBribery.
Steve says
January 25, 2015 at 2:11 pmJosh,
First off, thank you very much for all of the work you’ve put into this website! I’ve been subscribed to the tune and tab of the week for a little while now and when I go on to access the back-dated tunes, they only go as far back as the Cherokee Shuffle. However, I love your version of Soldier’s Joy and would like to learn it but am unable to access the tab from either the website or from Youtube. I’ve checked the video description but that just has a link to subscribe. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Josh says
January 25, 2015 at 2:35 pmHi Steve – yes, I launched this site after I’d been doing tune of the week for a while, and so am in the process of adding in prior tunes of the week. Anyhow, I just sent you an email so that you can download any of the prior tunes you’d like to.
Fred says
January 26, 2015 at 12:07 amGreat choice, looking forward to getting my banjo out and on this one. Really cannot thank you enough for all the work you do and how much fun we all get out of it.
Thanks Again,
Fred
Josh says
January 26, 2015 at 7:37 pmAbsolutely, Fred. Appreciate the kind words.
neely says
January 26, 2015 at 10:23 pmLove the tune of the week! I don’t learn every tune but I do pick up enough to fill out my playing nicely. Keep up the good work. A slowed down version of some of the more complicated tunes would make them much easier to learn.
Josh says
January 26, 2015 at 11:27 pmThanks, Neely! And I am working on some slowed down versions, so stay tuned 🙂