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“You gotta hear this one song, it’ll change your life I swear.”
Those were the words spoken by actress Natalie Portman as she placed a pair of headphones over co-star Zach Braff’s ears to play this song in the cult hit Garden State, a romantic comedy about twenty-something aimlessness.
However, this does happen to be one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands, The Shins.
And when I do still venture into the land of music recorded by still breathing musicians, I venture to their catalog not infrequently. “New Slang” is probably their biggest commercial hit, thanks in no small part due to its inclusion on the Garden State soundtrack.
The fact that it’s a wonderful piece of songwriting didn’t hurt, either.
Without further adieu, here’s another installment in the “Contemporary Clawhammer” series.
New Slang
gCGCD tuning, Brainjo level 3-4
Banjo Solos
Notes on the Tab
In the tab above, you’ll note I’ve tabbed out the two solo parts and the “vocal backup” (what I play while I’m singing). The lead break for this song mirrors the lead guitar part on the original song.
Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes – 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.
PRIOR SONG OF THE WEEK EPISODES
- Episode 1: “Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow”
- Episode 2: “Gumtree Canoe”
- Episode 3: “Crawdad Hole”
- Episode 4: “Oh Susanna”
- Episode 5: “Freight Train”
- Episode 6: “Grandfather’s Clock”
- Episode 7: “Hop High Lulu”
- Episode 8: “Been All Around This World”
- Episode 9: “I’ll Fly Away”
- Episode 10: “Leaving Home”
- Episode 11: “Poor Orphan Child”
- Episode 12: “Mr. Tambourine Man”
- Episode 13: “Swanee River”
- Episode 14: “Big Sciota”
- Episode 15: “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms”
- Episode 16: “Darling Corey”
- Episode 17: “Battle Hymn of the Republic”
- Episode 18: “America the Beautiful”
- Episode 19: “Bury Me Beneath the Willow”
- Episode 20: “Way Out There”
Level 2 arrangements and video demos for the Tune (and Song!) of the Week tunes are now available as part of the Breakthrough Banjo course.
View the Brainjo Course Catalog
