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While the recent proliferation of fiddle-driven clawhammering might lend one to think otherwise, there’s a long history of singing clawhammer banjoists.
In fact, arguably two of the most prominent clawhammer banjo celebrities – Louis “Grandpa” Jones and Dave “Stringbean” Akeman – both were singing clawhammer players (and both cast members of the hit variety show “Hee Haw”).
Both were also known for their driving, pedal to the medal approach to playing that whipped audiences into a frenzy, but which you seldom hear these days.
My point being there’s so much richness in the world of banjo, and I love ALL of it.
And one of my missions is to help keep all of it alive and thriving, to make sure the entire spectrum is adequately represented, and to break down these artificial barriers we’ve created between “old time,” “bluegrass,” “clawhammer,” “minstrel,” “fingerpicking,” “melodic,” and so on (expect more on this front in the coming year!).
These distinctions too often impose an unnecessary limitation that cuts folks off from fully exploring all that the banjo has to offer.
Along those lines, you’ll also find in today’s song a mix of down and up-picking (i.e. clawhammer and fingerstyle), including demonstrations of both 2 and 3 finger techniques.
Speaking of Grandpa Jones, he’s the author of this week’s song “Eight More Miles To Louisville,” which he first recorded in 1947 (click here for a clip of him playing it).
Lastly, my daughter Jules makes a return to the Song of the Week series, providing some lovely harmonies on the chorus. Hopefully you’ll be seeing more of her in the coming year!
(RELATED: For those interested in learning how to pick the banjo in all directions, this month members of the Breakthrough Banjo course for either clawhammer or fingerstyle can sign up for the other course (i.e. those in clawhammer can register for fingerstyle as well, or vice versa, and get 2 months of the second course for free).
Eight More Miles To Louisville
gDGBD tuning, Brainjo level 3
Notes on the Tab
In this arrangement, I’ve tabbed out the part I play in the banjo “solo,” as well as the vocal backup I play on the banjo while singing.
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”
- Episode 21: “New Slang”
- Episode 22: “I Saw the Light”
- Episode 23: “Amazing Grace”
- Episode 24: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
- Episode 25: “Yankee Doodle”
- Episode 26: “Budapest”
- Episode 27: “Wildwood Flower”
- Episode 28: “Paradise”
- Episode 29: “Mountain Dew”
- Episode 30: “Blue Tail Fly”
- Episode 31: “Otto Wood”
- Episode 32: “Down on the Corner”
- Episode 33: “City of New Orleans”
- Episode 34: “Big Rock Candy Mountains”
- Episode 35: “Come to the Bower”
- Episode 36: “Old Kentucky Home”
- Episode 37: “Long Journey Home”
- Episode 38: “Dixie”
- Episode 39: “Hard Times”
- Episode 40: “Corrina Corrina”
- Episode 41: “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain”
- Episode 42: “Johnson Boys”
- Episode 43: “Bad Moon Rising”
- Episode 44: “Reuben’s Train”
- Episode 45: “Let the Mermaid’s Flirt With Me”
- Episode 46: “Rocky Top”
- Episode 47: “Groundhog”
- Episode 48: “Lazy John”
- Episode 49: “The Gambler”
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.
Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault
View the Brainjo Course Catalog
