Clawhammer Song of the Week: “Deep River Blues”

I remember the first time I heard Doc Watson play “Deep River Blues” on guitar.

Up to that point, I was already a fan of Doc’s flatpicking. Every fiddle tune he played on guitar became the definitive version in my mind. Perfection.

But “Deep River Blues” clearly wasn’t flatpicking! And it was incredible.

It sounded like a full band was playing, yet I knew it was just Doc and his guitar. I had no idea how he did it, but I loved it. It was even better than flatpicking (it would be several years before I cracked the code of country blues fingerpicking).

It turns out there are a lot of similarities between country blues fingerpicking and clawhammer.

Both provide a rich and complete musical texture, with rhythm and melody all wrapped into a single package. And lots of opportunities for syncopation.

So no wonder I enjoy them both so much.

And I enjoy trying to adapt songs I’ve first learned for fingerstyle guitar to clawhammer banjo (including some prior MJH classics like Corrina, Stocktime, and Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me, all of which are available in the Breakthrough Banjo Vault). 

Note that the tab for this song is Brainjo Level 4, meaning it’s on the advanced side of things. If you’re in the beginner to intermediate stage, don’t be discouraged if you find a bit too challenging right now  – use it as inspiration for what to look forward to as your skills develop (I’ll also be demonstrating some simpler ways of playing it as part of the Breakthrough Banjo Tune of the Week this week).