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Old Joe has been patiently waiting in the wings for his time in the spotlight.
Alas, it’s finally his moment.
Of course, he’s had more than his fair share of attention. He’s a fixture at old time and bluegrass jams alike, and everything in between, with countless recorded versions by professional musicians.
So Joe was ok with sharing the stage for a while.
But this is one of those tunes that, if you’re caught with a banjo in your hands, you’re just kind of expected to know.
Melodically speaking, Joe isn’t all that complicated, which gives us a bit of space to play.
I like to play around with the rhythm a bit, inserting a healthy dose of syncopation, which means you’ll find a few “syncopated skips” sprinkled throughout.
Old Joe Clark
aEAC#E tuning, Brainjo level 3-4
Notes on the tab:
Notes in parentheses are “skip” notes. To learn more about these, check out my video lesson on the subject.
For more on reading tabs in general, check out this complete guide to reading banjo tabs.
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. Learn more about it here.
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Tim says
May 2, 2016 at 12:19 amClassic! Thanks
Mark Bliss says
May 2, 2016 at 12:41 amA favorite that I most desire to conquer and make a part of my repertoire. In time.
So glad you have chosen this, and though your interpretation is a bit “untraditional,” I totally dig it.
No need to stick to the straight and narrow, this is a fun little tune!
Steve P says
May 2, 2016 at 2:54 pmCould you please write sometime about how you think about playing an intro to a tune?… the measure or two before the tune begins is what I’m talking about.
I’d like to get figure out how to formulate that lead-up to get the cadence and feel of the song where it needs to be from the get go. Do you have a method for what you play there?
Mike Landau says
May 3, 2016 at 8:04 pmNo doubt about it. The drop thumbing makes the tune alot more interesting. Makes it sound like so much more music is going on than just playing it ‘straight’ the way I was doing. Thanks for livening up a perrenial favourite!