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(REMINDER: The “Getting Started with Fretless & Gourd Banjo” Workshop will be held Mon., Dec 17 at 2pm EST in the new Brainjo Virtual Classroom. Click here to learn more, and see what workshops are up next.)
It may come to you as a surprise that Angelina Baker hasn’t officially been a tune of the week installment. Why? Because it’s a tune just about every banjo player plays – often one of the first learned in “double C” (or “double D”) tuning.
I’ve recently been adapting a lot of the classic clawhammer repertoire for 2 finger thumb lead for the fingerstyle course, as having familiar material makes it that much easier to pick up.
In fact, you’ll hear that 2 finger version in this week’s video, presented as a duet of the two styles.
(RELATED: If you’re a clawhammer banjoist looking to try your “hand” at fingerpicking, including old time 2 and 3 finger, click here to check out the fingerstyle course.)
The rendition played most of the time these days – and the one played here – I believe is a mash-up of several versions.
While the illustrious Stephen Foster published a song of the same name (“Angeline the Baker”), its melody bears almost no resemblance to this one. And the story of how the name of that song got mapped onto this fiddle tune appears to have been lost to history.
By the way, if you play clawhammer, and you’ve never tried “double C” tuning (or double D, which is the same tuning, just tuned 2 frets up to place it in the key of D), this is a great tune to start with (note that it’s a Brainjo level 2).
(NOTE: For those considering acquiring a Brainjo banjo, the banjo played in this video is a “Hobart” model. Click here if you’d like to learn more, or claim one in the next batch.)
“Angelina Baker”
aDADE tuning, Brainjo level 2
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.
[RELATED: 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.
Click here for a current list of all the clawhammer songs and tunes currently available inside of The Vault
View the Brainjo Course Catalog
