Key of A – aEAC#E (or G tuning gDGBD – capo 2)
This is a GREAT tune but not an easy or straightforward one. Crooked, 3 parts, short third part … lots of notes and other cool stuff to work on. The oldest source recording for this one is from fiddler William H. Stepp and it can be found on several recordings (Rounder’s “American Fiddle Tunes” and Music of Kentucky – volume 1) as well as at the Digital Library of Appalachia. Dan loves the Red Hot’s version from their self-titled album from some years back. Solid banjo playing there by Tom Riccio with even MORE variation than me. And Bruce Molsky has a cool banjo/fiddle duet version on his "Contented Must Be" recording. We're sure there are more but those should point you in the right direction.
You can find the tab for this one in Dan's book, Old Time Festival Tunes for Clawhammer Banjo (Melbay 20313 and its fiddle companion 21023). In the Clawhammer version you will find 2 lines of tab (basic and advanced) as well as a standard notation line. The fiddle version has 2 lines of standard notation (basic and advanced) as well as a line of mandolin/fiddle tablature for those not yet reading the dots.
Feel free to post any questions you have on it, remark on sections you would like clarified or things you might like added. Yes even the things you don’t like are fair game. It grows the tune and the community when you know what you like and don’t like as you build your own style.
You can purchase the video lesson (for unlimited streaming and download) here on the Banjo Hangout for $6.
Feel free to post any questions you have on it, remark on sections you would like clarified or things you might like added. Yes even the things you don’t like are fair game. It grows the tune and the community when you know what you like and don’t like as you build your own style.
It would be great to hear some of your versions so far so post them here for all to hear!