Banjo Hangout Newest 100 Classical Songs

Hard Times

Stephen Foster — Tue, 7 Feb 2012 10:05:00 CST

"Hard Times" by Stephen Foster, played 2/3-finger style on a Bart Reiter Standard banjo with nylon strings, tuning gDGBD.

Spiffy! ©

kevinwholmes — Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:02:00 CST

"Spiffy!", © Kevin W. Holmes. Gold Tone banjola tuned gCGCD, Yamaha G225 classical guitar, effects. From CD download album "Spiffy", available on iTunes and Amazon.

Shto Mi Milo

Jocko MacNelly — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:49:00 CST

This is a Macedonian folksong that my stepdaughter Abigail and I did as part of a Christmas/Hanukka present for her mom. Abby sings with the Yale Slavic Chorus and has been schooling me in the various GREAT Eastern European choral traditions. We were in a hurry, since in the three hours Madame was out of the house we got the idea, came up with three tunes, rehearsed, recorded and burned CD's of them. So I accompanied using the bottom two (of three) parts, and overdubbed the melody in the intro and third verse, but as soon as I get a minute I'll get a solo tab up. There's a bunch of this stuff that would be gorgeous on the banjo. Oh - and the present was a huge hit.

La Mantovana

Giuseppe Cenci — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:36:00 CST

a Mantovana is a sixteenth century song composed by the Italian tenor Giuseppe Cenci, also known as Giuseppino del Biado, (d. 1616). Its earliest known appearance in print is in del Biado's 1600 collection of madrigals. The melody, later also known as "Ballo di Mantova" or "Aria di Mantova" gained wide currency in Renaissance Europe, being recorded variously as the Scottish “My mistress is prettie,” the Polish “Pod Krakowem,” Spanish "Virgen de la Cueva" and the Ukrainian “Kateryna Kucheryava." It is best-known as the melody of Bedřich Smetana's The Moldau and of the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah. I added the third part, in case old Giuseppe lifted the original riff from a raga, which I - of course - suspect:)

Ave Maria

Schubert/Arr Cryo — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 05:53:00 CST

This is a great piece to demonstrate the added sustain from a banjola. Ave Maria on a five-string. Gold Tone PC Banjola.

Cupid

Sam Cooke — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:58:00 CST

On a banjola. Trying to get the melody correct. Just starting on this in prep for Valentine's Day.

Brahms op. 39 no. 15 in A

J. Brahms/Arr. K. Holmes — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:12:00 CST

"Brahms op. 39 no. 15 in A", Bart Reiter Standard banjo, nylon strings, tuning aEAC#E. Arranged for banjo by Kevin Holmes.

Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming

kevinwholmes — Sat, 3 Dec 2011 10:00:00 CST

"Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming", Grizzly kit banjo tuned aDADE, Rover RM-50 mandolin, violin

Ding Dong Merrily on High

kevinwholmes — Fri, 2 Dec 2011 15:33:00 CST

"Ding Dong Merrily on High", Bart Reiter Standard banjo, tuning gDGBD.

The Holly and the Ivy

kevinwholmes — Thu, 1 Dec 2011 14:48:00 CST

"The Holly and the Ivy", Bart Reiter Standard banjo (gDGBD), violin, Gold Tone banjola (gDGBD), 'cello

Joy to the World

Isaac Watts/G.F. Handel — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:55:00 CST

"Joy to the World", Bart Reiter Standard banjo w/nylon strings, tuning gDGBD.

Bonaparte crossing the rhine

joemac — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:03:00 CST

Bonaparte crossing the Rhine as played by "The Old Grey Dogs" I chose to play this out of double C tuning as i love the bottom end of the banjo in this tuning. Hope you all enjoy i.t

Classical Banjo

pachelbel — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:36:00 CST

canon in D

Jesus Christ is Risen Today

mattbanjo — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:58:00 CST

Classic approach to the banjo

Melodic Banjo, Ollie at day time !

michael staun — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:39:00 CST

A song, i made for my son :-)

Banjo Waltz for Katja

michael staun — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:37:00 CST

this is a waltz i composed for my wife Katja

Banjo First Song !

michael staun — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:35:00 CST

This is a song i made when i got my first banjo, it was a goldtone bgf250, now i play a nechville athena, with a phantom neck.

Banjo Hymn, H¿r det zion for alt din ve

michael staun — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 05:33:00 CST

this is my arrangement of the danish hymn h¿r det zion for alt din ve

Golden Eagle Hornpipe

Glendon Lackey — Wed, 9 Nov 2011 15:56:00 CST

This is me (Glendon Lackey) on the Banjo and Kyle Barnard on the Guitar. Enjoy.

Danish Hymn !

Christian Vestergaard Pedersen — Tue, 8 Nov 2011 22:06:00 CST

I am messing around with a danish hymn !

Bransle de Burgogne #1

Adrian Leroy (1520 - 1598) — Tue, 1 Nov 2011 10:15:00 CST

This is to go with the TAB I uploaded here.

God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen!

Jocko MacNelly — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:23:00 CST

This is from my upcoming collection of Christmas carols for the banjo, due out the beginning of October. 19 old Christmas faves for solo banjo in notation and TAB. It'll be available at my website, and you can download the other MP3s now at CDBaby.com/Jocko. Enjoy! By the way, I'm new to Banjo Hangout, and I LOVE IT! There's more useful information here than I know what to do with!

Building a Tune ~ round 3 Finished

Paul Roberts — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:32:00 CST

This is the completion of my little composing project. Please deposit comments on my thread "Building a Tune" on Sound Off.

Lapitilda

ostonehead — Sat, 6 Aug 2011 11:03:00 CST

Consonance ~ on "The Wood"

Paul Roberts — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:02:00 CST

Wooden banjo: gCGCD Original Recorded without EQ or effects

Ballad #1 for 5-string banjo.

T1T2 — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 10:19:00 CST

I learned this by watching Mary Coons play it a coup[le of hundred times on the legendary documentary "Echos of America". I think it's fairly accurate. It was recorded in the same batch as Salty Dog and I have refined it a little since.

gill town

jimh269b — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:20:00 CST

a tune i made up

forked deer

jimh269b — Mon, 30 May 2011 13:49:00 CST

souped maple blossum

jimh269b — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:13:00 CST

im going to send this tune to joe,he likes this kinda tunes

J.S. Bach Cello Suite 1 Allemande

tmoneygetpaid — Sun, 22 May 2011 18:50:00 CST

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

O'Carolan's draught collab

Bilbo1 — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:08:00 CST

This is a collab between myself, the great Bob Shea and the mighty Joe Mac! I play first, then Bob takes a turn on guitar followed by Joe on the final run. Hope you all enjoy it!

Bach's minuet in G

Bilbo1 — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:16:00 CST

big mud

jimh269b — Sun, 1 May 2011 14:02:00 CST

dougans trip

jimh269b — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 16:59:00 CST

a tune i made for jim dougans

Lady Coventry's Minuet

Lauck — Wed, 2 Mar 2011 12:06:00 CST

From Anne Ford's 'Instructions for the Guitar' of 1760. The 'Guitar' in this case was 6-string Cittern or 'English Guitar', tuned CEGceg. Double-C works nicely for this on the Banjo.

DIEHI,S CREEK

jimh269b — Tue, 1 Mar 2011 15:38:00 CST

this tune is for larence,been a long time coming,i hope you enjoy it

tennesee stud

jimh269b — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:57:00 CST

Smiler Rag

Fred Van Eps — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:32:00 CST

A Little Bit Of Everything

Vess L. Ossman — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:29:00 CST

Nothing is new with the banjo!

My Rose Of Sharon

dlc — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:54:00 CST

Dedicated to my wife, Sharon, and her love of the roses she tends in our garden.

reeds hornpipes

jimh269b — Fri, 4 Feb 2011 13:49:00 CST

a tune i just made up

Bach Cello Suite #1 in G Major Prelude

tmoneygetpaid — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:24:00 CST

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

Bach Cello Ste. #1 in G Major Prelude

J.S. Bach — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 10:42:00 CST

Here's the audio track from the youtube video I posted of myself playing this. Thanks for listening! I've also posted a pdf of the tab and notation here.

Flowers Dreaming

Paul Roberts — Sun, 2 Jan 2011 21:40:00 CST

This is another version of "Dreaming Flower," which used to be "Finished on Christmas." I'm in gDGCD - good 'ole sawmill.

Red Rover March

A. Weight — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:23:00 CST

Straight out of a Banjo Newsletter from the 1970's. Written by A. Weight and arranged by Bill Faulkner. This is true to the tab.

hunters special

jimh269b — Wed, 8 Dec 2010 18:41:00 CST

for rick hunter

chris muriels tune

jimh269b — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:49:00 CST

tune for chris

toms fancy

jimh269b — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:38:00 CST

for a friend

oscars roustabout

jimh269b — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 08:34:00 CST

clifftop theme song

jimh269b — Sun, 7 Nov 2010 10:02:00 CST

Spanish Fandango

5-String Dan — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 20:50:00 CST

I know I already uploaded a version of me playing this, but one more can't hurt. This time, there's a guy on a tenor uke playing with me!

Complete Unknown

Timothy Ryan Fisher — Wed, 3 Nov 2010 10:52:00 CST

Elevator banjo music that I would enjoy being stuck listening to. This tune is based on Like a Rolling Stone but the solo banjo arrangement is original.

Bach Partita #3

Rysher — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:25:00 CST

This is not a perfect take but it has not been edited. This is the first take of several done on my portable 8 track today. Thanks to John Bullard for the arrangement. It took a while memorize starting with the last measure first and working backwards. It still needs to be cleaned it up, it's a little squeaky, because my finger picks where not on just right, but you get the idea. It is fun to play. John is such a master arranger his logic is brilliant. If you want to hear what it is supposed to sound like listen to John's version.

molly sue

jimh269b — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:20:00 CST

a tune i made

smittys tune

jim reed — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 13:56:00 CST

Consonance

Paul Roberts — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:23:00 CST

Original 3-finger picking melody on Gold Tone BC-350+ in double C, capoed at 2nd fret; 5th string tuned to A. Please post comments on Sound Off thread:

Creoles' Dream

Rysher — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:58:00 CST

I recorded this tonight at the Old Town School of Folk Music Concert Hall. I usually dont like drums with banjo but the brushes on the banjo head seam acceptable and conga and Cuban beats have a lot in common with banjo rolls. There might be a real third part but I added one to make it sound more modern at the end. I heard some one play this tune on u tube and it stuck in my head so when this happens I try to record the tune. Hope you like it.

Pulse (in 7)

Mark Sylvester — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:19:00 CST

From my CD, "New Music for Banjo", this piece is for banjo and string quartet.

Annedonia

Zoo — Sun, 8 Aug 2010 10:41:00 CST

A banjo rhapsody

Rondo

Purcell — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:38:00 CST

Jupiter

Holst — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:36:00 CST

Jefferson And Liberty

Dave Raphaelson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:34:00 CST

La Cumparsita

Dave Raphaelson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:33:00 CST

Study number three

Dave Raphaelson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:19:00 CST

Study number two

Dave Raphaelson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:18:00 CST

study number one

Dave Raphaelson — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:17:00 CST

The Nutting Girl

Dave Raphaelson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:49:00 CST

Waltz Of The Swans

Tchaicovsky — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:27:00 CST

The Ten Penny Bit

Dave Raphaelson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:17:00 CST

The Touchstone

Dave Raphaelson — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:13:00 CST

Stewart's Banjo March

S. S. Stewart — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 18:00:00 CST

Converted MIDI rendition of sheet music of an S. S. Stewart's composition titled Stewart's Jubillo(?) March, printed as: "A free sample of S. S. Stewart's Celebrated Banjo Music."

Hard Times, on Van Eps Plectrum

Stephen Foster — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:47:00 CST

Here's a recording I did a couple of days after buying this banjo from the hangout. If you want to see the instrument, it's classified listing 13675. This is a tune I play on 5-string, but it doesn't really need the 5th string. I apologize in advance for the clam at the end. The tone of this banjo makes me think of every pre-1930 classic banjo recording I ever heard. The sustain on the 4th string lasts forever. Soon, I'll be putting a 5-string neck and gut strings on this banjo, but I'll keep the plectrum neck around so I can re-create this sound. The tune was played in double C, with steel strings and bare fingers, and recorded on the internal mics of a Zoom H4. Enjoy.

etude 1

pearcemusic — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:52:00 CST

I wrote this yesterday ... recorded the demo this morning ... MEASURE 8 starts a direct rip off of the famous J.S. Bach cello-lute suite ... for 8 measures or so ... the rest is "in the style of" ....... My daughter, Molly needed something "classical" to play for her "juries" at college ... Pat Cloud is helping her with Chick Corea's "Spain", and she's learning my rendition of Joe Zawinul's "Birdland" ... we were weak in the classical category ...

Dannie Boy recorded live at a nursing home

stevengaub — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 08:47:00 CST

Tacoma Banjo Club play out at a nursing home on St. Patrick's day.

SSL Bluegrass

sunnysidelane — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:16:00 CST

This is a traditional bluegrass melody. A Bolivian charango is used as "Mandolin". The drumplayer in our band comes from Bolivia. He brought this instrument from La Paz last year after returning from a visit to his family in Tarija. The interesting part is, that aside from sounding much like a mandolin, it can be played fingerpicking style. The instrument is tuned in Am6 and has 5 double strings.

(LIVE) Smokin' Remains of Zsa Zsa's Ape

BEEFUS — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:23:00 CST

it are a LIVE vershun frum awhile back

Spotted Pony - by The Boiled Buzzards

Clawdan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:23:00 CST

From Eat At Joe's - The Boiled Buzzards' second album. Great old time tune, great teaching tune. This tune is also the core of my teaching method "Clawhammer Banjo From Scratch" - a Mel Bay publication - available from me at Clawdan.com Enjoy the music and Play Nice! Dan

St Patrick's Day

Rob MacKillop — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:13:00 CST

From an edition I'm puuting to together for Mel Bay called The Early Irish-American Banjo. Will include tab.

Sunflower Dance

DanKnowles — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:56:00 CST

A classical test of the new Bill Rickard Titanium tone ring.

Bach Invention #14

fivestringwomanrepeller — Fri, 8 Jan 2010 16:28:00 CST

From the tab available on this site, but the two parts mixed to one how I saw fit.

The Gentle Sound of Falling Leaves

joemac — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:30:00 CST

By Jens Kruger, one of my favourite tunes by Jens, hope you enjoy it.

Erase the miles

svern — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:59:00 CST

Wife Rita and I doing Erase the miles

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

salvatone — Tue, 8 Dec 2009 13:36:00 CST

The music is from the second chorus of a contata by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) written in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing. The words are from a hundred years earlier, written in 1739 by Charles Wesley. In 1855, after both Wesley and Mendelssohn were dead, Dr. William Cummings put the words and music together in spite of evidence that neither author nor composer would have approved, and voila, we have a Christmas Carol. I play it here on my Nechville Classic Eclipse.

13 - Classical Gas

Janna — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:16:00 CST

Finally! I've just recorded this classical tune played by me on 5-string banjo and now I can share it with you! This is the second song I played on my new Athena banjo :) And I wish you a Happy Christmas Holydays!

America The Beautiful

colingobrien — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:40:00 CST

Solo Banjo Arangement in Bb.

Dill Pickles

KI4PRK — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:48:00 CST

A very popular Ragtime standard from the early 1900's, by Charles L. Johnson in 1906. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. Played with thumb & 3 fingers, sans fingerpicks, in the old Ragtime banjo or Classic banjo style. High Bass (gDGBD) tuning.

Sunny Sunday

vagnp — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:14:00 CST

A happy tune made in my home studio with a sunny day in my mind

Windy Friday

vagnp — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 04:12:00 CST

A happy tune made on a windy friday in my home studio

Cascade

Mark Sylvester — Sat, 3 Oct 2009 15:31:00 CST

Original solo banjo piece from my CD, "New Music for Banjo".

Sweet Thing

Alison Brown — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:16:00 CST

This piece is by Alison Brown and she plays it exquisitely on her Fairweather CD. I believe that she has made tab available for this now, but I learnt it before then. I got Steve Garner to transcribe the piece onto tab for me and then I put it onto TablEdit. Hans Holzherr then reviewed the fingering and I made further changes in order to make it playable. It is a lovely lullaby which starts in the key of F and finished in Bb, with some fascinating chord changes in between. Its a bit of a finger-buster and I can only just manage it now as the pinky on my left hand is becoming increasingly banana shaped due to osteo-arthritis. I play this on my Deering DeLuxe which I set up myself. I shaved the rim to loosen the tone ring and Mike Smith made me a wonderful Kat-Eyz bridge to my specification. I also fitted a 5 Star frosted head and a Price straightline tailpiece which I set more or less at its highest position.

Bach Em Bouree

J S Bach — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:18:00 CST

This is from the Bach Lute Suite No 1 and played on my Huber Roanoke.

O'Carolan's Concerto

Turlough O'Carolan — Thu, 2 Jul 2009 01:35:00 CST

Written by the blind Irish harpist, Turlough O'Carolan (1670 - 1738), this piece was his attempt to combine some classical forms into his more traditionally Irish music. Also called "Mrs Power", it is said that Turlough, very much a ladies' man, composed this to win her affections against a rival who was an Italian classical composer.

Shrouds of Avalon

Shilohbanjoman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:00 CST

Ever played a role playing video game? Well this is my attempt at writing some music that would suit such a game. Hope you enjoy it.

The Spanish Fandango

5-String Dan — Wed, 6 May 2009 12:18:00 CST

I kind of mess up at the end, but I think that overall, this is a decent recording. Of course, I may just be a little biased...

Trio #2 movement 1

Mark Sylvester — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 06:10:00 CST

Original chamber music for banjo, viola and bass, from my CD, "New Music for Banjo".

Leo Brouwer Etude No.6

Leo Brouwer — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:52:00 CST

This is a modern classical etude written by film score composer, Leo Brouwer. It has an almost hypnotic quality. This is a good piece to work on if you're also a banjo player, since the right hand patterns are similar to banjo rolls. It was recorded on the Taylor as well.

J.S. Bach's Bourree from the 1st Lute Suite

J.S. Bach — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:45:00 CST

This piece is an excellent example of Baroque era two-part counterpoint. There two lines being played at once, each having it's own melodic significance. This piece was also performed using the Taylor guitar.

Bourree

Robert De Visee — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:36:00 CST

This is a nice little Bourree by Robert De Visee. It is another Renaissance period piece. Here I am using the Taylor Nylon Series guitar.

Le Rossignal for two Guitars

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:17:00 CST

This is an anonymous work of the renaissance period. The title means "The Nightingale." This is a beautiful piece in that the two guitars echo the melody line as if one Nightingale were calling to another. It is one of my favorite pieces. I perform both parts.

Prelude No. 1 for Solo Cello by Bach: Guitar

J.S. Bach — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:53:00 CST

This is J.S. Bach's famous cello prelude performed on guitar by myself.