Lew H - Posted - 08/13/2014:  21:57:45

My son, a fiddler, wanted me to learn this tune.  I was completely lost on it for some time, until at Suwannee Banjo Camp, Mark (Clawgrass) Johnson told me he tunes his banjo to A minor to play it. I tried that tuning, and everything fell into place.   My picking is not as clean or fancy as his, but sometimes I'm able to play all the way through the tune with only minor glitches. 

Jerusalem Ridge

Bill Rogers - Posted - 08/13/2014:  22:04:38

Really well done, Lew.  Nice work.  Your effort paid off superbly.

block_or_lam - Posted - 08/13/2014:  23:05:23

I love it! Great work, Lew!

jbalch - Posted - 08/14/2014:  04:45:13

Very nice arrangement!  love that tune.

JanetB - Posted - 08/14/2014:  05:49:54

A favorite Monroe tune of mine and yours sounds great.  This is the tune that gave me arthritis holding down the A minor chord!  What are the strings tuned to?

Lew H - Posted - 08/14/2014:  06:23:19

Thanks to all for your comments! Thanks Jbalch, for reposting the tune here. I hadn't thought of this as progressive--other than it's not an old fiddle tune from some eastern mountain guy from circa 1900-1950. So I do appreciate your comments. Perhaps sometime I can post an old jazz standard done up in clawhammer!

Janet, the tuning is open G, with the B string dropped a half step for a G minor chord, then capoed up two frets. The first part is mostly hammer-ons and pull-offs from and to open strings. I never hold down more than two strings at a time in the later parts. My main trouble now is staying focused and not forgetting where I am in the tune. I'm sure you will make it sound beautiful.

Lew H - Posted - 08/14/2014:  06:30:00

Thanks to all for your comments! Thanks Jbalch, for listing the tune on the progressive group page. I hadn't thought of this as progressive--other than it's not an old fiddle tune from some eastern mountain guy from circa 1900-1950. So I do appreciate your comments. Perhaps sometime I can post an old jazz standard done up in clawhammer!



Janet, the tuning is open G, with the B string dropped a half step for a G minor chord, then capoed up two frets. The first part is mostly hammer-ons and pull-offs from and to open strings. You will get in some drop-thumb on this part. I never hold down more than two strings at a time in the later parts. My main trouble now is staying focused and not forgetting where I am in the tune. JR is on one of Mark Johnson's CDs. You could have a listen to that for ideas to play it better. I sure you will make it sound beautiful.

Edited by - Lew H on 08/14/2014 06:32:49

banjomikey - Posted - 08/14/2014:  06:50:50

Wow! Great job Lew! That sounds really great!

rickhayes - Posted - 08/14/2014:  07:13:37

Agree with the comments above.  Very nice job with it.

guitarman8491 - Posted - 08/14/2014:  10:01:28

Lew wonderfully played..really nice!

roadkingjimmy - Posted - 08/14/2014:  13:28:50

Nice job Lew

banjo bill-e - Posted - 08/14/2014:  15:31:55

Sounds good Lew. You are getting a bright clear tone, would that be a White Lady-style banjo?

Lew H - Posted - 08/14/2014:  19:32:23

Bill-e, Thanks! Yep--it has a white lady tone ring, 3-ply maple shell, 9 piece extra-wide neck. It's the banjo I'm holding in my avatar (if that's the right word for the picture by my posts). It used to be a resonator banjo, but for years I thought it was too loud. A few weeks ago I took off the resonator and the little brackets that hold it in place to make it an open back. It is quieter, and I think the tone became even better--less sharp-edged somehow--so much that it is now my favorite banjo. It was built by a local luthier, David Youngberg, back in the seventies. I found it on eBay in the nineties.

peter somerville - Posted - 08/14/2014:  19:57:43

really nice! I play it in the same tuning but 3 finger style. you've inspired me to try it clawhammer now. oh and another cool ending!

Lew H - Posted - 08/14/2014:  21:25:29

Thanks, Peter, again! The ending is an Am6 chord. I think I stole this from someone's version of Duke Ellington's jazz tune Caravan.