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schlange - Posted - 08/31/2014: 23:54:57
This week's tune is one that needs no introduction, but will always deserve one. Earl's "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (known as "FMB" to most of us), more than any other, is the tune we can thank for establishing the banjo as the star instrument of bluegrass music.
FMB is based on the tune "Bluegrass Breakdown" which Earl always said he composed while part of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys (Earl never got credit for it). When Flatt & Scruggs left Big Mon's band in 1948 to form their own band, Earl reworked Bluegrass Breakdown into FMB (the key difference being a slide to an Em instead of going to an F chord). It was first recorded and released in 1949.
You can read more about Grammy's and other indicators of the fame and reach of FMB on its Wikipedia page. Even outside the banjo world FMB is etched in the collective memories of many due to its overwhelming popularity (every banjo player who's anybody has recorded it) and its use as the theme song in the popular 1967 Bonnie and Clyde film.
The tune, more than any other, is the song bluegrass banjo players are simply required to learn. (In fact, we've got a forum stickie just for learning this tune.) And how fast you can play it, with good tone and timing, is as good a litmus test as any for how far you've come as a banjo player. FMB, in fact, was the tune used in our first-ever banjo challenge--click here to see the 3 winning entries.
Earl typically played this tune in the 160-170BPM range--which is pretty dang quick if you're trying to keep up on the banjo. But he played it so well that it didn't feel fast or rushed. The magic of Earl.
I (and others) would love to hear (and see!) you play your version of this tune--post it in a reply below!
larry214 - Posted - 09/09/2014: 18:21:17
quote:
Originally posted by schlangequote:
Originally posted by 5 finger ninjaBy any chance is there a backing track around here at say 170 BPM?
Just added two more tracks... 150 and 170BPM.
Eric, Nice touch... but I think you scared off the kids with this tune selection.. I know a year and a little into the JO.. and I won't dare take a swing at the "masters" tune..
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