Boblamoy - Posted - 04/10/2026:  08:11:02

I like many or most of the TOTW and would like to learn to play them. But, most times they only have recordings or tab for 5-string banjo. I haven't learned to play by ear and I don't read 5-string tab. I play tenor banjo tuned like a mandolin. It would really helpful if regular music notation was included in the thread. I can always find some reference to learn from, but frequently it is a different version of the tune.

banjukebox - Posted - 04/10/2026:  10:59:13

@Boblamoy Here's a link to the dots for today's TOTW:
taterjoes.com/Warehouse/Fiddle...eyOwl.pdf

Boblamoy - Posted - 04/10/2026:  11:25:56

Thank you.

gentrixuk - Posted - 04/10/2026:  15:01:18

Tab written in Musescore can output as music notation automatically, so I can try it next time. It will include all the 5th string drone notes, though, so you'll still need to improvise a bit to make it fit the tenor.

JanetB - Posted - 04/10/2026:  16:35:41

I make many, many tabs for 5-string banjo. If the TablEdit program converts the tab to musical notation, would that be adequate help for you? A possible problem is that clawhammer tabs include  drone notes and clawhammer rhythm patterns that you may not want. Would you be able to adapt?  For instance, here is a tab for a tune I worked on recently -- Black Hills Waltz.  Does this musical notation work for you?  (It was covered in 2013:  Black Hills Waltz TOTW.)

Edited by - JanetB on 04/10/2026 16:36:29

Black Hills Waltz

 

Boblamoy - Posted - 04/10/2026:  18:46:16

Yes Janet. That should be perfect to learn a tune. As I said, it's usually easy to find dots or mando tab. But then, what you find may be something really unlike the version in the TOTW thread.

JanetB - Posted - 04/10/2026:  20:34:46

It would be nice to hear how you would play Black Hills Waltz based on the notation. Would you be able to record and share it?

Boblamoy - Posted - 04/11/2026:  04:06:26

Not real techno oriented. I only have a
cheap cell phone.
But, to my point, these dots look to be in the key of g maj. I looked it up and only find it in a maj. On my banjo, with my short, fat fingers it's easier to play in the key of g than a because there is no reaching for the d# and g# as there would be in the key of a.

JanetB - Posted - 04/11/2026:  08:25:09

Yes, Black Hills Waltz is in the key of G. Perhaps the software program can be told to include sharps and flats. That would help you.

JanetB - Posted - 04/11/2026:  09:26:37

If you learned tablature for your banjo, you can play in any key using a capo. The software program can be set for four strings and any tuning. How do you tune?

LyleK - Posted - 04/14/2026:  05:06:56

quote:

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Originally posted by Boblamoy

I like many or most of the TOTW and would like to learn to play them. But, most times they only have recordings or tab for 5-string banjo. I haven't learned to play by ear and I don't read 5-string tab. I play tenor banjo tuned like a mandolin. It would really helpful if regular music notation was included in the thread. I can always find some reference to learn from, but frequently it is a different version of the tune.

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I still think the best option is to give a source for standard notation, and where possible that's on the TOTW presenter.  Aside from Taterjoe's listed in this thread, oldtimefiddletunes.net/, thesession.org/tunes, and tunearch.org/wiki/TTA are possibilities for sources.  Versioning is an issue, and again it is on the presenter to make clear where the version comes from.  Black Hills Waltz (mentioned above) comes from one fiddler (K.C. Kartchner) and is in A (on fiddle usually played out of "cross-tuning," AEAE).  I don't think taking a 5-string tab and putting out the standard notation is going to be very useful.  Aside from the distracting 5th string drones, the tab is not going to give the key signature, instead treating sharps as accidentals.  I checked one of my tabs for a tune in Bb and it had all the E-flats as D# and B-flats as Bb.  Strange.

I hear ya' on finger stretches.  I have a tenor with a 21" scale length and an Irish bouzouki with a torturous 26" scale length.