Editor's note: this article originally ran in Banjo Newsletter's December 1974 edition. It is re-published here by permission from the author and the Banjo Newsletter.
That's right! "JINGLE BELLS". Well why not? It's December and time for a seasonal tune. There is a precedent for this song to be picked in bluegrass style. Red Cravens and the Bray Brothers do "Jingle Bells Breakdown" on their Rounder record. Since the melody is known by everyone, there is no problem with the tune being unfamiliar. It is a simple melody, but don't underestimate it because a lot of improvisation can be done with it. Also, try your tuners in the first melody to bend up to the B note in the first three measures.
The first section is basic three finger style, with a little double-thumbing that imitates the standard bass vocal part that is usually sung in chorus. (The "Jingle bells" the second time around). Then there is an upper neck syncopated break for the A part, followed by a melodic upper neck version of the B melody.
Any tune with the word 'bells' in the title is a natural for harmonics and there is a section that can be used as an ending. Actually, the tuners and harmonics lend themselves quite well to this song and can be thrown in the middle of the song where they fit. I had a lot of fun putting this together, but found I picked it differently every time I tried to write it down. So many things can be thrown in.
Picking Instructions: Play intro/Part A/Part B through 1st ending/Back to part B and then play the 2nd ending. Repeat the whole thing or use upper neck variations on next page.
(Above): I like to think that the above upper-neck break for the A melody has some Scruggs-type syncopation and some Reno-style double stops in it.
(Below): The version below is "chromatic" or "melodic" if you prefer, with the B melody based on scale-like runs. Thumb fretting naturally with a new lick in the 7th measure where the 5-string gets fretted with the ring finger at 16 and then quickly down to 10 with the thumb. Anticipation is the key.
In 1971, while working as a high school librarian, Hubbard Nitchie began compiling information on the 5-string banjo. He called it "The Banjo Clearinghouse," and that, along with a banjo tablature service he also offered called "Tab of the Month," eventually became The Banjo Newsletter.
Hub played 3-finger style, and was especially partial to the melodic style; his own columns in "BNL", Exploring the Fingerboard, concentrated on that style. In September ,1992, Hub received the Personality of the Year in Print Media award from the IBMA. In October 1992 he passed away in Greensboro, Maryland.
In 1988, Hub wrote: "Whatever objective you have with your interest in the banjo—to play for yourself or for others, or whatever musical style you prefer—our goal at Banjo Newsletter is to celebrate the banjo."
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