Editor's note: this article originally ran in Banjo Newsletter's June 1976 edition. It is re-published here by permission from the author and the Banjo Newsletter.
Last summer, Fred Geiger contributed a tab of "Little Sadie" (BNL Aug '75) and he prefaced his version with, "The more I fool with fiddle tune adaptations, etc., the more it seems that the G tuning is really the best, even for melodies other than G." Fred then presented a way that "Little Sadie" (usually played in a Dm tuning a la Bill Keith) could be played in open G; in Cm and capoed up two frets.
I thought about Fred's statement a while back after being thrown into a situation in a local jam session with a tune I didn't know. A fiddle playing friend had just learned "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" and wanted to work it out with others. He was patient enough to throw the chords at us so we could follow him and I groped along with rolls around the chords. But, I thought that there must be a way to get a melodic break going on it.
When I got back home I dug through my files and found that Muleskinner News had a tab of the tune as played by Courtney Johnson and tabbed by Wayne Shrubsall. In it, Johnson retuned the fifth string, playing out of open G but with the fifth string up to A. After analyzing the tab I decided to give Fred's theory a try. Since I am an un-reformed thumb fretter I began looking around for ways to locate a Dm scale on the board. After months of stirring, seasoning and cooking this is the result.
No claim that this version is the ultimate or that it is superior to Johnson's. Just another way to get the needed notes on the neck; another approach. You may find that the Dm scale/licks are useful in other songs too.
The B melody using basic Scruggs-like technique. In the third measure operate out of the D position chord to get that pull-off on the 3rd string. The second measure of A is a down-hill transition to lead you back into the Dm.
Note: All figures are the same to show how this works. It has countless possibilities by varying the rolls. Also the tonic can be added to any of the licks by fretting the third string where the barre would normally be; i.e. 12 for a G chord; 7 for D; 9 for E; 14 for A (etc.) Like the A in the last measure. Remember, this figure will work anywhere below a barred chord. It even works below the 5th fret as in a C chord because then the 5th string is played open; same relative position. You can also play around with this and come up with your own ideas by thumb fretting the fifth string below (i.e. towards the nut) on one or two frets below the one called for.
A down-hill melodic/scale approach to the B part; same chord progression as above. The left hand fingering in the 5th-7th measures when you pass through E to A are the cross-over technique mentioned in previous issues. Also, a quick shift from 7 to 5 on the 2nd string with first the index and then the thumb striking the note. The fifth string is fretted by the ring finger in the sixth measure when you do the cross-over.
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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