DVD-quality lessons (including tabs/sheet music) available for immediate viewing on any device.
Take your playing to the next level with the help of a local or online banjo teacher.
Weekly newsletter includes free lessons, favorite member content, banjo news and more.
Posted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 136
Size: 1,089kb, uploaded 11/30/2018 11:42:22 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Sounding much like Barlow Knife, Sheep's in the Meadow is this week's TOTW for 11/30/18 and is really old-timey. It's from a recording of Gaither Carlton by Alice Gerrard. Gaither was Doc Watson's talented, gentle father-in-law.
4 commentsPosted by JanetB, written by Jeremiah Carpenter
[download]
- Play count: 1624
Size: 1,096kb, uploaded 8/18/2012 2:41:50 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
This old West Virginia tune commemorates the place where Solomon Carpenter was born in the early 1790's under a rock ledge where his parents were hiding from Indians. His father, Jeremiah, later avenged the death of his brother Benjamin during the Indian raid. This version comes from West Virginians Burl Hammons and Dwight Diller. It's played on a small scale fretless gourd banjo made by BHO member Robert Browder.
12 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 307
Size: 1,388kb, uploaded 9/4/2012 5:39:25 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
A cheerful tune in A with a Bm sound in the B part. My mother still says at 91 years old that good songs always have a minor.
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 143
Size: 1,372kb, uploaded 3/10/2020 10:20:21 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
I've loved this tune ever since hearing Mary Z Cox play it. I don't know where Iearned my unique B part, but with Shenandoah Falls as the Tune of the Week for 3/6/20, I decided to learn the more traditional B part, played the second time through here.
2 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 766
Size: 843kb, uploaded 3/8/2012 6:20:53 AM
Genre: Traditional / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Two songs expressing a western theme.
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 247
Size: 2,366kb, uploaded 2/1/2015 9:14:12 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 1-30-15, this old dance tune is named for an old Virginia family home. The fiddler, John Ashby, played with a group he called the Free State Ramblers. It's quite a bit of interesting history I'll continue to learn about from the current TOTW.
1 commentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 153
Size: 3,371kb, uploaded 10/8/2022 10:49:05 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Taylor Kimble, fiddler from Virginia, recorded Ship in the Clouds for the Library of Congress when Alan Lomax was actively collecting tunes. In this clawhammer arrangement I added 2-finger cello banjo accompaniment. The melodic movement of the tune matches the title, in my opinion. It appears to modulate, but not for long -- a ship floating in clouds is a good metaphor IMO.
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 99
Size: 1,551kb, uploaded 10/23/2022 4:03:50 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Three related tunes make for an interesting Tune of the Week. They're from Darley Fulks (Shoe Heels Crackin' on the Floor) and Melvin Wine and Dwight Diller (both playing Boatin' Up Sandy, but differently).
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 1111
Size: 682kb, uploaded 2/5/2012 2:31:41 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Thought I'd give Mark Johnson's great tune of the week a try. Anything he and Henry Reed do are great learning tools. I do it in open G tuning, 5th string spiked to an A, in the key of A. As challenging as a first grader learning to tie his shoes......
1 commentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 570
Size: 1,087kb, uploaded 12/9/2014 6:26:29 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
This is from Kentucky fiddler Buddy Thomas' playing. The title refers to a small subdivision in Vanceburg, KY built in around 1910 and was learned from Joe Stamper of Lewis County, according to the liner notes in "Traditional Fiddle Music of Kentucky, Up the Ohio and Licking Rivers." The tune reminds me of Woodchoppers Reel. I always like to learn something by listening to Buddy, the great fiddler who died rather young.
6 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 81
Size: 1,679kb, uploaded 4/12/2023 12:33:21 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
From a combination of sources, here's my take on this classic old song, enjoyed by children, too.
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 795
Size: 1,171kb, uploaded 6/11/2016 2:04:40 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 6/10/16 this is a combination of Ralph Stanley and Rufus Crisp. Ralph says it was the first tune his mother ever taught him. Rufus turns out to be the first person to ever teach Pete Seeger frailing (see page 10 of How to Play the 5-String Banjo by Pete Seeger).
6 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 808
Size: 725kb, uploaded 7/1/2014 10:27:03 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time TOTW, 6/27/14, from Kentucky fiddler Wilson Mabe--a happy song he learned from his father.
1 commentPosted by JanetB, written by Jim Reed
[download]
- Play count: 1106
Size: 630kb, uploaded 9/21/2011 6:04:42 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
Jim surprised me with a song! Learning it lets me see into his magic and genius. He gave me permission to name it, so I did.
9 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 158
Size: 1,473kb, uploaded 12/16/2015 11:23:55 AM
Genre: Other / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
This is an Eastern European wedding dance song whose name means "good sign and good luck." I worked on it in response to Banjo Judy's request for clawhammer tabs in the Klezmer musical tradition. She has added a section on her website devoted to this and I've been curious about Klezmer music. I found a youtube video with the song where the crowded room of Russian Jews is full of people dancing in circles around the bride and groom. Such a very happy occasion is the exact opposite of the sad tone of the first Klezmer tune I tried yesterday (Flatbush Waltz). The tuning is unusual in that I re-tuned the 5th string way up to C, so as not to clash with some of the prevalent chordal tones in this song.
Add CommentPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 240
Size: 1,220kb, uploaded 4/8/2017 7:46:03 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time Tune of the Week from WV Burl Hammonds' banjo. The tuning is "Little Birdie" tuning, f#DABE, so I combined the two similar tunes.
5 commentsPosted by JanetB, written by Chris Coole
[download]
- Play count: 1268
Size: 1,255kb, uploaded 12/7/2012 5:32:55 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the TOTW, Dec. 7, 2012
3 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 212
Size: 1,161kb, uploaded 5/21/2017 2:17:34 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 5/17/18, here's a couple of lyrics to go with Skillet Good and Greasy. The banjo solo comes from the 60's recording on the Electra Old Time Banjo Project with Bob Siggins on banjo.
2 commentsPosted by JanetB, written by Byss-Kalle
[download]
- Play count: 269
Size: 2,154kb, uploaded 5/29/2016 7:17:29 AM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the old-time Tune of the Week, 5/27/16, this dance tune comes from Sweden in the early 1800's. The composer was well-known for playing the nyckelharpa, which slightly resembles a violin, but is more complex in structure. (Check out the TOTW to learn more.) The structure of the tune itself is foreign to my ears, but sounds typical of other European tunes I've heard. They're not "square," as so many of our fiddle tunes, thought the AABB parts are repeated in a similar way. The tune is fun to play and fits in well with clawhammer, thanks to the arrangement that helped me learn it by Jan-Olov Sundqvist, a Swedish BHO member who posted this week for TOTW.
3 commentsPosted by JanetB
[download]
- Play count: 1134
Size: 1,268kb, uploaded 6/30/2013 6:11:28 PM
Genre: Old Time / Playing Style: Clawhammer and Old-Time
For the Tune of the Week, 6/28/13. Recorded by Burnett and Rutherford in 1930, it's also known as L & N Rag. Played on my Mac Traynham Whyte Laydie in open G tuning.
6 commentsCopyright Notice:
You are allowed to post recordings of yourself performing:
- public-domain (non-copyrighted) songs
- original songs written by yourself
- songs written by someone else and licensed through ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC
Anything posted in violation of this notice may be removed by the webmaster without prior notice, and may result in your myHangout account being locked. Read complete copyright policy.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright 2023 Banjo Hangout. All Rights Reserved.