Hello Banjo Hangout community,
I come to you in a time of need, I am a fairly new banjo player and I just can't seem to find a songs tablature. I am fairly rotten at deciphering tablature even with guitar. So I request the tablature of the song Lorena by the 97th Regimental String Band, I find this song quite beautiful and the greatest rendition of this tune.
The link: youtube.com/watch?v=m_MQIdAH1GY
Thank you, Carson S. Chapman
Darn I wish I could help you. I was supposed to sing/play this one tomorrow at a local historical event but it got cancelled due to the heat. There goes my once-a-year public performance. Someone with better ears may better zero in on he banjo playing on this one which sounds mostly chordal plucking, maybe slow bluegrass? I either clawhammer this or thumb-lead two finger. It lays out fine in regular open G tuning but I usually play it in the key of C in G tuning, pretty much the same melody and verses. Of course to complicate matters I use a Stone Company banjo, wood tone ring, and minstrel Nylgut strings and lower the whole works down to either D or D# to match the pitch of my voice but it is still in the G pattern of playing. Alas I am still too technical illiterate to post tabs, a video, or even an audio. I just don't know how so many of you here at BHO figured out how to do all this, sigh! Good luck and maybe there is someone who can help you out more because it is a wonderful 19th Century song. I suppose you have read that in some camps it was forbidden to sing because next morning there would be empty sleeping places on the ground. banjered
You don't mention the style you play (Scruggs, clawhammer, etc.). There are 4 versions in the tab library. This one may be the most basic - tab-lorena-22056-3710191182016.pdf (hangoutstorage.com)
David
Carson, I don’t have a tab handy, but the 97th is playing in the key of C using these chords: C, F, G, Am, and E. The banjo player is playing a simple back up roll pattern in either 2- or 3-finger style with some pinches thrown in here and there. You can sort of emulate this in clawhammer with some drop thumbing. I think the banjo player is using the standard C tuning, which is gCGBD. Not sure if any of this helps, but hopefully it gives you a starting point to figure out what the regimental band is doing.
There are 2 Lorena tabs in the archives. One is clawhammer and one is bluegrass. Maybe one or the other would be what you want.
Look on the left side of the page and under Learn, click on either Banjo Tab Library or type the name in the search function.
I hadn't heard the 97th Regimental String Band's version, which is wonderful, but I'm still partial to John Hartford's verson:
youtube.com/watch?v=WMNcKdOQqTQ
Not to discourage your use of tablature, but it's good exercise is to figure out your own version.
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