How many of you play "Flowery Girls"? One of my students asked me to tab it out last year, and I decided to do my best attempt at transcribing Omer Forster's iconic index lead, two-finger banjo performance, note for note, which turned into a 5-page tab that took my most of 2024 to tweak into the most accurate map of what I think he did:
https://twofingerbanjo.com/store/p/flowery-girls
Now, I'm finally learning to play it, and it's so slow going! It's taking me back to my classical violin student days, when I'd spend months inching my way through a concerto. To hold myself accountable, I'm making free teaching videos of each section once I can get through it:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxE8ccKQE3gDbFQ4iWv-lRTtSiUsCEZS7
I'm curious to hear how many of you play a version of this one. I spent years just admiring other banjoists' renditions, and finally took the plunge into truly learning it a few months back.
~Matt
Having learned it from you (Matt), I love it. It’s a workout (2f speaking) and such fun to play.
I tried my hand at a Clawhammer version, but it doesn’t quite work. ??
I’m working through Matt’s version now (I played some Scruggs style way back when, so 2F is falling into place for the most part. I’m getting it slowly but surely anew in the carefully-notated arrangement, which checks out precisely to my ears as Omer Forster played it.
Thanks again Matt !
Yeah, Steve, I feel "Flowery Girls" is meant to be a fingerpicked tune. I'm sure there are some lovey clawhammer adaptations of it, but so much of what I love about Forster's version is the rippling quality that is core to fingerpicking.
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