Hi all. I've loved this tune as played by Bruce Molsky's Mountain Drifters ever since I first heard it a few years ago on a Peghead Nation video. Now I'm trying to learn it.
youtu.be/ALra_qr4jW0?si=SnmK-bFTBcO6rESW
Allison de Groot plays a very sweet backup on this. I'm not trying to play exactly what she does, I'm just inspired try try singing and backing myself up.
I have figured out the key (F) and the chords (using sawmill tuning in my case because it works well for F, Bb, and C chords) but I cannot for the life of me get the hang of whatever picking patterns / rhythm Allison is using.
Any advice?
Thank you!
Edited by - dylant on 04/26/2025 17:59:58
It's kind of straight clawhammer, drop thumb etc. You have to figure out what key/pitch/tuning works for YOUR voice and skill level. How you tackle a tune depends quite a bit on whether you are going to play solo or in a band. This tune sounds a lot like The Blackest Crow which I play in regular open G but lowered down with Minstrel strings to the key of D (dADF#A). Allison is known for double thumbing (bum-pa-dit-ty) although here she is more conventional to fit the cadence of a song as contrasted to a blazing fiddle tune. You might check out the "Q" search engine to the left of this page and type "singing with the banjo" for more insights. Good Luck! banjered
The pattern she is playing is bum-pa-di-ty-di-ty (1 & 2 & 3 & .......). It is a waltz in triple time.
I think she is in a F tuning (fDGCD).
An aside: It’s a 3/4-time version of a familiar song with several titles/versions: Girl I Left Behind; Always Been a Rambler; Maggie Walker Blues, among others.
The most common 3/4 strum I use is bum-dit-ty-dit-X where the X is a skipped move with the thumb. Different stokes for different folks! banjered
quote:
Originally posted by janolovThe pattern she is playing is bum-pa-di-ty-di-ty (1 & 2 & 3 & .......). It is a waltz in triple time.
I think she is in a F tuning (fDGCD).
That's really helpful about the rhythm, thank you! I knew it was a waltz but the triple time confused me.
I couldn't figure out her tuning at first. But that's basically Sawmill with the 5th tuned to F, which it turns out is what I'm using.
quote:
Originally posted by banjeredThe most common 3/4 strum I use is bum-dit-ty-dit-X where the X is a skipped move with the thumb. Different stokes for different folks! banjered
Helpful, thank you. 3/4 time is a weakness for me. More practice needed!
For the curious, this was an unaccompanied song collected by David S. McIntosh. The singer was Ollie Barnard (1892-1967) from Cave-in-Rock, Illinois. This information is from Garry Harrison and Jo Burgess'(2007) book "Dear Old Illinois."
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