Man, I miss Crowe. That is great stuff. Thanks Gary.
Ken

I don't mean to be critical, Gary, but JD played the intro to Showboat Gambler different. JD himself showed me the lick, I'll make a little tab below to explain.

_______7__9p7_____________7__9p7______
____8__________8________8__________8___
_7________________9__7________________9
________________________________________
________________________________________

JD moved his fretting hand index finger from 3rd string 7th fret to 1st string 7th fret and vice versa. I couldn't believe it when he showed it to me, he does the same lick on J's Tune, starting on G and doing the same thing moving the position down two frets to F.

So is the last note before starting over a 1/4 note? Im counting 7 notes you have in the roll. I wasnt sure how he did that. It was driving me nuts.Fretting the 5th string seemed the easiest way to go. The video didnt give me a ckear view of his left hand . Theres a few vids out there of the song. I liked this one because he did two breaks on it. Theres another live version out there too. Im gonna compare them and the studio version to see if he deviated any on that intro.You know those banjo players. Theyre always unpredictable Thanks for the insight ! I just tried ut that way. You just have to bring the thumb down to hit the 1st string. .

I apologize for my ignorance: I don’t know Who is the lefty fiddler? Just curious…

I think its bobby slone. He also played bass left handed for new south.

Why not barre at the 7th fret? 
Here you can see JD play  "J's Tune"  https://youtu.be/Bq8_5b7TFew?si=BU9TILbWld4Fxuva

I think Crowe did it that way to keep his left hand limber, but I'm not certain why. These first and second generation bluegrass guys had interesting ways of playing the way they did, and a lot of the licks that give you headaches you just have to witness in person sometimes. One such example is the walk down lick Earl plays on Earl's Breakdown that you have to see for yourself. It blew me away the first time I saw the Martha White show video of him playing *that* lick. 

quote:

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Originally posted by stanleytone

So is the last note before starting over a 1/4 note? Im counting 7 notes you have in the roll. I wasnt sure how he did that. It was driving me nuts.Fretting the 5th string seemed the easiest way to go. The video didnt give me a ckear view of his left hand . Theres a few vids out there of the song. I liked this one because he did two breaks on it. Theres another live version out there too. Im gonna compare them and the studio version to see if he deviated any on that intro.You know those banjo players. Theyre always unpredictable Thanks for the insight ! I just tried ut that way. You just have to bring the thumb down to hit the 1st string. .

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@stanleytone JD would occasionally play the 1st string open before the measure repeats, but he varied it so much, it isn't always audible. I hope that I cleared up any confusions you may have had about how the intro is played. I'm constantly picking up on little subtleties that can go undetected, my mentor Dana Cupp always tells me to rely on my ear for these underlying tricks. Immersing yourself in studying one player gets you a lot of miles down the road, as you can attest to with your tabs.  

quote:

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Originally posted by banjopaolo

I apologize for my ignorance: I don’t know Who is the lefty fiddler? Just curious…

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Bobby Slone - Fiddle 

Wendy Miller - Mandolin 

Tony King - Guitar 

Randy Hayes  - bass

Craig, one thing i do when tabbing is that if i hear a note thats hard to pick out i then listen to yhe note before and after that one. .i can tell you i have just been floored sometimes when i hear what some of these tabs produce.
I tabbed out the banjo break to volume five's Run. And i just thought where do these guys come with this stuff?

quote:Originally posted by stanleytoneCraig, one thing i do when tabbing is that if i hear a note thats hard to pick out i then listen to yhe note before and after that one. .i can tell you i have just been floored sometimes when i hear what some of these tabs produce.
I tabbed out the banjo break to volume five's Run. And i just thought where do these guys come with this stuff?

stanleytone That's a cool way to go about those gray areas where you're unsure at times where a note may lie. Patton Wages had a definite Vestal influence on his playing, it's so sad that he doesn't play anymore due to suffering a stroke almost 5 years ago now. He and I lost contact after I decided to delete my Facebook account (it was addicting after being on there every day), and we would talk often. He is still with us, but he is in a similar situation to Randy Travis after his stroke (re-learning to walk, talk & eat). He receives prayers and well wishes daily, and he appreciates every one he gets.

quote:Originally posted by chuckv97Why not barre at the 7th fret?
Here you can see JD play "J's Tune" youtu.be/Bq8_5b7TFew?si=BU9TILbWld4Fxuva

chuckv97 I can't say for certain, but JD had his own way of traversing the fretboard haha

Someone else playing J’s Tune , check out his fingering

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