Banjo Hangout Newest 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs

Strong Rope

A Christmas Song. It didn't start as such, but this is where it went.

As an example of playing a song you've never played before "by ear" in response to this thread: http://www.banjohangout.org/topic/325224/2 This is a recording of the first time I've ever played this, accompanied by a fiddler who knew the tune well and another who was also playing by ear.

For the old-time Tune of the Week, 12/17/16, this Bob Walters tune, recorded by R.P. Christeson and notated in The Fiddler's Repertory, Vol. 1, has roots in a syncopated minstrel tune called Hell on the Wabash. It's a happy tune, though nobody seems to know what the title really means.

Colder Than a Coven of Witches' _____

Medium speed recording for teaching the tune.

I worked out this rendition of Tom & Jerry from the fiddling of Howard Rains. There are two extra beats in the A part that make Howard's version fun and quirky. Banjo is tuned aEAC#E. Squirrelly Dan and the Cat Mountain Rounders have a YouTube of a squared version of Tom & Jerry that is very much worth the listen (www.youtube.com/watch?v=94w6z8PW8IQ).

This tune comes from the repertoire of Bluegrass boy Kenny Baker. He learned it from his father, Thaddeus, and said he only heard it played by his family. I used Garage Band to combine my Mac Traynham Whyte Laydie openback with my Gold Tone cello banjo.

Epic Kentucky bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker played Make a Little Boat with his buddies after learning it from Howdy Forrester. I think of Mr. Baker as a swing-type of fiddler with Bill Monroe, but his family background was as an old-time fiddler. I can just see a little guy growing up in the country sailing his hand-made boat in a little creek....

From Edden Hammons. Me playing the fiddle.

For the old-time Tune of the Week, 12/9/16, Snow Deer was a popular song written in 1913 by the same composer of Moonlight Bay, and inspired by the success of Redwing in 1907. The Stanley Brothers did an instrumental of it in 1963 and Bob Wills' band performed it, amongst many others. I added a Native American bridge to it to go along with the lyric's theme of a cowboy and Indian maiden's romance. Played on a Gold Tone cello banjo and learned from Ken Torke's tab. See the current TOTW for more info. I'll be surprised if people have heard of this song before -- I hadn't.

Inspired by Wade Ward, four examples each two times through. Which do you like best? There is no right answer; it's all subjective. My banjo is tuned up so pitches are g#EG#BE The banjos are my Bacon Professional (11") and my Bruno (10 1/2"), which has no tone ring (top of the pot is thinned to the outer edge). Both banjos have skin heads though the Bacon's head is thinner then the Bruno's. The two configurations are slightly different, with about a 4 inch difference where the hand is striking the strings. In one configuration, my hand was at the edge of the pot and as I played my other fingers would strike the head with a bit of a drumming effect. The other configuration was with my hand just over the end of the neck, near the pot, so no drumming effect. Both banjos have a Tally Tone Enhancer (see picture on my home page; cork between dowel stick and head near the neck end). 1. Bacon with hand over the head 2. Bruno with hand over the neck 3. Bacon with hand over the neck 4. Bruno with hand over the head

Another Chirps fav from the Down in Little Egypt album. Banjo tuned aDADE.

Inspired from Art Rosenbaum and Pete Seeger. I'm studying Art Rosenbaum's material, especially 2-finger style from Pete Steele's playing. Though his tab was for that style, I found that it worked equally well for clawhammer and was easier. :( Oh well, please don't call me lazy. :)

I wrote this tune in the summer of 1994. Named for the Riverhouse Motorlodge in Gatlinburg, TN. Riverhouse was our favorite spot for a weekend getatway. It burned to the ground in the great Gatlinburg fire of 2016.