Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week – Playing In Different Keys

September 29, 2010
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This time around the Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week deals with Playing In Different Keys. I’ve really wanted to do this since it was something I had to learn on my own and no one seemed interested in showing me how. I am devoting the next month to showing parts of songs in different keys. I am hoping that like me, you will soon see the patterns and be able to play anywhere on the fretboard.

I am also hoping that you will also want to start looking at the music theory behind the pattern that you will start to recognize.

More than that, just have fun!

Playing In Different Keys MP3 [Download]

Playing In Different Keys (PDF)

Folk Song Of The Week – Crawdad Song On Frailing Banjo

September 28, 2010
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The Folk Song Of The Week this time around is the Crawdad Song. Playing Frailing Banjo on this one is a lot of fun. There are so many different ways that you can find and play the melody notes. I went one way during the melody portion. See if you can find some other ways.

Crawdad Song MP3 [Download]

Crawdad Song (PDF)

CRAWDAD SONG

[G]You get a line and I’ll get a pole, honey

You get a line and I’ll get a pole, [D7]babe

[G]You get a line and I’ll get a pole

[C]We’ll go fishin’ in the crawdad hole, [G]honey, [D7]baby, [G]mine

Yonder come a man with a sack on his back, honey
Yonder come a man with a sack on his back, babe
Yonder come a man with a sack on his back
Got all the crawdads in his sack

What you goin’ do when the lake runs dry, honey?
What you goin’ do when the lake runs dry, babe
What you goin’ do when the lake runs dry
Sit on the bank and watch the crawdads die

Apple cider cinnamon beer, honey
Apple cider cinnamon beer, babe
Apple cider cinnamon beer,
An old hog’s head and a opossum’s ear

Irish Pub Song Of The Day – The Night That Paddy Murphy Died on Frailing Banjo

September 27, 2010
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This time the Irish Pub Song Of The Day is The Night That Paddy Murphy Died. I love playing this song on Frailing Banjo. It’s not so much about playing the melody but having fun while playing the chords. A pull-off, a hammer-on and some slides, make it fun!

The Night That Paddy Murphy Died MP3 [Download]

The Night That Paddy Murphy Died (PDF)

The Night that Paddy Murphy Died

O the [G]night that Paddy Murphy died

Is a[C]night I’ll never [G]forget:

Some of the boys got [Em]loaded drunk,

And they [C]ain’t got sober [D7]yet.

As [G]long as a bottle was passed around,

Every [C]man was feelin’ [G]gay –

O’Leary came with the [Em]bagpipes and [C]music for to [D7]play.

That’s [G]how they showed their [C]respect for Paddy [G]Murphy

That’s [G]how they [Em]showed their [C]honour and their [D7]pride.

They [G]said it was a sin ‘n’ shame

And they [C]winked at one [G]another,

And every drink in the [Em]place was full the

[C]night Pat [D7]Murphy [G]died!

As Mrs. Murphy sat in the corner pouring out her grief,
Kelly and his gang came tearing down the street.
They went into an empty room and a bottle of whiskey stole –
They put the bottle with the corpse to keep that whiskey cold!

Chorus

‘Bout 2 o’clock in the morning, after emptying the jug,
Doyle raised up the ‘ice box’ lid and saw poor Paddy’s mug!
They stopped the clock so Mrs. Murphy couldn’t tell the time,
And at a quarter after 2 they argued it was 9!

Chorus

They stopped the hearse on George St. outside some dance-saloon.
They all went in at 6 o’clock and staggered out at noon.
They went up to the graveyard, so holy and sublime –
But found out, when they got there, they’d left the corpse behind!

Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week – De-emphasizing Notes

September 24, 2010
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I was asked a lot of questions about techniques when playing melody notes. Almost all thought that they should strike the melody notes harder. I used to think the same exact thing. The trick is not to play the melody notes harder, but the empty spaces softer. It’s all about technique and it comes with time. Don’t try to rush it, just know where you want to go and take some steps towards it.

The most important thing is to have fun. If it gets frustrating, just start stumming and singing. The banjo is to have fun with, don’t let it get you down. 🙂

Remember if you figure out what the song is, let me know and I’ll send you the tab with the lyrics!

De-emphasizing Notes MP3 [Download]

De-emphasizing Notes (PDF)

Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week – Play Along With Tablature

September 23, 2010
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Today the Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week is all about Playing Along With Tablature. This tab of Gypsy Rover comes straight out of Irish Pub Songs For The 5-String Banjo. Have fun with it and I’ll be back tomorrow and cover how to play notes that aren’t part of the melody.

Play Along With Tablature MP3 [Download]

Play Along With Tablature (PDF)

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Frailing Banjo Lick Of The Week – How To Read Tablature

September 22, 2010
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Ok folks, you asked for it so you got. Today we go over how to read tablature and what are those 8 melody notes you keep talking about?

Tomorrow I’ll be back with How To Play A Song From Tablature.

How To Read Tablature MP3 [Download]

How To Read Tablature (PDF)

Off To iBAM!!, Two Days Off, & Back With Something Different

September 20, 2010
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I was very honored to be asked to be part of iBAM!Chicago. It’s the Irish Book, Arts and Music Celebration. I’ve been asked to be there as one of the authors. I was very happy to accept and now I’ll be there on November 6th and 7th. There will be over 100 authors, artists and musicians and something tells me that I am going to have a great time. You find out more about iBam!! at this link.

Now onto the rest:

It was one of those weekends. I got completely sidetracked and then I found out I would be too busy for Monday’s video, then found out at the last minute that I could. Before I could even start, I started answering emails about playing in different keys and how to read tablature. On top of all of that, I got asked quite nicely to speed up the publication of Folk Songs For The 5-String Banjo, Volume 1 and you have one heck of a messed up schedule.

The solutions:

1: I’m working on volume 1 of Folk Songs For The 5-String Banjo and should have it done within the week.

2: I’m going to put up a tutorial this week on playing in different keys while showing how to read the tablature.

3: Go to bed early! 🙂

Maple On The Hill – by BanjoStu

September 20, 2010
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BanjoStu has done it again! This is a great version of Maple On The Hill! I really love this version and it makes me want to play it right now!

Luke Kelly Month!!!

September 18, 2010
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Luke Kelly

Luke Kelly

I don’t know how, but somehow I’ve not really covered any Luke Kelly songs. So to make up for it, the Month of October will be Luke Kelly month.  I’ve done a lot that he covered but my take on the song has always been flavored by other artists, I now what to do some that are not copies, but really INSPIRED by Luke Kelly’s performance.

If you really want a Luke Kelly song,  just send me a message and I’ll do the most popular requests. Obviously, any Irish pub songs, will be part of the Irish Pub Song Of The Day series and any like “Hand Me Down My Bible” will fall under the Folk Song Of The Week.

And if you don’t know who Luke Kelly is….shame on you. Look him up!

Peace and Justice,

Kelly

Folk Song Of The Week – Lonesome Valley Accompaniment for Frailing Banjo

September 17, 2010
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It’s Friday, so that means it’s time for accompaniment for the Folk Song Of The Week. Do I get Joel Simpson to laugh while I play frailing banjo? Check it out to see. 🙂

Lonesome Valley MP3 [Download]

Lonesome Valley (PDF)

LONESOME VALLEY

You [G]gotta walk that lonesome valley, you gotta [D7]walk by your[G]self

Nobody [C]else can walk it [G]for you, you gotta [D7]walk by your[G]self.

Jesus walked this lonesome valley and he had to walk it by Himself
Nobody else could walk it for Him, He had to walk it by Himself.

You must go and stand your trials, you have to stand it by yourself
Nobody else can stand it for you, you have to stand it by yourself.

Some folks say that old John was a Baptist, some folks say he was a Jew
But the Bible claim, it plainly tells us that old Johnny was a preacher, too.