LONESOME INDIAN BANJO TAB AND MP3 – Here is a tune I first hear on the Dillard’s Back Porch Bluegrass album. Sometimes fiddle tunes in order to get some variation in the playing will repeat the same melody an octave higher to create two parts. That is the case here. It presents a bit of a challenge for the key of D and the banjo. Hope you like my solution.

Lonesome Indian Banjo Tab and MP3
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DUSTY MILLER BANJO TAB AND MP3 – A standard in the Texas Contest Tradition here played in G on the banjo. It is normally played in A on the fiddle. A capo at the second fret will put you in the correct key.

Dusty Miller banjo tab and MP3
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LONESOME FIDDLE BLUES BANJO TAB AND MP3 – Here is a Vassar Clements fiddle classic. I can’t remember where I first heard it. Most likely from Sam Bush. I first met Sam at a fiddle contest in Independence, MO summer of 1967. He later recorded “Lonesome Fiddle Blues” on the Newgrass Revivals first recording. Courtney Johnson, the banjo wizard, used on that recording a similar arrangement as the one presented here.

Lonesome Fiddle Blues Banjo Tab and MP3
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FISHER’S HORNPIPE BANJO TAB AND MP3 – The Picking and Fiddling album of Byron Berline and the Dillards has been an important part of my musical education. Over the years I have worked up a banjo arrangement of many of the tunes on that album and recorded a number of those. This is a tune I learned from that seminal album. Here played in the key of C. It is idiomatically played on the fiddle in either F or D. You can use your capo to simulate both of those keys.

Fisher’s Hornpipe Banjo Tab and MP3
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DILL PICKLE RAG BANJO TAB AND MP3 – “Tom’s Thumbnail Theater” was a kid’s TV show from Oklahoma City hosted by Tom Paxton (not the singer/songwriter) I would watch as a child. I do believe this tune was the theme song for that show and it has stuck with me all these years. On the recording is Joe Carr on mandolin, Mike Bubb on bass, and Ron Block on guitar. Mike and Ron have gone to have very bright careers in bluegrass music.

Dill Pickle Rag Banjo Tab and MP3
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ACE OF SPADES BANJO TAB AND MP3 – This tune was taught to me by Joe Carr. I believe he learned it from Benny Thomasson. Here presented in the key of G but most often played in A. I use a capo at the second fret.

Ace of Spades Banjo Tab and MP3 
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SOPPING THE GRAVY BANJO TAB AND MP3 – This arrangement of the popular Texas contest tune comes from Slim Richey’s transcription of the great Benny Thomasson. I have also added a few flourishes of my own. It’s a real melodic style workout in the key of D.

Sopping the Gravy banjo tab and MP3
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TWINKLE LITTLE STAR BANJO TAB AND MP3 – This is not the commonly know children’s tune but a wonderful fiddle tune in the key of G (the chord changes in the A section are the same as the chords to “Earl’s Breakdown.” If you are looking for some licks and ideas to move to that tune, this is full of them). This tune has a wonderfully engaging B section that will attract the attention of any discriminating audience.

Twinkle Little Star Banjo Tab and MP3
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BITTER CREEK BANJO TAB AND MP3 – A quintessential fiddle tune in the key of G. As arranged here it covers a large range of the banjo (the fiddle and mandolin were created as melody instruments and can produce a two plus octave range without a position change. The banjo and guitar are designed more as chordal instruments and as such to play melodies of a great range requires huge position shifts). It’s a fun, challenging, and rewarding arrangement of this not oft heard tune.

Bitter Creek Banjo Tab and MP3
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