Jenny on the Railroad, Part 1

This lesson is part of the course Clawhammer Banjo with Evie Ladin.

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Learn old-time clawhammer banjo from the beginning, with basic clawhammer technique exercises and lots of great old-time and traditional songs to play.

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Shady Grove

There are several versions of the traditional favorite “Shady Grove.” This one is in G modal tuning, the same tuning as “Cluck Old Hen.” Once again, to get into this tuning you simply raise your second string up a half step to C. “Shady Grove” is a one part tune, and you’ll mostly play the melody, not chords, whether you’re playing the melody by itself or singing the song. Evie starts by playing through the whole tune and singing the song, so you can get the melody in your head before you start finding it on the banjo. Then she walks you through the melody, phrase by phrase, showing you how the words of the song match the melody. You’ll also learn some variations to the basic melody, including more hammer-ons and drop thumbing.

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Jenny on the Railroad

Jenny on the Railroad, Part 1

Jenny on the Railroad, Part 2

“Jenny on the Railroad” Play-Along Track

Jenny on the Railroad, Part 1

The A tune “Jenny on the Railroad” is from the Carter Brothers and Son, and Evie learned it from the Horseflies, the popular Ithaca, New York-based string band. Bruce Molsky also teaches it in his Peghead Nation Old-Time Fiddle course. It’s in the key of A with a lot of G chords, so it might be thought of as a modal tune, though Evie plays it in A major tuning (standard G tuning with the capo on the second fret). The tune has four parts, ABCD, but the B and D parts are essentially the same. You’ll learn the A part of “Jenny on the Railroad” in this video.

"Jenny on the Railroad" (Available to subscribers)

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