While some clawhammer banjo players run when they hear a waltz kicking off, Evie Ladin knows how to tackle three-quarter time with grace and aplomb on the old five-string. In this lesson, she teaches you how to approach “The Alabama Waltz,” a Hank Williams country classic. She begins by demonstrating a couple of approaches to getting a good waltz groove with your right hand. Then she explores how to find the right key to play it in. Unlike fiddle and banjo tunes, most songs can be played in any key, and Evie shows you how to pick a key on the banjo that suits your own vocal range and how to line up the chords in that key. Over the course of the lesson she cycles through the keys of A, G, C, and D.
I was sad and blue, I was downhearted too
It seemed like the whole world was lost
And I took a chance, and we happened to dance
To the tune of “The Alabama Waltz”
Waltz, waltz, “The Alabama Waltz”
There all my fears and tears were lost
There in your arms, with all of your charms
We danced to “The Alabama Waltz”
