American composer Henry Clay Work wrote "Grandfather's Clock" (popularly known as "My Grandfather's Clock") in 1876. It’s a standard for British colliery brass bands and bluegrass bands alike, and is often the basis for flashy arrangements on both cross-picked mandolin and three-finger banjo. Bill teaches “Grandfather’s Clock” in the key of G with a standard AABB format. The original song has four verses separated by an interlude/chorus that is often omitted in instrumental versions, which is the case in the arrangement here. Bill starts by showing you the basic melody, and then he melds in alternating-thumb and forward rolls to flesh out the bones into a full-fledged bluegrass banjo solo. In this video, Bill picks out the melody for both the A and B parts of “My Grandfather’s Clock.”
