Bluegrass Tunes

Old Joe Clark

May 15, 2016 by Cy...

Old Joe Clark is one of those old time tunes that has become a Bluegrass standard. It doesn’t matter what Bluegrass instrument you play, you probably learned Old Joe Clark when starting out. More often than not, it’s played as an instrumental, but many groups have played (and recorded) it as a song with lyrics – and it has a lot of lyrics. In fact, it seems to have about 40 different verses!

I had never written the tune out before, and when I did I realized I was playing all the G-notes on the first strings as naturals (3rd fret), and all the G-notes on the 3rd course of strings as sharps (6th fret). Sounds fine to me, and you can try it that way if you want. But, I thought I’d be a little more grammatically correct when putting it on these pages.

This version is in A mixolydian. For those into building scales, the pattern for the mixolydian scale (or mode) is W-W-H-W-W-H-W.

A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G – A

Listen to Old Joe Clark for mandolin:

Old Joe Clark

Key of A Mixolydian

Download:
Music and Tablature
Just the Music
Just the Tab
picture of F5 Mandolin

The Gold Rush

May 3, 2016 by Cy...

Here’s the mandolin tablature for the Bluegrass tune “The Gold Rush“. It was written by Bill Munroe and released as a single, under Decca Records, in 1967. The flip side was “Virginia Darlin”.

I could only find “The Gold Rush” on one LP. That earlier recording from 1967 was included on a compilation album titled “Bill Munroe’s Country Music Hall of Fame”. The album was released in the U.S. by Decca in 1971 to commemorate Munroe’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame the previous year. The Album was reissued, and released again in 1973 under the MCA Label. I couldn’t find a digital version of that recording anywhere.

The following version should be fairly straight forward. In the beginning of the 12th measure there’s a rest on the first beat (the down beat), and you hit the D double stop on the up stroke. After another full beat on that double stop, you do a beat on the A double stop (C# and E), then keep your index finger on the 6th fret to begin a little A scale run. Not terribly difficult, but it may take some practice to limber up the fingers on the left hand.

If that proves too difficult at first, or if you just want some variation, try substituting the following for the 12th and 16th measures.
the gold rush 12th fret alternative
the gold rush 16th fret alternative

Listen to The Gold Rush for mandolin:

The Gold Rush

key of A

Download:
Tablature and Music
Just the Music
Just the Tab

The Gold Rush has been recorded by many great artists over the years, and it’s definitely one of those Bluegrass tunes you want to learn. It’s a very well known fiddle tune, and a standard at many Bluegrass jam sessions.
Image of an F4 mandolin

Tennessee Waltz

April 30, 2016 by Cy...

The song gained huge popularity when it was recorded by Patti Page in 1950. It’s in the key of C and played in 3/4 (waltz) time.

Following, you’ll find two versions of this tune. The first is fairly simple with basic timing and a few eighth note hammer-ons. The second version uses some syncopation with dotted quarter notes and eighth notes leading into the next measure, so watch the right hand. You should try to use “down picks” on the beats and “up picks” on the off-beats (on the “ands”), but it is a slow tune so you can probably get away with what’s comfortable.

You’ll also find a few sixteenth note hammer-ons (basically triplets) in the second version. If they tend to cause problems, just keep working at it and they’ll come.

The audio file plays both versions one after the other. Only the first version is tabbed out below, but both versions can be downloaded separately.

Listen to The Tennessee Waltz for mandolin:

Here’s the first version.

The Tennessee Waltz

key of C

Mandolin tab for th Tennessee Waltz. — Mandolin tablature for the country tune “Tennessee Waltz”.

Download:
Tablature and Music (1st version)
Just the Music (1st version)
Just the Tab (1st version)

And here’s the second version.

The Tennessee Waltz

key of C

Download:
Tablature and Music (2nd version)
Just the Music (2nd version)
Just the Tab (2nd version)

Red Haired Boy

March 22, 2016 by Cy...

The Scottish and Irish influence on Bluegrass music is undeniable. One of the many Bluegrass tunes that comes straight from Ireland is Red Haired Boy. In fact, it’s listed as “The Red Haired Lad” in O’Neill’s Music of Ireland , and goes by many other names such as “Gilderoy”, “The Little Beggarman”, and “The Red Headed Irishman”. You’re even likely to hear it played at some Irish sessions.

You will, however, hear it at many Bluegrass sessions. It’s a well-known Bluegrass standard. It could probably be listed as one of the many “must learn” Bluegrass tunes.

When I used to play banjo I was, at one point, trying to emulate the melodic style. This was one of the many fiddle tunes that I learned. I never had a tab for that version, but this is pretty much how it went – tabbed out for mandolin.

Learn to play “The Red Haired Boy” on the mandolin with this easy arrangement. The music notation, tabs and chords can be downloaded further down the page.