SimplyMandolin

tabs & music for the mandolin player

fiddle tunes

Liberty

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Liberty is another classic fiddle tune. You’ve probably heard it. It’s a fairly popular tune at jam sessions and one that is often included in beginner books for almost every bluegrass instrument. Therefore, it’s one of those tunes that you probably want to learn.

I’ve heard this fiddle tune played in a few different keys. I’ve found the key of D to be very common, so that’s what you’ll find on this page. Since there’s nothing too tricky in this arrangement, you should find it easy to learn.

Listen to the tune “Liberty” for mandolin:

Liberty

mandolin tab for the bluegrass tune "Liberty".
Mandolin tab for the Bluegrass tune “Liberty”.

Download:
Tab and Notation
Just the Music
Just the Tab

Beginnings
I learned this tune many years ago on guitar and banjo, and although I’ve seen it sometimes called “Liberty Hornpipe”, I’ve never discovered it under any other name. I always just thought of it as an old American civil war tune. However, when I decided to put it on the website I thought I might take a quick look into the history. I found that, like many old tunes, it’s true origin has become somewhat muddy over the years.

The tune’s birthplace varies, depending on where you get your info. Some say it came from Ireland and was at one time called “The Tipsy Parson”, which of course is very possible – many Irish and Scottish tunes have made their way to America. Elsewhere, I’ve read that Liberty was originally a French Canadian fiddle tune called “Reel De Ti-Jean”. I found nothing on who might have written the tune.

Of course, that’s nothing unusual. There are thousands of tunes out there that have lost most of their history, and we play them every day. Liberty is just one of them.

Wherever it came from, it eventually made its way to America where it is recognized by, or in the repertoire of, most North American fiddlers and musicians.

image of a Bluegrass Mandolin

Squirrel Hunters

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retro image of an ad for the Daisy air rifle.

A Likeable Melody

Squirrel Hunters was a request from a site visitor. It’s an old fiddle tune that has a few different little twists, so it caught my attention as something that might be of interest to everyone.

It was easy enough to come up with something I could tab out, but when it comes to the key and the chords, it tends to take a few diversions from the standard.

I’m a big John Hartford fan, and I got some help from an old video I found on YouTube. In that video, Hartford explains this very tune as played on the fiddle.

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The Tune

While Squirrel Hunters seems to be in the key of A, all the G’s are natural, not sharp. The tune starts off on an E chord (the fifth) and ends on a D chord (fourth). The second part starts with an A chord.

Listen to Squirrel Hunters for mandolin.

Squirrel Hunters
Slower

Squirrel Hunters

image of mandolin tablature for the bluegrass tune squirrel hunters.
Mandolin tab for the bluegrass tune “Squirrel Hunters”.

Downloads:

*Tab & Music
*Just the Tab
*Just the Music
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A Few Simple Variations

Adding just a single note to a few bars can make a solo sound a little different. Inserting a slide, double stop or pull-off etc., can also make a difference to the ear, thus adding “color”, or “embellishing” an arrangement. I’ve included a few very simple variations for you to try.

The A Part

In the very first bar, try adding a slide from the 5th fret to the 7th.

showing a variation for the beginning of squirrel hunters.
Slide from the 5th fret to the 7th

In addition, you might try adding just a single note to the fourth bar (an ‘A’ after the ‘D’ on the second string), thus turning that first quarter note into two eighth notes.

variation for the fourth bar by adding a note
Adding a single note.

If you want, you can also add an open ‘A’ after the C#, filling that fourth bar with eighth notes.

The 5th bar is a repeated phrase (same as the 1st bar), as a result you can add the same slide to the fifth bar as you did in the first.

The B Part

The second part can also start off with a slide in the 10th bar. So, it would look like this:

variations to the B part of squirrel hunters.
Sliding into the B-part.

Another single note can be added to the end of the eleventh bar so that the flow of notes continues into the next bar.

variation for the tune squirrel hunters
Adding another single note.

The 13th bar can be treated in the same manner as the 4th bar, adding a single note.

And finally, we can change the quarter note in the 14th bar into two eighth notes. As a result, the flow of notes continues well into the 15th bar.

Another variation to the tune squirrel hunters.
Keep the flow going.

So, that’s just a few simple variations. Give them a try and see what you think. Maybe see what you can come up with on your own.

Here’s the result:

And, the slower version:

Downloads:

*Tab & Music
*Just the Tab
*Just the Music

Make Sure It’s Not Too Much

After making changes and variations, it’s always best to step back and take a look at what you’ve done. Make sure you haven’t made it too difficult or complicated. Make sure it’s not too “notey” (if that makes sense). In most cases you don’t want a tune that’s overly busy. Less is more.

Thanks for visiting. Please feel free to leave comments.

Cy…

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Big Sandy River

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Big Sandy River is another classic fiddle tune made famous by Bill Munroe.

It gets its name from a river in the United States. Two tributaries in Kentucky and West Virginia (the Levisa Fork and the Tug Fork) join together to form the Big Sandy River. It flows northerly, for a little less than 30 miles, along the borders of Kentucky and West Virginia, where it empties into the Ohio River.

An area along the Tug Fork tributary, that flows into Big Sandy, is well known as the site of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud.

Big Sandy River is in the key of A. The following version should be fairly straight-forward. It’s in 4/4 time with a typical down-up-down-up picking pattern (down on the beats). The most difficult part, for some, may be fretting the notes on the 6th fret. A common question is “should I use my ring finger or my pinky on the 6th fret?”.

Try using your ring finger for both the D, at the 5th fret on the second string, and the D-sharps at the 6th fret. Use the same finger for the G# at the 6th fret of the D (or third) string.

Listen to Big Sandy River for mandolin:

Big Sandy River

mandolin tab for big sandy river
Mandolin tab for the Bluegrass tune “Big Sandy River”.

Download:
Tablature and Music
Just the Notation
Just the Tab

Variations
A-part
You’ve already seen a simple variation in the A-part. Instead of playing the 6th bar exactly the same as the 2nd, I’ve put in a slide from the 5th to the 6th fret (D to D#).

But, you could try adding some notes in these bars. I always find myself adding a few notes. It’s funny because I often take notes out of a piece to add pause, or a little change to the flow. Then, when I’m playing, I tend to add them back in as I keep the down-up-down-up pattern going. Okay, not so funny.

By adding a couple open notes to the 2nd or 6th bar, you could get something like this:
Variation to start of big sandy river

I don’t actually strike the added open notes as hard as the the others, so they’re not nearly as loud. In fact I just touch them.

 

B-part
You can see that the 11th bar and the 15th bar are the same except for the added G-sharp in the 11th. Just switch those two bars around and you may notice a different feel to the start of the B-part.

Also, try adding a D# (2nd string, 6th fret) to the 13th or 17th bar like this:
another variation for big sandy river
Another great variation to try is moving the whole B-part down an octave. You’ll use mostly the same notes, but start on the 4th (lowest) string. Give it a go!

A bluegrass mandolin
Bluegrass Mandolin

The Temperance Reel

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Download the tablature and learn to play “The Temperance Reel” on the mandolin.

The Temperance Reel is another one of many old Irish tunes that crossed the ocean with our ancestors and became a part of traditional western music. You’re just as likely to run into the tune at a bluegrass session, as you are to hear it at an Irish or Scottish session.

Like many Irish and Scottish tunes, this tune is known by a few different names. In Ireland, it’s often called “The Teetotaller”. Be sure to check out “The Teetotaller” in the Celtic section. That tab is a little different. It’s definitely the same tune, but with more of an Irish feel to it.

I’ve tabbed out two versions. The first is pretty much the standard, and the second may give you some ideas for variation.

First version of The Temperance Reel for Mandolin.


Version 1

The Temperance Reel

Key of G

first version of the temperance reel
Mandolin tablature for the Bluegrass tune Temperance Reel.

Download:
Tablature and Music
Just the Notation
Just the Tab

Once you’ve learned the above tab, take a look at this next version. Simple little changes can provide usable variations. I’ve changed some of the timing in a few places by replacing a couple of eighth notes with quarter notes, and a few notes have been changed for fingering. Other than that, a little ornamentation – a few hammer-ons and slides, as well as a little syncopation.

Second version of “The Temperance Reel” for mandolin:


Version 2

The Temperance Reel

Key of G

second version of the temperance reel
Mandolin tablature for the Bluegrass tune Temperance Reel (version 2)

Download:
Tab and Music
Just the Notation
Just the Tab

A-style-build

My goal in this second version was to give the tune more of a “western fiddle” feel. Maybe I’ve succeeded, maybe I haven’t. Either way, you now have two versions of The Temperance Reel. You can pick the one you like, or you could play one after the other for variation. But, the idea is to mix and match different bars from each version and make your own variations.
Give it a try!

Old Joe Clark

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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

old joe clark mandolin tablature
Mandolin tablature for the Bluegrass tune “Old Joe Clark”.

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

Red Haired Boy

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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.

The Red Haired Boy for Mandolin

Mandolin tab for The Red Haired Boy
Mandolin tab for “The Red Haired Boy”

Download:
Tablature and Notation
Just the Music
Just the Tab