SimplyMandolin

tabs & music for the mandolin player

old time

Tennessee Waltz

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The Tennessee Waltz is a beautiful country waltz written by Pee Wee King in 1946, with lyrics by Redd Stewart (copyright 1948 Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc.).

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

Mandolin tab for the Tennessee Waltz.
Mandolin Tab and Music for the country tune “Tennessee Waltz”.

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

image of an "A style" 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

Angeline the Baker

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Angeline the Baker is one of my favorite old time fiddle tunes. Many years ago, it was one of the first tunes I learned to play on the banjo. This arrangement is sort of based on that old banjo version, but it’s been “mandolized”.

This tune is in the Key of D. It has an A-part and a B-part, played AABB.

Listen to Angeline the Baker for mandolin:

Mandolin tablature for Angeline the Baker
Mandolin tablature for Angeline the Baker

Download:
Tablature and Notation
Just the Notation
Just the Tab

If you notice any broken download links, or missing images, please let me know. I’ll fix them ASAP.

image of an "A" style mandolin

Clinch Mountain Backstep

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Clinch Mountain Backstep is played in G-modal tuning , sometimes called mountain modal or sawmill tuning). The modal sound is often described as haunting, or sad. It definitely does have a minor quality.

This tune is often played with the banjo or guitar capoed on the 2nd fret ( which puts it in A-modal, I guess).

It would seem that the standard is to back it up with the chords A major and E. So, those are the chords that I’ve laid out below in the tab. Although, I like it with an Am chord.

Try it both ways and see what you like.

Clinch Mountain Backstep is is in 4/4 time and has a bar of 2/4 time thrown in. Don’t let it worry you, just listen to the sound file as you learn it. It all fits just fine.

Listen to Clinch Mountain Backstep for Mandolin:

Here’s a slower version at 100 bpm.

clinch_mt_backstep-960

Download:
Tablature and Notation
Just the Dots
Just the Tab

[wpedon id=”1851″ align=”left”]

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ABC (click in the textbox to copy)


If any downloads or images are missing, please let me know. I’ll get on it as soon as I can.

mando10

Mississippi Sawyer

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Picture of a riverboat on the Mississippi River.
A Mississippi River Landing, Memphis, Tenn.

What’s in a name?

I always thought that the fiddle tune ‘Mississippi Sawyer’ was inspired by Mark Twain’s great novel ‘Tom Sawyer’. Much to my surprise, I find out that may not be the case.

I found an article about this very tune from the Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress website. That article suggests a different origin for the name.

Newsletter

The article explains how trees or logs will sometimes get stuck in the river bottom, with the other end bobbing just above, or just below, the surface. These hidden obstructions can be treacherous for river craft. Riverboat crews and other boatman on the Mississippi had to watch out for these hidden dangers, and called them ‘Mississippi Sawyers’.

That may be the case, I don’t know.
But, if you look up ‘sawyer‘ in Wikipedia, it states that “a sawyer is an occupational term referring to someone who saws wood, or operates a sawmill“.

So, the fiddle tune ‘Mississippi Sawyer‘ could have been inspired by someone who works in a sawmill along the Mississippi.

That being said, at one time Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. So, he would be familiar with the term ‘Mississippi Sawyer’.
Who knows for sure!

The Tune

This tune is in the Key of D Major. Play the A-part twice, then the B-part two times. Listen to the recording several times to get the tune in your head. Then work at it slowly, line by line.

When you’ve got it figured out, use a metronome to build speed.

Listen to Mississippi Sawyer for mandolin:

mississippi_sawyer

Downloads:

*Tab & Music
*Just the Tab
*Just the Music
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If you feel you can help support this site with the donation of a dollar or two, It would be very much appreciated…

If you don’t wish to donate at this time, I totally understand – Enjoy!

An Octave Lower

If you listen to several different fiddle recordings of this melody, you may notice that the A-part is often played an octave lower the second time through. This is a commonly used method to add a little variety to the tune, which can enhance the overall listening experience.

Here’s a great exercise to work on:

After learning to play the above arrangement for Mississippi Sawyer, try writing out a note-for-note version one octave lower.

Here’s a few bars to start you out:

image of four bars of Mississippi Sawyer, one octave lower.

Hope you enjoy working this out on your mandolin.
Cy…

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