Banjo Hangout Newest 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs

Learned for clawhammer banjo from the playing of Missouri fiddler Bill Driver with some cello banjo accompaniment

A tune in the key of G, from the fiddling of Bill Driver.

Ode Magician 13 7nch

A challenging piece for the Tune of the Week. I stuck with a chordal approach which I learned when studying bluegrass, and still use constantly.

An original tune

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

Two versions of many -- Dwight Diller and Clark Kessinger.

Snake River Reel and Nine Witches Reel. Double C tuning, tuned down to something like double Bb. First is Cerddoriarth Fynyddig/Mountain Music&#39s version, second is an original by him.

Slower finger picked version

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

Learned for a Tune of the Week, I&#39m grateful anytime to hear the composer, Brad Kolodner, and the other fine musicians, including his father, who he often plays with.

A Doc White fiddle tune I originally learned back in the early 1970s. Banjo tuned aDAde

I don&#39t remember where I got this recording but it&#39s for TOTW. Doc White playing the tune from two different sessions.

From the fiddling of WV Israel Welch. I used the Gold Tone cello banjo tuned down five steps from a regular banjo open G tuning.

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

An original tune

Hope you enjoy this medley. Check out the Tune of the Week for April 17, 2026 for details.

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

This tune is probably composed of parts of three tunes, as stated in research of Brilliancy Medley by Eck Robertson, a Texas fiddler a hundred years ago. I have yet to recognize all the tunes he juxtaposed in that one 1929 recording posted in the current TOTW.

Reference recording for the tab posted--<a href=&#39/tab/browse.asp?m=bymember&v=103904&#39>view my tabs here</a>.

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

key of G in 2 finger style, Bare finger

A 9-part tune, Grigsby&#39s Hornpipe source recording is Eck Robertson, the &#34Famous Cowboy Fiddler&#34 from Texas. Colonel Melvin Grigsby may be the namesake for the tune, having gained some fame himself when he prompted Congress to pass an act to form his cavalry. That act led to Teddy&#39s Rough Riders, which may have led to his ascension to the U.S. presidency.

Though another melody goes by this title, and this version of WV fiddler Oscar Wright&#39s resembles Paddy on the Turnpike, it&#39s a tune that&#39s been recorded with credit given to Wright.

TOTW 03/13/26

Charlie Poole wrote the song and recorded it with the North Carolina Ramblers in 1929, but it&#39s said that a similar older song centered around a much earlier fire in Boston was the inspiration.

This arrangement of Chadwell&#39s Station using cello banjo tuned down four steps allowed me to hit the lowest notes, but it also caused me to re-tune the first string because of the high fret notes needed. So the tuning is dGDGB -- open G. The alternate method to play used a regular banjo in normal tuning -- gDGDB -- and is easier to play.

From the 1840&#39s Hamblen collection of a Virginia fiddler, David Russell Hamblen. As these tunes become known and played from the musical notation made by Hamblen&#39s grandson, their richness is appreciated in the old-time music world.

Reference recording for the tab posted--<a href=&#39/tab/browse.asp?m=bymember&v=103904&#39>view my tabs here</a>.

As played on fiddle nearly one hundred years ago by the Stripling Brothers, without the insertion of the hymn In the Sweet By and By.

Shady Grove might be the most universal old time tune that ever existed. It &#39s pretty hard to make a rendition that is satisfactory as to combining the banjo with the singing.

Reference recording for the tab posted--<a href=&#39/tab/browse.asp?m=bymember&v=103904&#39>view my tabs here</a>.

From the notation of Virginian David Hamblen&#39s fiddling, as played by Christian Whig. Thanks to Noah Cline for bring this collection to our attention.

As played by Humphrey Bates&#39 harmonica in a 1928 recording. Terrible title, but a good dance tune, as it was probably intended.

Banjo aDAde Derived from Dr. Humphrey Bate and His Possum Hunters

Via Eddy Arnold, here are the lyrics the woman can sing. She&#39s determined to go with her roving gambler. Good luck to them both, but ....

Two-finger arrangement by Matt Brown

The Rovin&#39 Gambler based on Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers 1929 Columbia Records recording

Reference recording for the tab posted--view my tabs here.

Three-finger style, G rather than the usual A as I wasn&#39t using a capo.

A French Canadian tune with a title that says it all!

From the collection of Samuel Bayard of Pennsylvania around the 1930&#39s, Harry &#34Tink&#34 Queer liked &#34tinkering&#34 with his father&#39s fiddle at a young age and grew to be a capable fiddler. The A part of this tune sounds unique and the B part reminds us of Little Billy Wilson&#39s part A. The cello banjo&#39s lower tuning allowed me to arrange this tune in equivalent to a double C tuning. Because the original tune is in A, open G tuning would work, too. Here it goes from the low fourth string up to the 10th fret on the first string. I had to memorize my tab&#39s part B to accurately get up there. (Normally for Tune of the Week, I arrange and tab a tune after slowing the fiddle down to hear what is played and don&#39t make an effort to memorize it.) I like imitating the fiddle on banjo and often have said my banjo thinks it&#39s a fiddle. :) I get the melody best from a fiddle, and for me it&#39s melody that makes the tune, with the clawhammer rhythmic style giving it body.

An Irish polka with a long history and various titles. I&#39m curious how the cello banjo would sound with regular banjo chordal accompaniment. Perhaps I can try that later for this Tune of the Week.

Celtic polka that fits well in an old time playlist.

Bill Monroe&#39s 1951 recording is the inspiration here. Such a cheerful song!