Home Sweet Home

     This is a little picking on Earl Scruggs' "Home Sweet Home".  

     First pass through I keep pretty close to the Scruggs recording and second time through I throw in a bit of a descending single string lick.  

     You can't really improve on what Scruggs did but I enjoy picking around and seeing what I come up with.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Variations

********************************UPDATE (July 19th)*********************************

So I came in third in the Banjo Hangout's 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown Challenge'.  You can check out the top 3 at http://www.banjohangout.org/events/contest-winners.asp?id=1.

Was alot of fun.  Thanks to everyone who competed and voted.

I had someone request the tab for my arrangement so I've written it out  for anyone interested.  You can download it from my tablature archive here (it's in tabledit format.  If you don't have tabledit you can download the viewer at www.tabledit.com).

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I did a few posts offering some variations on Earl Scruggs' 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' but never really showed the individual variations back to back.

Here I've recorded some variations on the previous variations thrown together and performed with guitar accompaniment provided by fellow Tishomingo String Bander Chris Russell.

Here it is...

Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Variation III

For this variation on good ol' Foggy Mountain we journey to the upper reaches of the fretboard.  Most of the playing is out of the G and E minor chord voicings up the neck with a few distractions thrown in (such as the chromatically descending fourths in measures 3-4).

The end of this variation features a barrage of triplet pulloffs.  All of the pulloffs descent from 3rd fret to 2nd fret to the open string.  If you have yet to encounter these types of pulls before I suggest spending some time with the metronome working on only one string and when you feel comfortable try it with string switching.

Without further adieu, here is the video of the variation played slow...



And here is the tablature (click to enlarge)...

NEXT:  FOGGY MOUNTAIN VARIATION IV

Exploring Foggy Mountain Breakdown Part II - Single String Break

For the second break I thought I would try some single string and just to make things fun I threw in a quote from AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' (over the D chord).

I use mostly thumb/index/thumb/middle for my single string playing as it feels a little more solid and a little more like playing a role but straight thumb/index alternation is all good if you prefer.

Here is the video of the variation played slow...



And here is the tablature (click to enlarge)

NEXT:  Exploring Foggy Mountain Breakdown Part III 

Exploring Foggy Mountain Breakdown- Part I

Foggy Mountain Breakdown.  It's the most popular tune from the father of bluegrass banjo (Earl Scruggs).  I love playing Foggy Mountain as much as the next guy and thought I would try a series of posts exploring variations.  The original is pretty much untouchable so I'm not suggesting anything I have come up with is an improvement, simply tapping into the old imagination to mix things up a little.

The first variation is fairly similar in melody to the up the neck choke break Scruggs takes only played an octave lover with hammers in place of chokes.  There is a little pedal steel inspired bending over the E minor chord and then a honky tonk piano inspired lick over the D chord.

Here is a video of it played slow...



And here is the tab (click to enlarge)...

I figure at the end of this series I'll record a video of all of the variations back to back at a decent tempo.

NEXT :  EXPLORING FOGGY MOUNTAIN PART II - SINGLE STRING BREAK

Can't Believe He's Gone

Earl Scruggs died yesterday at age 88. That's a long full life by anyone's standards yet I still feel a sadness. Scruggs was a rare individual. To have someone like him, someone who so totally reimagined and revitalized his instrument, with us on this earth for as long as he was must certainly be looked upon as a gift.

I am positive that when Scruggs was a boy the idea of life in the year 2012 would have seemed as mindboggling to him as the distant future seems to any child..."Will there be a cure for the common cold? Will folks still drink Cocacola? How about flying cars, personal robots and leisurely trips to the moon?" I wonder if a young Scruggs ever imagined a future where his style of banjo playing would be performed on stages, in living rooms, on back porches and organized jam sessions not just in his home state or home country but across the globe; from Paris to Mumbai, Tokyo to Melborne, Mexico City to Beijing?

When I began on the banjo I was not aware that it was Scruggs' sound that had drawn me in. I knew I wanted, needed, to get that fast driving, make-your-hair-stand-on-end ring that I had heard...somewhere...on TV, on the radio, in a movie maybe. The deeper I got into the banjo the clearer the greatness of Earl became.

He was a visionary and a quantum leap in the development of banjo technique. He was also a player who performed the style he developed so well, so cleanly and with such articulation and beauty of tone, that he arguably has never been truly surpassed. To top it all off he had a knack for writing instrumental tunes and licks that were phenomenally appealing and which will live on, I'm guessing, at least until the next century.

Enough writing, I'm going to go play some banjo.

Thank you for everything, Earl. You are missed.

Writing a 2nd Break---'Ground Speed'

When tackling a banjo tune you would like to add to your repertoire the first step is generally to learn the main banjo part from a trusted source (say a preferred recording or a solid written arrangement).

A second step might be to try something to make it your own. You could alter the original banjo part to your tastes and strengths (which is never a bad idea) and/or you could concoct an original second break.

The nice thing about an original second break is it allows you to build off a strong piece of music. Plus, you already know you like the first break so at least that part of the song will fly even if your original break crashes and burns.

For this example I came up with an original 2nd break for Scruggs' 'Ground Speed'.

The original melody is classic; a rip roaring descending pattern up the neck leading to the open strings and back again. Generally played at a good clip, though it also sounds good slow, this tune is freaking addictive.

For the A section of my break (in the video it begins when my left hand reaches around the 15Th fret) I decided to keep the melodic contour intact as much as possible just moving everything a little further up the neck. Then I threw in a long descending pull off lick as a way to get from up the neck to back down low. Does it work? You tell me, but that's what I did.

For the B section I keep close to the original save for the circus music quote. I find a more conservative B section balances the long chromatic-ish run at the end of the A section.

There are many approaches you can take to a 2nd break and I encourage everyone to try it out, have fun and come up with something different.

Here's Ground Speed(man do I look goofy when I play)...