Cotton-Eyed Joe

Cotton-Eyed Joe

Eighteen, nineteen, twenty years ago
Daddy worked a man called Cotton-Eyed Joe

Where did you come from,
Where did you go?
Where did you come from
Cotton Eyed-Joe

Cornstalk fiddle and a shoe string bow
Couldn’t play nothin’ but Cotton-Eyed Joe

Woulda been married a long time ago
Hadn’t a been for Cotton-Eyed Joe

Chicken in the bread pan peckin’ out dough
Grannie will your dog bite, no child no!

Eighteen feet of sleet and snow,
The roof caved in on Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Clawhammer banjo for the complete ignoramus coverInstruction on how to play this song can be found in Wayne Erbsen’s book:Clawhammer

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Welcome, Closet Banjo Players!

By Wayne Erbsen

Come into the closet. As you nestle yourself in amongst the overcoats and umbrellas, you may be wondering why I called you here. A lot of people think that the only real banjo playing goes on at the Opry or at some far away stage with lights glittering from above. Not so. Some of the best banjo picking comes from inside of a well-stuffed closet. Of course, the sound does tend to get a little muffled in there, but the feeling is right, and the motives are pure. What closet picker could ever be accused of being

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Katie Dear

Katie Dear

Oh Katie dear go ask your mother,
If you can be a bride of mine.
If she says yes, come back and tell me,
If she says no, we’ll run away.

Oh Willie dear I cannot ask her,
She’s in her room taking a rest.
And by her side is a silver dagger,
To slay the man that I love best.

Oh Katie dear go ask your father,
If you can be a bride of mine.
If he says yes come back and tell me,
If he says no, we’ll run away,

Oh Willie dear I cannot ask

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A Different Approach to Learning Bluegrass Banjo + Tab for ‘Katie Kline’

Kindle the dogThere are certainly as many ways to learn to play bluegrass style banjo as my dog has fleas, bless his heart. After playing and teaching banjo for many years, I came up with an approach that is different from any banjo books that I’ve seen. Let me explain.

The most common way to teach a beginner the fundamentals of playing bluegrass banjo is to sit them down and show them the basic rolls. Then the teacher often show the student a tune like “Cripple Creek” or “Bile Em Cabbage Down,” using those rolls. We’ll call this approach the “Roll Method.”

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