Banjo Hangout Newest 100 Clawhammer and Old-Time Songs

As played by WV fiddler Ralph Roberts, recorded by Don Borchelt and Jimmy Triplett. John's Tune is short little tune and fun to hear and play. It's named after the fiddler's grandfather who began every fiddle session with it!

A-B Cherokee Shuffle in G with guitar backup

Cherokee Shuffle in G (forgot capo:)

Thanks to Carl Baron who has shared a tune he's performed often in a special place at a folk festival. I don't get to see these remarkable little scenes of nature, but I can imagine their bright flight at night.

Description of how of how I play the tune. Banjo aDADe In D and G

Goschenhoppen Fiddlers playing on stage in 2011

Tune from Berks County. PA in aDAde. In two keys, D and G.

An original tune

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's version, second is an original by him.

Chadwell's Station played clawhammer, slow and with standard tuning tuned down to E. Learnt it from Cerddoriaeth Fynyddig/Mountain Music on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amGFMKUu_6g

Slower finger picked version

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

Learned for a Tune of the Week, I'm 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't remember where I got this recording but it's 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--view my tabs here.

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

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

key of G in 2 finger style, Bare finger

A 9-part tune, Grigsby's Hornpipe source recording is Eck Robertson, the "Famous Cowboy Fiddler" 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's 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's resembles Paddy on the Turnpike, it's a tune that's 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's said that a similar older song centered around a much earlier fire in Boston was the inspiration.

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

This arrangement of Chadwell's 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's Hamblen collection of a Virginia fiddler, David Russell Hamblen. As these tunes become known and played from the musical notation made by Hamblen's grandson, their richness is appreciated in the old-time music world.