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Crawdad Song banjo tabs

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  • Tablatures
    Banjo Crawdad Song tab

    Scruggs Style

    Traditional

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      G
    • Tempo
      120 bpm
    • Tuning
      gDGBD

    Let her go boys! Have fun with this one. Get in touch with your inner hillbilly. Also, check out that augmented roll leading from the 5 to the 1 chord. That's bluegrass gold right there. Better remember that one ;)

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  • Banjo Crawdad Song tab

    Drop C

    Traditional

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      C
    • Tempo
      105 bpm
    • Tuning
      gCGBD

    This song is often played out of C or D, so knowing how to play in this key is great for your repertoire, your understanding of the fretboard, and your vocabulary of Scruggs style riffs. There's a lot of interesting and signature licks Earl played in this key. Adding the Drop C helps to get a low supportive root note for backup and lead. It really works treat to punctuate the end of phrases.

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  • Melodic Style

    Traditional

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      G
    • Tempo
      110 bpm
    • Tuning
      gDGBD

    Not so fast my young Padawan TuneFoxer. This arrangement may appear simple. Maybe even easy...Look closer and see the challenge you shall! Sixteenth note triplets, and a bit of melodic chromaticism(say that 5 times fast). Use the looper and tempo slider to really nail these riffs, and any other challenges you may find with the lick switcher.

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  • Single String Style

    Traditional

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      G
    • Tempo
      110 bpm
    • Tuning
      gDGBD

    Ok, so technically it's not one "Single String". Geez. You can stop scratching your banjo head. You know what I meant. So picky...

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  • Licks

    Scruggs #13

    Fill Lick

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More about Crawdad Song

The "Crawdad song" emerged from a blend between the Anglo-American play-party traditions and African-American blues. As was some old tunes linked with laborers, those who worked to build levees so as to avert the flooding of the Mississippi River common in the South, basked in the melody of this tune. They are considered as the first set of people to sing the tune. Being a folksong, it originates from the southern parts of the United States, in a communal spirit. Its first publication was done by Cecil Sharp, who published it alongside other tunes as a collection of songs. As is the case with folksong, this song is only a variant of the traditional song "Sweet Thing," which hails from African-Americans. In the Roud folksong index, you would find the "Crawdad Song" as number 4853. The tune used to sing the "Crawdad Song" is not exactly unique as it has been adapted to sing used several other folksongs. As a replacement for dancing that was prohibited for religious reasons in southern plays, this song was performed.

On Tunefox you’ll find 3 different tabs for Crawdad Song. Each of these tabs will teach you how to play the this tune in a different way. The Scruggs style tablature will show you how to play left hand slurs, otherwise known as hammer-ons, slides, and pull-offs. The Melodic style arrangement of will show you how to play Crawdad Song up the neck using major and pentatonic scales. And finally, the Backup arrangement will teach you how to play the backup for this song, which is essential for jam sessions.

Each Tunefox arrangement teaches you how to create your own solos by using a feature called the Lick Switcher. The Lick Switcher features different style licks such as Scruggs, Melodic, or Bluesy and you can swap out measures in Crawdad Song to learn about improvisation and creating arrangements. To use the Lick Switcher, click on the text "Original Measure" above certain measures in the song. Then select the lick you'd like to insert into the song. You can also click on "Shuffle Licks" at the bottom of the page to see a fully new version of the tablature.

You'll also find some useful tools which will help you to learn how to play Crawdad Song on banjo. For example, you can use the "Hide Notes" feature, which will hide some notes for you so you can learn parts of the melody by ear. The "Memory train" tool will progressively hide notes each time you play through a section or the entirety of a song. Take your speed to the next level with the "Speed Up" feature. This tool will automatically increase playback speed each time you loop the song.

Use the Tunefox backing tracks to practice the solo you’re working on or improvising over the chord changes for Crawdad Song. The backing tracks are recorded samples of real instruments to help simulate practicing with an actual band. You can adjust the volume of the instrument, band, and metronome to your liking.

When you’ve finished creating your arrangement of Crawdad Song, export your song arrangement to PDF file. This feature is for members of Tunefox, only.