Old Joe Clark banjo tabs
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Tablatures
Scruggs Style
-
Difficulty
-
Key
G -
Tempo
120 bpm -
Tuning
gDGBD
This arrangement of Old Joe Clark is designed for beginner players and shows the basic melody. Sing along with what your playing for faster internalization.
Learn -
Difficulty
-
Scruggs Style
-
Difficulty
-
Key
G -
Tempo
100 bpm -
Tuning
gDGBD
This arrangement of Old Joe Clark builds on the basic version by introducing roll patterns and making the melody sound more "bluegrassy."
Learn -
Difficulty
-
Scruggs Style
-
Difficulty
-
Key
G -
Tempo
120 bpm -
Tuning
gDGBD
This builds further on the intermediate version of Old Joe Clark, and is an example of what a professional banjo player would play.
Learn -
Difficulty
More about Old Joe Clark
Old Joe Clark is a folk song from the United States, a mountain ballad that was popular with East Kentucky soldiers during and after the First World War. His songs apply to a real person called Joseph Clark, a mountaineer from Kentucky who was born in 1839 and was killed in 1885. The "playful and sometimes outlandish verses" led to the assumption that it spread as a children's song for the first time and through play parties. Throughout different versions of the album, there are about 90 stanzas. The tune is in the mode of Mixolydian. While Old Joe Clark may have arisen in the nineteenth century, prior to 1900, no written documents were available. The early version, as sung in Virginia at the time, was published in 1918. Old Joe Clark has been labeled as "one of the most widely known of all Southern fiddle tunes [as of the late 20th century... It has, to some extent, become part of the national repertoire [of the United States]. It can be heard throughout the United States in bluegrass jam sessions, old-time fiddle sessions, and country dances." Old Joe Clark is a well-known American fiddle song across the U.S. and other parts of the world. The tune was sung in many different verses and choruses. The origins of the song is not really clear, as is Joe Clark's own identity, if the title actually came from a namesake. Various claims suggest that Joe Clark may have been a moonshiner in the hills of Virginia, a War veteran in 1812, or a Clay County, Kentucky, banjo player.
There are many Scruggs, melodic and bluesy licks in these three banjo Old Joe Clark tablatures, which can be used to personalize each arrangement into your liking. To change measure into different a...rrangement, just click on the "Original Measure" text above the measure and select a different lick. You can also click the "Shuffle licks" button at the bottom of the page to randomly change all of the licks in the tablature and create a wholly unique arrangement of this song. Tunefox also features useful tools that will help you learn this arrangement of Old Joe Clark. If you select the "Tools" option in the bottom bar you’ll see "Hide Notes", "Memory Train", and "Speed Up" features. Hide notes will help you train your ears by hiding some of the notes on the page for you to figure out as opposed to looking at the tab. "Memory Train" will help you retain the melody of the song by gradually hiding notes so you can rely on your ears more for memorization. Finally, the "Speed Up" tool will automatically increase the playback speed each time a measure or the song loops. Each Tunefox banjo Old Joe Clark tab contains real-sounding backing tracks. These backing tracks allow you to practice the arrangement you’re learning with with an entire band and you can change volume of the band, banjo and metronome to suit your liking. Members can also export all of their banjo Old Joe Clark arrangements into PDF files.
Old Joe Clark lyrics
Old Joe Clark's a fine old man
Tell you the reason why
He keeps good likker 'round his house
Good old Rock and Rye
Fare ye well, Old Joe Clark
Fare ye well, I say
Fare ye well, Old Joe Clark
I'm a going away
Old Joe Clark, the preacher's son
His name was Morgan Brown
And every tooth in that mule's head
Was sixteen inches around
Old Joe Clark had ayellow cat
She would neither sing or pray
She stuck her head in the butermilk jar
And washed her sins away
Old Joe Clark had a house
Fifteen stories high
And every story in that house
Was filled with chicken pie
I went down to Old Joe's house
He invited me to supper
I stumped my toe on the table leg
And stuck my nose in the butter
Now I wouldn't marry a widder
Tell you the reason why
She'd have so many children
They'd make those biscuits fly
Sixteen horses in my team
The leaders they are blind
And every time the sun goes down
There's a pretty girl on my mind
Eighteen miles of mountain road
And fifteen miles of sand
If ever travel this road again
I'll be a married man