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Banjo tablatures for Shady Grove

Traditional

Recomended level: Intermediate

Tags: #vocal song, #folk music, #minor key, #medium-tempo

Shady Grove is recognized as an Appalachian folk song. It is common in the bluegrass and old-time musicians of the Cumberland repertoire. The song has been performed by traditional and folk musicians as it is sometimes called a courting song. Shady grove is all about the true love that a young man has coupled with a firm hope that he would get to marry her. There are a lot of existing variants, and artists like the Kingston Trio, Jerry Garcia and David Gris man, Mudcrutch, Bill Monroe, Crooked Still, Taj Mahal, Doc Watson, and many others have performed it. Even the ever famous Van Beethoven has performed it before. If you do a little research about the song, you will discover that it has at least about three melodies and a ton of verses than you would want to count. The song has the same melody for its verse and chorus, so it shouldn’t take to long to know the tune. This same tune was used by the Fairport convention of 1969 to follow the traditional British ballad “Matty Groves.” But apart from this usage, “Shady Grove” and “Matty Groves” are not the same.

  • Banjo Shady Grove Scruggs Style

    Scruggs Style

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      Dm
    • Tempo
      120 bpm
    • Tuning
      aDGBD

    Shady Grove is a popular jam tune and has been recorded by tons of amazing artists. Listen to Doc Watson's version for a good time!

    Banjo Shady Grove Scruggs Style
    Learn
  • Banjo Shady Grove Melodic Style

    Melodic Style

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      Dm
    • Tempo
      120 bpm
    • Tuning
      aDGBD

    The melodic arrangement of Shady Grove is a great way to imitate how a guitarist or mandolin player may play this tune.

    Banjo Shady Grove Melodic Style
    Learn
  • Banjo Shady Grove Backup

    Backup

    • Difficulty
    • Key
      Dm
    • Tempo
      110 bpm
    • Tuning
      aDGBD

    A straightforward way to play backup on this classic folk song Shady Grove.

    Banjo Shady Grove Backup
    Learn



Learn 3 different versions of Shady Grove, which are all shown on this page. We recommend that you get started with the Scruggs style version, where you’ll learn basic roll pattern and left hand articulations like slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Next, move on to the Melodic arrangement to learn how to play the melody for Shady Grove using scales and up the next positions. Lastly, you can check out the Backup arrangement, which shows you how to play behind others while they are soloing.

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 Shady Grove 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 Shady Grove 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 Shady Grove. 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.

Once you’ve settled on an arrangement of Shady Grove using the Lick Switcher, export your arrangement to a PDF file so you can print it out and take it with you. This is a member-only feature.

Shady Grove lyrics

Cheeks as red as the blooming rose
Eyes of the deepest brown
You are the darling of my heart
Stay till she sun goes down

Shady Grove, my little love
Shady Grove, my dear
Shady Grove, my little love
I'm going to leave you here

Shady Grove my little love
Standin' in the door
Shose and stockin's in her hand
And her little bare feet on the floor

Wish I had a big, fine horse
Corn to feed fim on
Pretty little girl stay at home
Feed him when I'm gone

Shady Grove, my little love
Shady Grove, I say
Shady Grove, my little love
Don't wait till Judgment Day