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Sunny Side of the Mountain banjo tabs

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  • Tablatures
    Banjo Sunny Side of the Mountain tab

    Scruggs Style

    Jimmy Martin

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

    Watch out for that extra bar of 2/4! Some singers like to use this song to show off how long they can hold a note, so when you are at a jam pay close attention to the singer.

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  • Scruggs Style(Up the Neck)

    Jimmy Martin

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

    A super rad up the neck version of this classic jam tune. Enjoy!

    Learn
  • Scruggs Style(Melody Only)

    Jimmy Martin

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

    A great song starts with a great melody. That's what we have here. If you are a beginner that is struggling to get the basics down it is fun to learn a melody! It's not as hard as the foggy mountain roll, and you get to really start making some music. It can be very rewarding, and after you learn that, you can use the lick switcher to add in rolls, and Scruggs Riffs. Take them one at a time. Use the tempo slider and looper to practice. Almost every measure in this arrangement has alternate licks. It's a great way to start playing banjo without being overwhelmed by challenging new techniques.

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  • Melodic Style

    Jimmy Martin

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

    Little Darlin', this is a melodic style arrangement you sure won't forget!

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  • Single String Style

    Jimmy Martin

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

    Slides and pull offs add style(and maybe a little challenge) to this simple arrangement. Use the lick switcher to add in some cool riffs and explore more options as you dive deeper into learning this tune.

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More about Sunny Side of the Mountain

This is another classic from the past or better put, a blast from the past. It is classics like this that really, just as its title, keeps us on the sunny side of life; it helps us stay cheerful and maintain a positive attitude. This classic was authored by none other than songwriter Harry C. McAuliffe and Bobby Gregory while the singing ranger; Hank snow rendered his vocals to converting the lyrics into a melodious tune, and it was released in 1946. This song and others make up the compilation album he released in 1967. This song most definitely captured the heart of many country music lovers as years later, it would be covered by artists in the future. Quite a number of artists did covers of the song. In no particular order, it was covered by The Virginia Mountain Boys in the year 1977, Dick Curless in May 1965, Country Gazette in 1976, Stanley brothers in 1959, etc. the latest cover of this song was in 2011 by the idle time band. Although not their original song, every artist that has covered this song has uniquely adapted it in their style such that they sing it in ways that express their individuality.

Learn 5 different versions of Sunny Side of the Mountain, 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 Sunny Side of the Mountain using scales and up the next positions. You can also 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 Sunny Side of the Mountain 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.

There are a number of fantastic learning tools in Tunefox to help you memorize, learn by ear, and improve your speed. These special features are found in the "Tools" menu at the bottom right of your screen. The "Hide Notes" tool will hide a number of the notes in the tab so you can use your ears to learn parts of the melody of the Sunny Side of the Mountain. Next, try out the "Memory Train" tool, which will hide more and more notes each time the song or measure loops. This will help get you off of the tab you’ve been working with so you can play it by memory. The "Speed Up" feature gradually speeds up the song so you can hone your technique and challenge yourself to go faster.

Use the Tunefox backing tracks to practice the solo you’re working on or improvising over the chord changes for Sunny Side of the Mountain. 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.

Members can export their arrangements into PDF, allowing them to print and bring them to their next jam session.