Working on a Building Banjo Tabs
Bill Monroe
Working on a Building Banjo Tablature: One Song, Many Styles
Recomended level: Intermediate
Working on a Building is a Bluegrass gospel standard. There are many different interpretations of this song, and it is common to hear elements of the blues in most of them. The Stanley Brothers' version is a bit more bluesy than Bill Monroe's, but Bill's version definitely has blues elements. Listen to different versions of the same song to get familiar with the heart of the tune and to hear all the interesting interpretations that different artists have.
It's always good to start with the Melody. Learn the important notes first. This way you won't get lost in the flurry of banjo rolls when you are playing this song Scruggs Style. If you know the melody well you can accent those important notes as they are played within the various banjo roll patterns.
Vamping is a foundational style of backup for the bluegrass banjo player. It's crucial that you learn backup well for any tune you wish to be able to play with other people. Practice for endurance. Don't aim to just play one time through. Shoot for 10-20 times at a tempo that's comfortable for you. That's more in line with the amount of times you'd play through the chord changes on banjo in a jam situation.
Learning the basic melody is good. Learning the Syllabic Melody is great. "Playing the syllables" is the secret approach of many pros. Over time this will help you develop a very "lyrical" play style and a good instinct for "phrasing". This approach also boosts your memory and natural musicality by tying the language of music to spoken language and singing. The intricacy of a syllabic melody is a bit more complex and therefore more challenging to play. Remember to use your Tunefox tools to help you practice a piece at a time, at a speed you can handle, and at a difficulty level that suits you.
The Single String version of Working on a Building is based on the syllabic melody. This one is challenging at the highest difficulty level. Use the focus feature to learn a measure or two at a time, as well as the tempo slider or difficulty slider, if needed. If you want to get more familiar with this picking style, check out our learning path for Single String Banjo. There, you'll find single string scales and picking patterns for banjo, as well as a collection of tunes with single string style arrangements.
Learn how to play Working on a Building on Banjo with this selection of tablatures:
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Learn
Melody - Syllablic
- Difficulty
- Key G Modal
- Tempo 60 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
While the chords used in "Working on a Building" are relatively simple, the melody is full of intricacy - especially when it was sung by Ralph Stanley. This version for the banjo is...
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LearnScruggs Style - Basic
- Difficulty
- Key G
- Tempo 80 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
This version of Working on a Building for the banjo features a lot of backwards rolls. There's some other banjo roll patterns being used too. Identify those before starting to play....
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LearnSingle String
- Difficulty
- Key G
- Tempo 80 bpm
- Tuning gDGBD
This single string style version of "Working on a Building" for the banjo is based on the vocal stylings of Ralph Stanley. It is similar to how a modern mandolin player might approa...
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