Chicken Reel for Classic Banjo

[thereallyniceman]

You can tell that Steve Harrison is at home recovering from his operation...with obviously too much time on his hands :-)

He has arranged Chicken Reel for Classic Style (Yes, the bluegrass players know that one).

He said that he needed a change from the Ragtime pieces.  Well it is certainly a change ;-) 

I have uploaded the score to the MUSIC LIBRARY and there is a midi audio track 

Thank you Steve.

[Steve Harrison]

Thanks Ian, this is a really fun piece to play and shows the bluegrass boys that we can do it as well!I took the arrangement, as usual, from the original piano score and there are rag-timey bits in it which makes it all the more interesting. Whenever I've heard this in the past, it never gets past the first movement so it's nice to hear it in its entirety.

[Alan Sims]

thats a great arrangement Steve and Ian .and with the midi file it helps us learners.Ive had a fumble through it and suddenly realised i was reading the dots . not so good on the highs though . I must persevere with it .get well soon ,keep them coming ,there are people out here listening .

[Trapdoor2]

Well, you learn something new every day. I've been playing "Chicken Reel" for years on the clawhammer banjo (Bluegrassers wouldn't dare...too "corny" for them). Yet another piece that went all hayseed and lost its composer (like "Redwing", "Whistling Rufus", "Dill Pickle Rag", et al.).

Well done. I gotta learn it!

[Steve Harrison]

Thanks for your comments..it just shows that there's a wealth of untapped and forgotten great music out there. It just needs a bit of perseverance and time (something I have in abundance at the moment) to seek it out. I'm still looking for more interesting pieces and if anyone has anything that might sound good on the banjo, let me know. The U.S. universities' digital archives are a great source and of course the Library of Congress. At the moment I'm hobbling around with a support frame on my right leg, I can't drive or do any work which gives me the importunity to spend  time on banjo related activities.
Trapdoor2 said:

Well, you learn something new every day. I've been playing "Chicken Reel" for years on the clawhammer banjo (Bluegrassers wouldn't dare...too "corny" for them). Yet another piece that went all hayseed and lost its composer (like "Redwing", "Whistling Rufus", "Dill Pickle Rag", et al.).

Well done. I gotta learn it!

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Alan, if you're having difficulty reading the 'highs' as you describe them (ledger lines) here's a tip you may find useful. You need to give yourself a reference point to work from. Take the upper case letter E and you see it is made up of three horizontals. If these were ledger lines, then the note on the topmost ledger line is E. You can then work out the other notes from this. I hope this is clear for you, all the best...Steve.

Alan Sims said:

thats a great arrangement Steve and Ian .and with the midi file it helps us learners.Ive had a fumble through it and suddenly realised i was reading the dots . not so good on the highs though . I must persevere with it .get well soon ,keep them coming ,there are people out here listening .

[thereallyniceman]

Alan, Dont forget Steve's ACE tip..  first ledger line A, second C and 3rd E ....

When finding the actual notes on the fingerboard I started by remembering the open strings CGBD (forget the 5th it is always G!). Then I remembered the notes at the 5th fret FCEG  so I could work out the notes on the strings down to the open or up to the 5th easily either way.

I then remembered the 10th fret  Bflat F A C  and again I could easily work out the notes down to the 5th and up to the 10th.

Then it was easy as I remembered the 12th fret notes...  same as the open  CGBD

Then everything repeated up the neck  17th pos  FCEG

Then 22nd position   Bflat F A C   ... just fill in the gaps as before.

I hope it don't sound too bleedin' obvious, but it was easier to work in blocks of 5 frets for me to become familiar with the fingerboard  :-)