How Firm a Foundation

About this piece

A five-note (pentatonic) hymn tune from an early shape-note singing book made in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Almost every melody note is an open string or the 2nd fret, so it is a good first tune for rolls: the thumb plays the melody on the 4th and 3rd strings, the index the 2nd string, the middle the 1st, and the roll keeps the banjo ringing through the long notes. Play the melody notes a little louder than the roll.

What it practices

• forward and alternating-thumb rolls
• melody with the thumb
• open strings
• a C chord and a D chord
• a pinch to end

Chords in this song

G · D · C

Each link opens the chord finder with more ways to play that chord.

Where the notes come from

Melody checked note by note against the Mutopia Project’s “Foundation” hymn setting (SATB, public domain tune; the soprano line), played here an octave lower. History of the tune from Wikipedia’s article “How Firm a Foundation”. Every melody note falls on its beat; the roll notes between are ours, and so are the chords.

How to practice with it

1. Listen first. Press Play and follow along. The note being played lights up in the tab, in the notation and on the fretboard, and the chord being played lights up in the row of chord diagrams.
2. Learn the chords. Press each diagram to hear it, then practice changing between them slowly.
3. Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start; the notes keep their pitch.
4. Loop the hard part. Under More…, turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row. Count-in gives you a bar of clicks before it starts.

Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. Left-handed? Turn on the left-handed view: the chord diagrams and the fretboard are mirrored to match your instrument. Tab reads the same either way: the top line is always the first (highest) string.