Red Clay Breakdown

About this piece

A short breakdown in two parts, built from the licks in the chapter on licks and fill-ins. The first part stays high on the 1st and 2nd strings and opens with the slide lick, the most common move in bluegrass banjo. The second part drops to the 4th string, where the thumb carries a low melody with hammer-ons. Like most fiddle tunes, play each part twice: A A B B. Start slowly; even rolls matter more than speed.

What it practices

• the slide lick
• forward-reverse roll
• alternating-thumb roll
• hammer-ons and pull-offs
• G, C and D7
• a high part and a low part

Chords in this song

G · C · D7

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

Where the notes come from

Original composition by Teddy Rook Book for this course (no source needed). It is written in the style of old breakdowns like “Cripple Creek”, but the melody is our own; the slide, hammer-on and pull-off licks are common bluegrass banjo moves.

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.