Rook’s Hollow

About this piece

Many of the oldest banjo tunes from the Southern mountains are modal: they use a flat seventh, so in G you hear F instead of F♯, and the chords are just G and F. That gives tunes in the style of “Cluck Old Hen” and “Cumberland Gap” their lonesome, ringing sound. This one is our own. The first part sits on the 1st string, where the F is at the 3rd fret; the second part drops to the 4th string, where F is also at the 3rd fret. Every cell is a bum-ditty; where you see a hammer-on or pull-off, it fills the “and” after the strike.

What it practices

• bum-ditty
• hammer-ons and pull-offs in clawhammer
• the F note and F chord
• a high part and a low part

Chords in this song

G · F

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 modal style of old Southern banjo tunes like “Cluck Old Hen” and “Cumberland Gap”, but the melody is our own.

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.