Shortnin’ Bread
Key of G

A very close rendition to the way Earl played it with a few Charlie Cushman licks thrown in for good measure.

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Tab in PDF and TablEdit formats - $6.00

A large part of playing Bluegrass banjo in a band or jam setting, is being able to kickoff songs.
A successful kickoff, or intro, requires a solid cue to the rest of the band in order to get everybody playing at the desired tempo and feel. In other words, you’re setting the mood for the song and “getting the ball rolling” so to speak.

The Kickoff eBook is a must own reference book for aspiring Bluegrass banjo players. It features 101 Scruggs-style intros to the genres most popular songs by Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Jimmy Martin, The Stanley Brothers, The Osborne Brothers and many more.

The arrangements are based off classic recordings and can be played as is or used as a starting point to create your own arrangements. Most of them also work as solos in the event another instrument kicks off the song. These are not watered down or simplified arrangements. This eBook is packed full of licks in the style of Earl Scruggs, J.D. Crowe, Ralph Stanley, Sonny Osborne, Charlie Cushman, etc.

The song keys suggested here are what you might typically find others playing them in, but changing keys, in most cases will just require repositioning your capo. All tabs include chord charts as well.

Working through this eBook, along with listening to classic recordings, will help build your repertoire and give you the confidence to kickoff songs and lay a solid foundation for the rest of the band. In addition, knowing kickoffs will drastically improve your ability to improvise solos since you will have a solid grasp of the melody.

All 101 songs in the eBook have an accompanying, note for note, video posted here.

Package includes eBook in PDF format (111 pages) as well as all 101 songs in TablEdit format. Instantly delivered to your email upon order completion.

For sample pages and complete song index see below.

The Kickoff eBook

(Digital Download – PDF & TablEdit format)
Price: $40

In Stock

Sample Pages
Molly and Tenbrooks
On and On
Handsome Molly

Song Index
All the Good Times are Past and Gone
Ballad of Jed Clampett
Banks of the Ohio
Big Spike Hammer
Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Blue Ridge Mountain Blues
Careless Love
Come Back Darlin’
Cryin’ Holy
Dig a Hole in the Meadow
Doin’ My Time
Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down
Down the Road
East Virginia Blues
Eight More Miles to Louisville
Foggy Mountain Top
Forty Years of Trouble
Get In Line Brother
Gonna Settle Down
Gotta Travel On
Ground Hog
Handsome Molly
Head Over Heels
Hot Corn, Cold Corn
How Mountain Girls Can Love
I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow
I Saw the Light
I’ll Be Alright Tomorrow
I’ll Fly Away
I’ll Never Shed Another Tear
I’ll Stay Around
Jesse James
John Hardy
John Henry
Keep on the Sunny Side
Little Cabin Home on the Hill
Little Girl in Tennessee
Little Maggie
Lonely River
Lonesome Road Blues
Love Please Come Home
Low and Lonely
Man of Constant Sorrow
Midnight Moonlight
Molly and Tenbrooks
Mountain Dew
My Cabin in Caroline
My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My Little Georgia Rose
My Long Journey Home
My Walking Shoes
Nine Pound Hammer
Ninety-Nine Years and One Dark Day
No Mother or Dad
Nobody’s Business
Old Home Place
On and On
On My Way Back to the Old Home
One Tear
Pain in My Heart
Pig in a Pen
Poor Ellen Smith
Poor Rebel Soldier
Pretty Polly
Red Rockin’ Chair
Rocky Top
Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms
Salty Dog
Saro Jane
She’s More to be Pitied
Sittin’ On Top of the World
Somehow Tonight
Song of The South
Sophronie
Steam Powered Aereo Plane
Sunny Side of the Mountain
Sweet Thing
Take Me in Your Lifeboat
The Old Home Town
Think of What You’ve Done
Thinking About You
Two Different Worlds
Unclouded Day
Unfaithful One
Used to Be
Wabash Cannonball
We’ll Meet Again Sweetheart
Wear a Red Rose
When I Left East Virginia
White Freight Liner Blues
White House Blues
Why Don’t You Tell Me So
Wild Bill Jones
Will the Circle be Unbroken
Will You be Loving Another Man
Worried Man Blues
Wreck of the Old 97
You are My Flower
You Can Have Her
You Don’t Know My Mind
Your Love is Like a Flower

A large part of playing banjo in a Bluegrass band is being able to play interesting accompaniment or better know in the banjo world as playing backup.

I’m currently working on my next project which will be a multimedia package that will cover the topic of playing backup in a Bluegrass band extensively. It will also focus on practical music theory and improvisation, to equip you with the tools to create your own backup off the top of your head, as well as branch out from the Bluegrass idiom if so desired.

Backup can be memorized, just like lead, though it’s much easier to improvise once you achieve a certain level of proficiency on the banjo along with some fundamental, theoretical know-how.

In an effort to get you on your way to playing better backup I’m offering free backup tab for all 26 songs inside The Session Book. These tabs will get you started with the basics of vamping, rolling and feature numerous classic Scruggs licks to keep things interesting.

As with all of my arrangements, here on seanray.com, these are not watered down or simplified. That’s not to say they aren’t for beginners though they are written in such a way as to assume you have a basic familiarity with Bluegrass banjo.

To get the most out of these tabs I highly recommend downloading TefView. TefView will allow you to play back the TablEdit (.tef) files so you’ll hear and see the tab. I wrote these TablEdit files as loops so you can practice them over and over again and adjust the tempo to your liking. High quality PDF files are also included for the low, low price of $0.00.

This is the perfect companion for The Session Book and my way of giving back to the banjo community and saying thanks for the continuing support.

Download The Session Book Backup Tabs (8MB zip file)

Songs included: Blackjack, Bugle Call Rag, Clinch Mountain Backstep, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Gap, Dear Old Dixie, Earl’s Breakdown, Farewell Blues, Fireball Mail, Five Speed, Flint Hill Special, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Foggy Mountain Chimes, Foggy Mountain Special, Ground Speed, Home Sweet Home, John Hardy, John Henry, Lonesome Road Blues, Pike County Breakdown, Randy Lynn Rag, Reuben, Sally Ann, Sally Goodin, Shuckin’ The Corn, Train 45.

Original 60’s Ludwig Black Galaxy drum set for sale. This 3 piece kit consists of a 1965 Club Date with a 1967 Super Classic floor tom. All shells are 3-ply with reinforcement rings and white interiors. Both toms have white baseball bat mufflers. Wrap and keystone badges on all drums is original. Black Galaxy is arguably the rarest Ludwig wrap after Pink Oyster. Very limited production. All drums have a nice even fade. Wrap has typical nicks and scuffs here and there but the color conceals them well. Chrome has some pitting but overall it looks pretty good. No extra holes or modifications. All interiors and edges are in great shape and appear to be original. See photos and details below.

1965 Club Date – 14×20 Bass Drum
Original rail consolette, cymbal L-arm bracket, spurs, hoops and hoop inlays. A little lift on the outer wrap seam but very tight where the wrap goes into the shell. Small crack on the inner ply near the tom side spur. I bought it like that 15 years ago and it hasn’t changed nor does it affect tone or playability. Date stamp is illegible but serial # confirms 1965.

1965 Club Date – 8×12 Rack Tom
Original muffler and tom bracket. Some snare rash. A little lift on the outer wrap seam but very tight where the wrap goes into the shell. Date stamp is illegible but serial # confirms 1965.

1967 Super Classic – 16×16 Floor Tom
Original muffler and leg brackets. Non-original legs. Seam is very tight. Date stamp is Mar 6 1967.

This kit is in good shape for being 45+ years old and has been my main kit for the past 15 years.

Price – Sold
(Will not separate)
Interesting trades considered
(drums, guitars, synths)

Local pickup only (no scams)
Email me for additional photos and questions. All emails without a name and phone number will be flagged as spam.

Thanks,
Sean

My version of Rocky Top based on the playing of Sonny Osborne.
Key of B, capo 4th fret.

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Tab in PDF and TablEdit formats - $6.00

The Session eBook features 26 of the finest Scruggs-style banjo instrumentals ever played.

This Package includes 147 page PDF eBook/52 track MP3 download as well as 26 TablEdit files.

MP3 Play-Along files features full arrangements, played by real musicians. These are not your typical, generic MIDI, BIAB backing tracks.

The accompanying MP3 audio files include two versions of each song in the eBook. One with banjo to demonstrate the tab and one without the banjo so you can play-along with the band.

The tabs include a minimum of three solos per song  complete with intros and endings. The chords for the entire arrangement are shown in an easy to follow format that minimizes page flipping so the rest of the jam session can follow along as well.

These are complete, performance ready, arrangements based on classic recordings. The backing tracks range in speeds between 80-120 bpm so you can work on your timing confidently without struggling to keep up. As you get more comfortable with the songs you can use your playback software, such as Quicktime, to speed up the tracks to your desired tempo.

if you’re new to the banjo then you can grow into this book or if you’ve been playing for a while then this is perfect for building up your repertoire.

Songs included: Blackjack, Bugle Call Rag, Clinch Mountain Backstep, Cripple Creek, Cumberland Gap, Dear Old Dixie, Earl’s Breakdown, Farewell Blues, Fireball Mail, Five Speed, Flint Hill Special, Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Foggy Mountain Chimes, Foggy Mountain Special, Ground Speed, Home Sweet Home, John Hardy, John Henry, Lonesome Road Blues, Pike County Breakdown, Randy Lynn Rag, Reuben, Sally Ann, Sally Goodin, Shuckin’ The Corn, Train 45.

Package includes eBook in PDF format (147 pages). Links to download the 52 MP3 files as well as all 26 songs in TablEdit format. Instantly delivered to your email upon order completion.

For sample page, play-along tracks and more details see below.

The Session eBook

(Digital Download – PDF, MP3 & TablEdit format)
Price: $45

In Stock

Details:
eBook: 147 page 5-string banjo tablature book with chord charts in PDF format. (Delivered via Email)

TablEdit (TEF) Files: 26 TablEdit files included. (Delivered via Email)

MP3 Download: 52 Tracks Total (26 with banjo/26 without banjo). Three hours of music. (Download via link)

Personnel:
Sean Ray – Banjo, Guitar, Bass
Brian Ray – Mandolin
Paul Kienitz – Violin

Special thanks to Brian Ray and Paul Kienitz for their invaluable contributions to this project. For more information about their various musical endeavors check out The Briar Pickers

Samples:

Sample Tab Page

Read reviews and discuss the book

Check out the January 2013 edition of Banjo Newsletter for a complete review of The Session Book

This is my arrangement of the classic Jerry Reed tune based off the original soundtrack recording from the movie Smokey and the Bandit that featured Bobby Thompson on banjo.

Like the original this arrangement features two banjos in harmony but it can just as easily be played as a solo piece. On the slow section the two banjos are hard panned left and right so you can use your balance control to isolate one banjo or the other. The lead banjo is in the left channel and the harmony is in the right. Both banjos are in standard G tuning.

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Tab in PDF and TablEdit formats - $6.00

Cripple Creek – Backing Track – Key of A – 100 bpm

Billy in the Lowground – Key of C

Get the tab!

Tab in PDF and TablEdit formats - $6.00

(This Is The) Squirrel Hunters played their first few gigs recently and didn’t even let a tornado siren deter them. If you’re a John Hartford fan the band name should make sense to you; if not then go buy his album “Wild Hog In The Red Brush”. Click here for more information about the band or here for a video from the 4th annual Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival complete with an unruly tornado siren in Bb (the song is in A, ouch!).