Shady Grove (Backup) Intermediate Banjo

[Mike]

This is the discussion topic for the lesson Shady Grove (Backup) Intermediate Banjo. Please leave your comments or any questions you might have about the lesson here!

[Tony Wilder]

This song is one of my favorites.
I love the melody. I usually associate the arrangement with Grisman and Garcia – A vocal with instrumental breaks. I noticed that your arrangement places an extra measure between chorus and verse – while Grisman/Garcia place extra measures after an instrumental break.

As a banjo player, I would love to play this song in a jam. I usually only lead fiddle tunes or well known gospel tunes such as ‘Will the Circle be unbroken’ – As a banjo player, I usually do not arrange the song for me to sing. Fortunately, there are usually a few instrumentalists present at the jams to trade lead breaks with.
Do you think that this song will work well as an instrumental – in a jam session? Or maybe I could arrange it to sing also? Do you have any other recommendations for a banjo player leading this in such a session?

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

[Author]

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