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CherryLaneMusicCompany
Directorof Publications/Project
Editor:Mark Phillips
r s B N l ,- 5 ? 5 b u- 7 r a - 3
C o p y r i g h@
t 2 0 0 4C h e r r yL a n eM u s i cC o m p a n y
I n t e r n a t i o nC
a lo p y r i g hSt e c u r e d A I I R i g h t sR e s e r v e d
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b y c o p y r i g hlta w .A n y d u p l i c a t i oonr t r a n s m i s s i o n ,
r e, c o r d i n o
g r o t h e r w i s ei s, a n i n f r i n g e m e notf c o p y r i g h t .
b y a n y m e a n s ,e l e c t r o n i cm, e c h a n i c apl ,h o t o c o p y i n g
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CONTENTS

4
4
5

Introduction
Acknowledgments
Notes
Performance

I
l4
23
29
36
42
48
54
59
65

Jubilee
Alabama
theBaker
Angeline
Rag
Beaumont
BillGheatham
Blossom
Blackberry
GluckOldHen
Annie
Ragtime
RedHairedBoy
Reel
St.Annens
BeforeBreakfast
Whiskey

70

GuitarNotationLegend


CD

TRACl(

LISTTNG

Alabama
Jubilee

GluckOldHen

1. FullPerformance
2. Play-Along
RhythmGuitarTrack
Play-Along
3. Slowed-Down

14.FullPerformance
15.Play-Along
RhythmGuitarTrack
Play-Along
16.Slowed-Down

Argeline
theBaker

Annie
Ragtime

4.Soloperformance
Beaumont Rag
5. FullPerformance
Rhythm
GuitarTrack
6. Play-Along
Play-Along
7.Slowed-Down
Bill Gheatham
8. FullPerformance
Rhythm
GuitarTrack
9. Play-Along
Play-Along
10.Slowed-Down

BlackberryBlossom

17.FullPerformance
Rhythm
18.Play-Along
GuitarTrack
19'Slowed-Down
Play-Along
Red Haircd BOy
20.FullPerformance

Track
Rhythm
Guitar
21.Play-Along
Play-Along
22.Slowed-Down
St. AnnetSReel
23.FullPerformance
24.Play-Along
Rhythm
GuitarTrack

Play-Along
25.Slowed-Down

11.FullPerfurmance

Rhythm
Track WhiskeyBeforcBreakfast
12.Play-Along
Guitar
13.Slowed-Down
Play-Along

26.FullPeformance
Rhythm
Guitarlrack
27.Play-Along
Play-Along
28.Slowed-Down

I]ITRODUGTION
Th i s book is t he re s trl t o f re q tre s tsfro n r s u i tari sts
r,vhclwant to learn nlv contest arrangelnents. All these
tunes zrnclnrrangernents have been trsed bl'rne tcr
udn l'arious trilditionarl nrrrsic grritar cortrltetitions
th ro t r qhor r t t he U r-ri te c S
l ta te s .So rrre o f' th e contests I
have rvot-rrvith these tunes are the 2003 Sotrtl-r
(l a rc r lina S t at e F la tp i c k i n q C h a n rp i o n s h i p s , the 2002
Natior-ral Flirtpickins (lharnpior-rships (\\'infielcl,
Ka n s as ) , t he 2002 D o c \\' u ts o n C l tri ta r (l i ra m p i onshi ps
at N{erlef'cst, the 2002 f}al:rx Olcl Ficlcller-'s
(krn v ent ion, t he 1 9 9 9 \A ' a v n e(1 . H e n c l e rs o l l Grri tar
Charnpionsl-rips (Rugbr'. \'ireir-ria), ancl rnaltv other
co n tes t s helc l in V i re i n i a , N c l rth (l a ro l i n i r, T e rrnessee,
and South flarolir-ra.
In ar r anginu t h e s e tu n e s I tri c c l to n ra i n ta ri n thc'
rnelodv ztnclpreserve the florv, blrt at the sanle tinre I
triecl to ttse ASrnAn\1"qttitAL tricks" as possible. To this
end, rvhen I arrangu ir.tune, I first leanr the rnelodt'
in as manv locatior-rson the neck of ther gtritar as
p o ss ible. I z r ls of in d a s l n i l n v v c rs i o n s o f' th e trrncs as I
ca n . A nc l I get ide a s frc l n r o th e r i n s trtrm e n ts ; i r] fi rct, I
strive to n()t listen to grritar versions so that I r'r,illnot
sound like any otl-rer srritarist. I also lclok for lvh:rt I
call the "skeletorl" of the ttrne; in other rvorcls, holr,
man,v of the notes ir-rthe rnelodv czrn I leave out :rncl
still recostrize it.?Or-rcc I harvefbrrncl the basic

skeleton of'the rnelodv itr-rclthe locution of tl-rosc:
notes, I beein looking fclr places rvherer I can insert
g tri ta r t r ic k s : s lide s , h a rn rn e r-o rrs ,p rrl l -o fl i s ,b ends,
o p e n s t r ing/ f r et t ec l n o te c o mb i n a ti o n s , c h romati c

i deas, i nten,al l i c phrascs, harrnoni cs, et c. Ther e is : r n
endless catalog of mtrsical ideas that are specific to
thc guitzrr, and votr shr>trlclbe familiar rvith all of
thenr.
All these irrrangclnents are r,l,ithin the reach nrost interrnecliatc irnd aclvanced pl:u'ers, but
begi nni ng stttcl ettts,toc), shotrl d be abl e gain a lot of
virlu:rble experience by stuclying them. The cliffictrlt
sections cnn be masterc'd if ,votr tzrke thern one
phrase-or c\'('ll orte note-at a time. The tempos
inclicatiol'rs are a guide, as these arr2ulgements l'r,ork
rvell zrt botl-r slorv and last terlpos. Tl-re main thing to
strir,e for is rntrsicarlity.
My seneral rtrle reqar-cling pick direction is that I
trse clou'nstrokes on the: stl-ong part of the beat ancl
upstr()kes orr the n,eak part. \A'ith triplets, I
sonretirrresbrcak this nrle by startir-rgwith an
upstroke; in other lvorcls, rvhen you har,e two eighth
notes, thc first gets the drlrvnstroke arrd the second
thc trpstroke. Ir-ra 16th note groupi ng, t he f ir st not c'
gets a clou'nstr-oke,the second an trpstr-oke, the third
zrdor'r'nstroke, and the fotrrth an upstroke . Bv
firllou,ins this rtrle and observing the location of the
note rvithin the beat, your pick rvill always be movins
in thc correct direction. Syncopations, holvever,

rniqht have vou pickinq consectrtive upstrokes or
dcllvnstr'okcs.
(l.oocl luck, and I hclpe you enjol'learning thescafral tgernents.
-Sccltt Fore

AGKNOWLEDGMENTS
I'cl like to th:rnk:
M, v s ons , Car s o r-r,A rrs ti n , a n d Al e x , fb r l o v e and
e n cor lr agc m ent , z rn c lfo r- l te i n g s rrc h g r-e a ts ons. I
couldn't irsk frrr finel s()lls :rnd fincr people tcl be
a ro trnd.
My mom and clacl for things too numerous to
rn e n t ion.
My , br ot her and s i s te r fb r y e a rs o f' e n c o u re rgernel rt
and fclr :rlrvaystellinq nre that I cclrrlclclo it.
Chelvl Ltrnsffo r h elpit r q m e ho n e th e s e a rra n s e me n ts a n d for
encouraginu rne to push ber,clnclnorntal lirnits.
(larson Coopcr for all'avs prrshing lle to u'ork
harcler ol'r rr]\' rieht-hancl techniqrre ancl fi n a clv er t ent lv f br c i n e n re t() k e e p s tl i v i n g to pl av u' i th
more authoritv.
Rick It-ajnvak at Real2Reel for helpine rne recorcl
th e tt r nes on t he C D i n h i s i n c rc c l i b l e s tu d i o . and forfrienclship.
L ot r Rot en, E lle n T a i t, a n c l C l h ri s N l i c l c l a trgi rat
Schertler for the grezrtestpicktrps ancl speakers. Thev
help me t-o alu'avs souncl goocl rvhen "pltrggecl in."
l )ana B ot r r s eois, B o n n i L l o v c l ,J o h n T h i g p en, :rncl
4

all of'the fine folks :rt Pantheon/Bourgeois guitars
for btri l cl i nq some of the best gui tars fb und
&r111vls.e.Bourseois guiterrsbring orrt the best in nrv
plavine ancl creativi$:
Steve Mcflreary at Collings for supporting the
\\'alr-rtrt \hlley Festir,al and for btrilcling fine
i nstrtrrnents.
Mike Lille ancl Elixcr strinp;sfor the great
Ni.rnon,ebs.I excltrsivelv trse Elixer Nanort'ebs string.s
on all nry guitars. G'r'euttclne and feel from the tirne
thev are put on the stritar. No waiting for the strings
to break i n.
\\':n'ne Flenderson in Rtreby, \rirginia, for buildinq
s()nre fine instnlrncnts, irnd fbr sorne fine guitar
pi cki ng. I f' ecl i ncr-edi bl t' fbrttrnate to have t he
()ppol'trrnitv to learn fr-onr great plavers and builders
likc \A'al'ne.
All the fine r-ntrsiciansfrorn rvhonl I've had the
pl eastrre to " borrorv" gtri t:rr techni ques. The list is
trerrren< l orrsl vl rl ng.
\A'avne Dunfcrrd at FcltoExpo in Christiansburg,
\tirgir-ria. \A'a1'1.'t a gl'eat friend, photographer, artist,
and rnrrsi ci an.


PERFORMANGE
NOTES
ALABAMA

JUBILEE

This tune, along with "Ragtime Annie,"
is one that I can alrvayscount on to
place rne in competitions. I trse everv
t ec h n i q u e e x c e p t h a rm o n i c s i n thi s
arransement. I also normally plav this tune at a
ternpo of 140+ rvhen I compete. This is probablv the
most challengins arransement in the book.
It requires you to have a highly developed righthand technique, especially rvhen playing at the faster
tempos, but it also rvorks well at slorver temp()s.
The song kicks off r,vith the ttrmarotrnd and soes
straigl-rt to the melodl'. The first section is
straiehtforlvard, and it is not until vou get to the
se c ond br eak t ha t th i n g s g e t h a rd e r. T h e s econd
break is crosspickecl and there is a lot of string
skipping-let
the strings ring as long as possible to
give a fuller sound. The lick at rneasure 28 is an
intervallic type of lick. I borrorvecl the idea from.lazz
saxophonists. The main thing to remember, as for all
these arransenlents, is to play from chord positions.
The third section begins at rneasure 38 and is
straightforward. Pay attention to the recording to get
the feel of the double stops at measures 42, 49, 50,
51, ancl 52.
Listen to the recording to get the accents.

ANGELINE THE BAKER
The Intro is somethine I came up with
rvhile sittinq at a friend's hotrse-I

thought it soundecl like a frasment
of the rnelody. It is also a rvay of
starting the tune without resortins to the standard
"breakdolvn" type of Intro. The arrangement is fairlv
straightforward. Try to maintain the florv of the
melocly since this is a solo. You will note that there is
not a rhythm track for this tune.
The first tricky licks come in measures 35 ancl 39.
After the initial bend, rake your pick back across the
strings fretted at the 7th fret. This lick is derir,,ed
from piano players and guitarists like Jerry Reecl and
Jim Flurst, and I used it a lot when I played electric
'90s.
'80s
guitar in country bands in the
and
The
section beginning rvith measure 41 is reminiscent of
Chuck Berry's licks or those of R&B gtritarists of the
'60s.
Measure 49 makes me think of a loose Steven
Stills-type groo\re. Play this section loosely and don't
pay too much attention to the open strings; yorlr
focus should be on the fretted notes. Tr),to keep the
dropped D ringing as much as possible to fill out the
so u nd. T her e is a l o t o f c ro s s p i c k i n g i n th i s
arrangement, and it will reveal any weaknesses in
your riqht-hancl technique.

The song fir-rishesthe rvay it begins, rvith the

openine chordal strtrcture. You should try to imitate'
the sound of a slide suitar in the final chord of
tl-resong.
As in all the songs, listen to the recorcling to get
the accents. In al l these transcri pti ons, t he accent s s( 'l
the notes apart fiom-just a steady string ol l6th rt()t('\
I)on't let the tab scare you, because this
arrangelnent is really one of the easier ones. Tlrc
secret to this tune is to keep the open D ancl A
stri nqs ri ngi nq i n a " drone-l i ke" fashi on. This hcl1r .
fi l l out the si ngl e-note mel ody' l i ne. A s r vit h ar llof 't lr t '
arrangements in this book, play otrt of the cholrl
positions-this will rnake the arrangements finscr'
rnore easilv.

BEAUMONT

RAG

Thi s i s another arrangen r cnt t li: r t r :
fai rl y si mpl e to pl al ' . The t hir ) s t ( ) kt 't '1r
i n rni nd i s to keep the flor v uoing.
There is a lot of crosspickingirr tlri.
arrangement. A s rvi th al l crosspi cki ng , \ 'or r r ) t 't 'r l 1, ,
f i n c l t h e c h o r d s h a p e a n d h o l d d o u ' r - t : r l lt h r ' 1 ' 1 1 v 1 1 ' : . l
the chord. In other words, don't reacltltc talr orrt'
note at a ti me, but i n eroupi ngs of not es. F( ) r '
e x a m p l e , i n t h e G 7 c h o r d i n m e a s u r e 1 f J .r o t t l r , l r i
dorvn the F note at the 3rd fret for tl -r ef r r ll r r r t 'r r \ ur ( '
r , l h i l e t h e o t h e r n o t e s m o v e a r o t r n d i t . [ . i s t c r rt o t l r t '

r e c o r d i n g f o r t h e a c c e n t s i n t h e c r o s s p i c k e c :l r ' r l i , , n A ccents hel p bri ng out a rnel ody l vhe n cr osslr ic'kir r , g.
Be carefirl to let all the notes ring as lons u:
possi bl e for the " fl oati ng notes" secti on begir r nir r , g. t t
nreasure 34. " Fl oati ng notes" are combinat ior r s oI
open stri nss and fretted notes; the ri neing ol) ( 'n
strings produce a harp-like sound.
One of the toughest parts of the sons is the
diminished rtrn in meastrre 38; you can loclk Iirr'
other fineerings to make this run easier, but I'r c
tabbed it the rvay I play it.
Meastrres 50 throush 53 shoul d be cr osspicker l.
Look at the finger groupings in each measrlre, uncl
just slicle them down the neck; then plav measru'('
54 as a tremolo. It's fairly tough to go from the
crosspicking in lneasrlre 53 to the trernolo in 5-1arrrl
rnaintain timing. As with all the songs, work u'ith a
metronome set to a slorv tempo, and rvork trp to a
fast tempo.
The encling tag in the last three measures can bc'
plaved rvithout accompaniment.
Again, as n'ith all the sonss, listen to the recordirrg
to get an idea of the accents.


BILL CHEATHAM
This arrangement is fairly straightforward
and shouldn't pose many problems. It
opens with a statement of the basic
melody. In measure 19 I begin a break
using "floating" pelss-you should strive to keep the

strings ringing as long as possibleto achievethe
"floating" sound. In measures31, 63, and 65 the
slashesindicate that that section is to be played using
tremolo or very fast strumming. Giving the notes their
full valueswill help with the flow of this and all
arrangements in this book.
The thing to keep in mind is that, in all the
sections,you should maintain chord shapeswherever
possible;doing so will help keep notes ringing and
help fill out the song.
The trickiest part of the song occurs in measures
5l-58, where I play the tune using harmonics.
Harmonics are representeclby diamond-shaped
notes and are played by lightly touching a string
directly over top of the fret indicatecl in the tab.
Trying to make these harmonics loud and clear is
difficult at the faster tempos at which this piece is
normally played. The song is fairly straightforward
after this point.
Again, listen to the recording to get an idea of the
accents.

BLACKBERRY
BLOSSOM
This arrangement begins with the basic
melody, which is augmented only slightly
in measures6 and 7. Pay attention to the
record.ing to get the feel of the "B"
section beginning at measure 10. In measure 18, the
open G string allows you to move up the neck without

breaking the flow of the tune. This is a trick used by
lots of guitarists.The open string rings while the
hand is changing positions.
The "floating" section, which begins at measure
34, is played by holding the chord shape and sliding
it down the neck while allowing the open strings
to ring.
Measures44 and 45 should be played as one long
run to maintain the flow. Let the notes ring into each
other to achievethat "floating" sound.
The ending, which begins with the last measure of
the "B" section,is played as one long grouping.
This is one of the most often-played tunes in the
fiddle tune repertoire, and the first tune I learned
many years ago.

CLUCK OLD HEN
"CluckOld Hen" is an old-timemodal
tune with both a major and minor feel.
It's good for learning to use the
pentatonic scale to improvise. It's
similar to such tunes as "Big Mon," "Wheel Hoss,"
and others that Lrsea flat-7th chord.
The bends can be played, alternatively, using slides
or "hammer-ons." As in all the tunes in this book, let
the notes ring for their full values. Listen to the
recording to get an idea of the exact rhythms.
Guitarists familiar with pentatonic and blues scales
will find this arrangement very "finser friendly."
Improvising over this progression is easy when using

the G blues scale in its various positions.

RAGTIME ANNIE
Pay attention to the rhythmic groupings
and listen to the recording to get the
rhythmic nuances.This is a dance tune
and, as such, should be played rvith
dancers in mind. It needs a strong right-hand
technique becauseof the crosspickinginvolved. As
with all the tunes in this book, you should let the
notes ring for their full values,if not longer, to give
the song a full sound.
This arrangement is a crosspickingtour de force
and requires right-hand precision. The piece can be
crosspickedusing strict alternate picking or the
"DDU" pattern used by crosspickinglegends George
Shuffler andJames Allen Shelton. This pattern
createsa slightly different sound but also makes it
more difficult to achievethe same speed that can be
obtained rvith alternate picking. Depending on the
sound I want to achieve,I use both picking patterns.

RED HAIRED BOY
This versionis rather basicand should
be accessibleto all beginning and
intermediate guitarists-there are no
difficult techniques used. The last
section is played mostly with hammer-onsand pulloffs and servesas a good exercise for those
techniques.The second break is played mainly
around the 7th fret. For the Chorus in the second

section, try to think like a mandolinist to get the feel
of the chordal section and play it loosely.Listen to
the recording to get the accents.
The section beginning at measure 65 may be
challenging for some guitarists,as it contains
numerous hammer-onsand pull-offs.The challenge
is to maintain the volume of the slurred notes. With
pull-offs this can be achieved only through proper
technique; that is, pull and lift rather than simply lift.


S T . AN N E ' S
R E EL
This tune is very accessible to beginning
students. The first section is playecl
slowly. Listen to the recording to get an
idea of the f'eel. Pay particulai attention
to pitch when bending the lst strins at lneasure 5.
At measure 10, the song begins at the indicated
tempo, and the rhythm track begins here. This
arrangement is fairly basic until you get to the
second section beginning at measure 43. The triplets
are played usins the hammer-on, pull-off technique.
The triplet in measrlre 58 is play'ed using pull-offs.
The "B" section is played using the "floating" chord
shapes approach. These chords move around a lot;
practice slowly to get the notes to ring out clearly.
For all crosspicked tunes, pay attention to the
accents to bring out the melody.
This tune is played out of chord shapes, some of

which may be unfamiliar. The key to making this
arrangement sound smooth is to find those shapes
and hold them down.
Listen to the recording to get an idea of where the
accents fall.

WHISKEY BEFORE
BREAKFAST
Your guitar should be in drop-D tuning
for this arrangement.
Normally this song begins with a
pickup (one or more notes immediately before a bar
line that begin a melody or phrase). But I have not
u sed one her e.
The first two bars of the song and most of the
melody are scalar in structlrre. The first break is
played mainly from first position open chord scale
forms. I've stayed with the melody, and any
deviations are diatonic in nature (all the notes are
co nt ained wit hin th e k e y ). T h e s l i d e i n me asure 21
does not originate from any particular note,
although I normally slide from the D at the 3rd fret.
I've inserted two endings for the first break to
demonstrate two possible ways to end one break and
lead into another. The first takes you back to the first
note of measure 1, while the second leads into the
second break-you can use either ending, depending
on the arrangement you want to use. The 32nd note
figure at the end of ending I would be considered a
pickup figure. Most fiddle tunes end on the first nore

of the final measure or the thircl note of the final
measure of the break, which leaves one or two beats
for the pickup. If you are in ajam situation and want
to use one of these breaks, you can use a pickup or
just begin on beat 1 of the break.
The second break begins at measure 35. Its first
section, which runs to measure 50, is played in 7th
position. The second section of this break, which
starts at measure 52, begins in 1Oth position.

Measures 54 and 55 are played using harmonics.
Measure 56 begins a sequence of descending 6th
intervals-1hs1, nrove diatonically down the
fretboard. The section then repeats.
The third break begins at measure 68 and is basecl
on the open string sound called "floating." I've
indicated that you should let the strings ring into
one another. This section is easier if you notice the
note groupings and play as if you are holding chorcls
'oB"
or chord fragments. The
section of this break
should be played in a similar fashion. Let all the
notes ring for their full values.
Note that measures 100-104 are a Tag to provide
an ending for the song.
I've stayed close to the melody in this arrangeltre llt
and used predominately notes contained within thc
D major scale. I've done this to show the enorrlorrs
possibilities that are contained within a scale. Yotr cun

use rhythmic variety to add interest, as well as strch
guitar tricks as harmonics, "floating" notes, and sltrrs
(hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides), but there are
many other possibilities as well. You can use pedal
tones and play the melody against these. You can
even play the melody using harmonic interr.,alsstrch
as 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, octaves, etc. An interesting ancl
challenging exercise is to take every other note iu)(l
raise or lower it an octave.


ALABAMAJUBILEE
Words by Jack Yellen
Music by George Cobb

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ANGELINE THE BAKER
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