Chords for Banjo Lesson: Red Haired Boy in A with no capo!
Tempo:
62.1 bpm
Chords used:
A
G
E
B
D
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hey everybody, happy St.
Patrick's Day from the Netski Banjo Studio!
[B]
[G] Today we're going to do a banjo lesson on how to play that tune, a classic Irish standard turned bluegrass standard,
Red-Haired Boy in the key of A on the banjo without a capo.
It's easy.
First, just tune your banjo up to A and play it like you're in G.
No, no, kidding.
We're going to play it in G.
We're not even going to retune the fifth string.
Straight G tuning.
And [D#] it's all going to be pretty much in melodic style.
Now if you've learned how to play this tune in melodic style, it's not really any more difficult to play it in the key of A than it is in the key of G.
And hey, you'll impress all your friends at the jam session when you whip this one out and play it in the key of A.
It's a fun tune to play anyway.
Now a couple of things I want to point out before we get started.
One is that when I first learned how to play this tune, I learned a melodic style version of it that was all straight eighth notes.
It had no breaks in it, no quarter notes, no places where there was a pause.
So I [G] went
[A]
[Em] [G] And the problem with that [N] was, it's one of those melodic style tunes that if you lose your place, you're sunk.
It's hard to pick back up on the next beat or so.
So one of the things that I did to experiment with this is once I
And this actually came from kind of learning how to play it on the guitar and a few other instruments,
is I figured out that you could insert some pauses.
You could put some breaks [G] in there.
You could go
[F]
[G] And that actually made it a lot easier to play.
It made it easier because if I made a mistake,
I could pick up at the next downbeat and kind of keep it going that [F#] way.
It also made it a little more interesting for me to listen to.
So I'm going to base my arrangement partly on that.
The other thing I want to point out is if you have learned how to play many banjo tunes in melodic style, say in the key of G,
you've noticed that there are a lot of positions that come up over and over again.
So there's this tenth and ninth fret position that you play right here.
There's the seventh fret [B] right there at those two strings.
Fifth fret and fourth fret of the first two strings.
Fifth [A] fret there and this.
And that's because all those notes are [G] notes of the G major scale.
[E] [Gm]
[F#] And so all those G major fiddle tunes come out of those positions.
Now, if you've learned many tunes, say, in the key of D,
you may have noticed a lot of those same positions show up, but you have to adjust by maybe one [B] or two notes.
Like right here, you end [C] up playing that C sharp note instead of the C natural note.
And that's because the difference between a G scale and a D scale is C and C sharp.
Same thing if you've learned how to play melodic [B] style tunes in the key of C.
You've noticed that [F] instead of this position, you have to reach down and play the F natural note instead [F#] of the F sharp.
And that's because of the difference in the G and the C scale.
So a lot of the rest of the positions are really going to be the same.
And this is also going to be slightly the same when you're playing in the key of A.
A couple of notes that are different, but we'll show you [N] where those are.
So the tune starts off down here in the low position.
We're just [A] going to fret the fourth string and third string at the second [E] fret, second string open.
And the first opening notes are
[E] So it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[D]
The next position is first, second, and third strings at the fourth, [C#] fifth, and sixth frets.
So these three fingers [A] line up perfectly for it.
So [F#] [D] it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[F#] Three, one, two, one, two, three, [D] one, open first.
So there's your first line.
Practice that one.
[A] Now the next line.
Now in this one, [B] I'm going to make a little [G#] bit of a position change right here.
I'm starting off with my ring finger [B] on the third string, sixth fret.
And I'm going three, one, two.
[A] Now I need the A note on the fourth string, seventh fret.
[E] And instead of reaching down [B] with my little finger to get that
[G]
I could do that.
[A] It's kind of a stretch.
And especially when I'm stretching that finger to go all the way over there,
there's a good chance I'm going to mute another string.
So instead, I just move over with that finger.
So it's three, one, two, four, four.
[G] And that part is really easy.
Three, one, three, two, four, three, three.
This is very much like
that you've done in G for many, many, many [D#] times.
You're just adjusting that C sharp note to [D] make it come out of the key of [G] A.
Now it's the same thing again.
[B]
[E] [G] Now let me show you where that went.
So the first part's the same.
[F#]
[D] Now [B] it's three, one, two.
If you were playing this in the key of G,
or if you know the melody to this song,
you know that the melody usually goes
[D] [Bm] And so it's got this F sharp [C#] note right there.
[G#] Three, one, two, one, two, [F#] one, two, one, two.
Now, when I did that one, two, one, two right here,
I had to jump right from [E] this note to that note.
And that was kind of inconvenient.
[C#] So [E] instead
[D]
All I did was I hit the fifth string.
So instead [G] of that F sharp note, I rounded up and I made it a G.
[G#] It's not exactly how the melody goes,
but that G note against the A chord gives it that flat seventh sound,
and it gives it sort of the modal tonality that this tune has anyway.
So [E] once again
[A] Once you play it fast
[D] [G#] It just blends right in.
Sounds perfectly normal, doesn't it?
So [D] three, one, two, [E] five, two, one, two.
Tenth and ninth.
Five, two, one, three, four, four.
Now, for the second part of the tune
This part's super easy.
Fifth and fourth fret position that you're used to here on the first two strings.
And you're going
Two, one, five, one, five, one, two.
Now you're going to reach up and grab that seventh fret of the first string.
One, five, one, two, one, one.
Open first.
[Gm] Now back down to the third string, [A] sixth fret.
Four, one, two, four, four.
[C#] Three, one, three, [A] three, four.
So
[G] And then the next line is exactly like it was in the first part of the song.
[A] [D] And that [E] is how you can play Red-Haired Boy in the key of A,
ballotic style, on the banjo.
My advice for you when you're learning how to play this,
take it one line at a time.
Learn how to play this first.
[A#] [D] Get [Gm] that under your fingers to where you can play it [A] nonstop.
Sounds great.
Then move on to the second line.
[G] Get that.
[A] Glue those two together.
[G] Now you're already halfway there.
[C#m] Do it one line at a time.
Your progress will be a lot faster.
And if you want to learn more about playing melodic style banjo,
I have a new True Fire video which will be out later this year,
all about melodic style banjo.
I will take you through the keys of G, C, and D.
We might even touch on A and F and a few other ones in there.
But either way, it will be my step-by-step method for teaching you
the basics of how to get around in melodic style.
That's coming out later this year.
Currently on True Fire, I have one for beginning banjo.
I have a video for jam session survival.
I have a video for backup banjo.
And I have one called 30 [F#] Licks You Must Know for bluegrass banjo.
And you can check them all out at the website morebanjo.com.
[C] I hope you'll check them out.
And I hope this has been fun for you for St.
[E] Patty's Day [A] here.
[E]
[B] [G] [E] [A]
[E]
[G] [A] [E]
[A] So long from the Netsky Banjo Studio.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.
Patrick's Day from the Netski Banjo Studio!
[B]
[G] Today we're going to do a banjo lesson on how to play that tune, a classic Irish standard turned bluegrass standard,
Red-Haired Boy in the key of A on the banjo without a capo.
It's easy.
First, just tune your banjo up to A and play it like you're in G.
No, no, kidding.
We're going to play it in G.
We're not even going to retune the fifth string.
Straight G tuning.
And [D#] it's all going to be pretty much in melodic style.
Now if you've learned how to play this tune in melodic style, it's not really any more difficult to play it in the key of A than it is in the key of G.
And hey, you'll impress all your friends at the jam session when you whip this one out and play it in the key of A.
It's a fun tune to play anyway.
Now a couple of things I want to point out before we get started.
One is that when I first learned how to play this tune, I learned a melodic style version of it that was all straight eighth notes.
It had no breaks in it, no quarter notes, no places where there was a pause.
So I [G] went
[A]
[Em] [G] And the problem with that [N] was, it's one of those melodic style tunes that if you lose your place, you're sunk.
It's hard to pick back up on the next beat or so.
So one of the things that I did to experiment with this is once I
And this actually came from kind of learning how to play it on the guitar and a few other instruments,
is I figured out that you could insert some pauses.
You could put some breaks [G] in there.
You could go
[F]
[G] And that actually made it a lot easier to play.
It made it easier because if I made a mistake,
I could pick up at the next downbeat and kind of keep it going that [F#] way.
It also made it a little more interesting for me to listen to.
So I'm going to base my arrangement partly on that.
The other thing I want to point out is if you have learned how to play many banjo tunes in melodic style, say in the key of G,
you've noticed that there are a lot of positions that come up over and over again.
So there's this tenth and ninth fret position that you play right here.
There's the seventh fret [B] right there at those two strings.
Fifth fret and fourth fret of the first two strings.
Fifth [A] fret there and this.
And that's because all those notes are [G] notes of the G major scale.
[E] [Gm]
[F#] And so all those G major fiddle tunes come out of those positions.
Now, if you've learned many tunes, say, in the key of D,
you may have noticed a lot of those same positions show up, but you have to adjust by maybe one [B] or two notes.
Like right here, you end [C] up playing that C sharp note instead of the C natural note.
And that's because the difference between a G scale and a D scale is C and C sharp.
Same thing if you've learned how to play melodic [B] style tunes in the key of C.
You've noticed that [F] instead of this position, you have to reach down and play the F natural note instead [F#] of the F sharp.
And that's because of the difference in the G and the C scale.
So a lot of the rest of the positions are really going to be the same.
And this is also going to be slightly the same when you're playing in the key of A.
A couple of notes that are different, but we'll show you [N] where those are.
So the tune starts off down here in the low position.
We're just [A] going to fret the fourth string and third string at the second [E] fret, second string open.
And the first opening notes are
[E] So it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[D]
The next position is first, second, and third strings at the fourth, [C#] fifth, and sixth frets.
So these three fingers [A] line up perfectly for it.
So [F#] [D] it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[F#] Three, one, two, one, two, three, [D] one, open first.
So there's your first line.
Practice that one.
[A] Now the next line.
Now in this one, [B] I'm going to make a little [G#] bit of a position change right here.
I'm starting off with my ring finger [B] on the third string, sixth fret.
And I'm going three, one, two.
[A] Now I need the A note on the fourth string, seventh fret.
[E] And instead of reaching down [B] with my little finger to get that
[G]
I could do that.
[A] It's kind of a stretch.
And especially when I'm stretching that finger to go all the way over there,
there's a good chance I'm going to mute another string.
So instead, I just move over with that finger.
So it's three, one, two, four, four.
[G] And that part is really easy.
Three, one, three, two, four, three, three.
This is very much like
that you've done in G for many, many, many [D#] times.
You're just adjusting that C sharp note to [D] make it come out of the key of [G] A.
Now it's the same thing again.
[B]
[E] [G] Now let me show you where that went.
So the first part's the same.
[F#]
[D] Now [B] it's three, one, two.
If you were playing this in the key of G,
or if you know the melody to this song,
you know that the melody usually goes
[D] [Bm] And so it's got this F sharp [C#] note right there.
[G#] Three, one, two, one, two, [F#] one, two, one, two.
Now, when I did that one, two, one, two right here,
I had to jump right from [E] this note to that note.
And that was kind of inconvenient.
[C#] So [E] instead
[D]
All I did was I hit the fifth string.
So instead [G] of that F sharp note, I rounded up and I made it a G.
[G#] It's not exactly how the melody goes,
but that G note against the A chord gives it that flat seventh sound,
and it gives it sort of the modal tonality that this tune has anyway.
So [E] once again
[A] Once you play it fast
[D] [G#] It just blends right in.
Sounds perfectly normal, doesn't it?
So [D] three, one, two, [E] five, two, one, two.
Tenth and ninth.
Five, two, one, three, four, four.
Now, for the second part of the tune
This part's super easy.
Fifth and fourth fret position that you're used to here on the first two strings.
And you're going
Two, one, five, one, five, one, two.
Now you're going to reach up and grab that seventh fret of the first string.
One, five, one, two, one, one.
Open first.
[Gm] Now back down to the third string, [A] sixth fret.
Four, one, two, four, four.
[C#] Three, one, three, [A] three, four.
So
[G] And then the next line is exactly like it was in the first part of the song.
[A] [D] And that [E] is how you can play Red-Haired Boy in the key of A,
ballotic style, on the banjo.
My advice for you when you're learning how to play this,
take it one line at a time.
Learn how to play this first.
[A#] [D] Get [Gm] that under your fingers to where you can play it [A] nonstop.
Sounds great.
Then move on to the second line.
[G] Get that.
[A] Glue those two together.
[G] Now you're already halfway there.
[C#m] Do it one line at a time.
Your progress will be a lot faster.
And if you want to learn more about playing melodic style banjo,
I have a new True Fire video which will be out later this year,
all about melodic style banjo.
I will take you through the keys of G, C, and D.
We might even touch on A and F and a few other ones in there.
But either way, it will be my step-by-step method for teaching you
the basics of how to get around in melodic style.
That's coming out later this year.
Currently on True Fire, I have one for beginning banjo.
I have a video for jam session survival.
I have a video for backup banjo.
And I have one called 30 [F#] Licks You Must Know for bluegrass banjo.
And you can check them all out at the website morebanjo.com.
[C] I hope you'll check them out.
And I hope this has been fun for you for St.
[E] Patty's Day [A] here.
[E]
[B] [G] [E] [A]
[E]
[G] [A] [E]
[A] So long from the Netsky Banjo Studio.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.
Key:
A
G
E
B
D
A
G
E
Hey everybody, happy St.
Patrick's Day from the Netski Banjo Studio!
[B] _ _ _
[G] Today we're going to do a banjo lesson on how to play that tune, a classic Irish standard turned bluegrass standard,
Red-Haired Boy in the key of A on the banjo without a capo.
It's easy.
First, just tune your banjo up to A and play it like you're in G.
No, no, kidding.
We're going to play it in G.
We're not even going to retune the fifth string.
Straight G tuning.
And [D#] it's all going to be pretty much in melodic style.
Now if you've learned how to play this tune in melodic style, it's not really any more difficult to play it in the key of A than it is in the key of G.
And hey, you'll impress all your friends at the jam session when you whip this one out and play it in the key of A.
It's a fun tune to play anyway.
Now a couple of things I want to point out before we get started.
One is that when I first learned how to play this tune, I learned a melodic style version of it that was all straight eighth notes.
It had no breaks in it, no quarter notes, no places where there was a pause.
So I [G] went_
_ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] And the problem with that [N] was, it's one of those melodic style tunes that if you lose your place, you're sunk.
It's hard to pick back up on the next beat or so.
So one of the things that I did to experiment with this is once I_
And this actually came from kind of learning how to play it on the guitar and a few other instruments,
is I figured out that you could insert some pauses.
You could put some breaks [G] in there.
You could go_
_ _ [F] _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ And that actually made it a lot easier to play.
It made it easier because if I made a mistake,
I could pick up at the next downbeat and kind of keep it going that [F#] way.
It also made it a little more interesting for me to listen to.
So I'm going to base my arrangement partly on that.
The other thing I want to point out is if you have learned how to play many banjo tunes in melodic style, say in the key of G,
you've noticed that there are a lot of positions that come up over and over again.
So there's this tenth and ninth fret position that you play right here.
There's the seventh fret [B] right there at those two strings.
Fifth fret and fourth fret of the first two strings.
Fifth [A] fret there and this.
And that's because all those notes are [G] notes of the G major scale.
[E] _ _ [Gm] _
[F#] And so all those G major fiddle tunes come out of those positions.
Now, if you've learned many tunes, say, in the key of D,
you may have noticed a lot of those same positions show up, but you have to adjust by maybe one [B] or two notes.
Like right here, you end [C] up playing that C sharp note instead of the C natural note.
And that's because the difference between a G scale and a D scale is C and C sharp.
Same thing if you've learned how to play melodic [B] style tunes in the key of C.
You've noticed that [F] instead of this position, you have to reach down and play the F natural note instead [F#] of the F sharp.
And that's because of the difference in the G and the C scale.
So a lot of the rest of the positions are really going to be the same.
And this is also going to be slightly the same when you're playing in the key of A.
A couple of notes that are different, but we'll show you [N] where those are.
So the tune starts off down here in the low position.
We're just [A] going to fret the fourth string and third string at the second [E] fret, second string open.
And the first opening notes are_
[E] So it's [B] four, three, two, three.
_ [D]
The next position is first, second, and third strings at the fourth, [C#] fifth, and sixth frets.
So these three fingers [A] line up perfectly for it.
So [F#] _ [D] it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[F#] Three, one, two, one, two, three, [D] one, open first.
So there's your first line.
Practice that one. _
_ _ [A] Now the next line.
_ Now in this one, [B] I'm going to make a little [G#] bit of a position change right here.
I'm starting off with my ring finger [B] on the third string, sixth fret.
And I'm going three, one, two.
[A] Now I need the A note on the fourth string, seventh fret.
[E] And instead of reaching down [B] with my little finger to get that_
_ [G]
I could do that.
[A] It's kind of a stretch.
And especially when I'm stretching that finger to go all the way over there,
there's a good chance I'm going to mute another string.
So instead, I just move over with that finger.
So it's three, one, two, four, four.
[G] And that part is really easy.
Three, one, three, two, four, three, three.
This is very much like_
that you've done in G for many, many, many [D#] times.
You're just adjusting that C sharp note to [D] make it come out of the key of [G] A.
Now it's the same thing again.
[B] _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ [G] Now let me show you where that went.
So the first part's the same.
[F#] _
[D] Now [B] it's three, one, two.
If you were playing this in the key of G,
or if you know the melody to this song,
you know that the melody usually goes_
[D] _ _ [Bm] And so it's got this F sharp [C#] note right there.
[G#] Three, one, two, one, two, [F#] one, two, one, two.
Now, when I did that one, two, one, two right here,
I had to jump right from [E] this note to that note.
And that was kind of inconvenient.
[C#] So [E] instead_
_ _ [D] _
All I did was I hit the fifth string.
So instead [G] of that F sharp note, I rounded up and I made it a G.
[G#] It's not exactly how the melody goes,
but that G note against the A chord gives it that flat seventh sound,
and it gives it sort of the modal tonality that this tune has anyway.
So [E] once again_
_ _ [A] _ Once you play it fast_ _
_ _ [D] _ [G#] It just blends right in.
Sounds perfectly normal, doesn't it?
So [D] three, one, two, [E] five, two, one, two.
Tenth and ninth.
Five, two, one, three, four, four.
Now, for the second part of the tune_
_ _ This part's super easy.
Fifth and fourth fret position that you're used to here on the first two strings.
And you're going_
Two, one, five, one, five, one, two.
Now you're going to reach up and grab that seventh fret of the first string.
_ One, five, one, two, one, one.
Open first.
_ _ _ [Gm] Now back down to the third string, [A] sixth fret.
Four, one, two, four, four.
[C#] Three, one, three, [A] three, four.
So_
_ [G] And then the next line is exactly like it was in the first part of the song.
[A] _ _ _ _ _ [D] And that [E] is how you can play Red-Haired Boy in the key of A,
ballotic style, on the banjo.
My advice for you when you're learning how to play this,
take it one line at a time.
Learn how to play this first.
[A#] _ [D] Get [Gm] that under your fingers to where you can play it [A] nonstop.
Sounds great.
Then move on to the second line.
_ [G] _ Get that.
[A] Glue those two together.
_ _ [G] _ Now you're already halfway there.
[C#m] Do it one line at a time.
Your progress will be a lot faster.
And if you want to learn more about playing melodic style banjo,
I have a new True Fire video which will be out later this year,
all about melodic style banjo.
I will take you through the keys of G, C, and D.
We might even touch on A and F and a few other ones in there.
But either way, it will be my step-by-step method for teaching you
the basics of how to get around in melodic style.
That's coming out later this year.
Currently on True Fire, I have one for beginning banjo.
I have a video for jam session survival.
I have a video for backup banjo.
And I have one called 30 [F#] Licks You Must Know for bluegrass banjo.
And you can check them all out at the website morebanjo.com.
[C] I hope you'll check them out.
And I hope this has been fun for you for St.
[E] Patty's Day [A] here.
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ [A] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ [E] _
_ [A] _ _ So long from the Netsky Banjo Studio.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.
Patrick's Day from the Netski Banjo Studio!
[B] _ _ _
[G] Today we're going to do a banjo lesson on how to play that tune, a classic Irish standard turned bluegrass standard,
Red-Haired Boy in the key of A on the banjo without a capo.
It's easy.
First, just tune your banjo up to A and play it like you're in G.
No, no, kidding.
We're going to play it in G.
We're not even going to retune the fifth string.
Straight G tuning.
And [D#] it's all going to be pretty much in melodic style.
Now if you've learned how to play this tune in melodic style, it's not really any more difficult to play it in the key of A than it is in the key of G.
And hey, you'll impress all your friends at the jam session when you whip this one out and play it in the key of A.
It's a fun tune to play anyway.
Now a couple of things I want to point out before we get started.
One is that when I first learned how to play this tune, I learned a melodic style version of it that was all straight eighth notes.
It had no breaks in it, no quarter notes, no places where there was a pause.
So I [G] went_
_ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] And the problem with that [N] was, it's one of those melodic style tunes that if you lose your place, you're sunk.
It's hard to pick back up on the next beat or so.
So one of the things that I did to experiment with this is once I_
And this actually came from kind of learning how to play it on the guitar and a few other instruments,
is I figured out that you could insert some pauses.
You could put some breaks [G] in there.
You could go_
_ _ [F] _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ And that actually made it a lot easier to play.
It made it easier because if I made a mistake,
I could pick up at the next downbeat and kind of keep it going that [F#] way.
It also made it a little more interesting for me to listen to.
So I'm going to base my arrangement partly on that.
The other thing I want to point out is if you have learned how to play many banjo tunes in melodic style, say in the key of G,
you've noticed that there are a lot of positions that come up over and over again.
So there's this tenth and ninth fret position that you play right here.
There's the seventh fret [B] right there at those two strings.
Fifth fret and fourth fret of the first two strings.
Fifth [A] fret there and this.
And that's because all those notes are [G] notes of the G major scale.
[E] _ _ [Gm] _
[F#] And so all those G major fiddle tunes come out of those positions.
Now, if you've learned many tunes, say, in the key of D,
you may have noticed a lot of those same positions show up, but you have to adjust by maybe one [B] or two notes.
Like right here, you end [C] up playing that C sharp note instead of the C natural note.
And that's because the difference between a G scale and a D scale is C and C sharp.
Same thing if you've learned how to play melodic [B] style tunes in the key of C.
You've noticed that [F] instead of this position, you have to reach down and play the F natural note instead [F#] of the F sharp.
And that's because of the difference in the G and the C scale.
So a lot of the rest of the positions are really going to be the same.
And this is also going to be slightly the same when you're playing in the key of A.
A couple of notes that are different, but we'll show you [N] where those are.
So the tune starts off down here in the low position.
We're just [A] going to fret the fourth string and third string at the second [E] fret, second string open.
And the first opening notes are_
[E] So it's [B] four, three, two, three.
_ [D]
The next position is first, second, and third strings at the fourth, [C#] fifth, and sixth frets.
So these three fingers [A] line up perfectly for it.
So [F#] _ [D] it's [B] four, three, two, three.
[F#] Three, one, two, one, two, three, [D] one, open first.
So there's your first line.
Practice that one. _
_ _ [A] Now the next line.
_ Now in this one, [B] I'm going to make a little [G#] bit of a position change right here.
I'm starting off with my ring finger [B] on the third string, sixth fret.
And I'm going three, one, two.
[A] Now I need the A note on the fourth string, seventh fret.
[E] And instead of reaching down [B] with my little finger to get that_
_ [G]
I could do that.
[A] It's kind of a stretch.
And especially when I'm stretching that finger to go all the way over there,
there's a good chance I'm going to mute another string.
So instead, I just move over with that finger.
So it's three, one, two, four, four.
[G] And that part is really easy.
Three, one, three, two, four, three, three.
This is very much like_
that you've done in G for many, many, many [D#] times.
You're just adjusting that C sharp note to [D] make it come out of the key of [G] A.
Now it's the same thing again.
[B] _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ [G] Now let me show you where that went.
So the first part's the same.
[F#] _
[D] Now [B] it's three, one, two.
If you were playing this in the key of G,
or if you know the melody to this song,
you know that the melody usually goes_
[D] _ _ [Bm] And so it's got this F sharp [C#] note right there.
[G#] Three, one, two, one, two, [F#] one, two, one, two.
Now, when I did that one, two, one, two right here,
I had to jump right from [E] this note to that note.
And that was kind of inconvenient.
[C#] So [E] instead_
_ _ [D] _
All I did was I hit the fifth string.
So instead [G] of that F sharp note, I rounded up and I made it a G.
[G#] It's not exactly how the melody goes,
but that G note against the A chord gives it that flat seventh sound,
and it gives it sort of the modal tonality that this tune has anyway.
So [E] once again_
_ _ [A] _ Once you play it fast_ _
_ _ [D] _ [G#] It just blends right in.
Sounds perfectly normal, doesn't it?
So [D] three, one, two, [E] five, two, one, two.
Tenth and ninth.
Five, two, one, three, four, four.
Now, for the second part of the tune_
_ _ This part's super easy.
Fifth and fourth fret position that you're used to here on the first two strings.
And you're going_
Two, one, five, one, five, one, two.
Now you're going to reach up and grab that seventh fret of the first string.
_ One, five, one, two, one, one.
Open first.
_ _ _ [Gm] Now back down to the third string, [A] sixth fret.
Four, one, two, four, four.
[C#] Three, one, three, [A] three, four.
So_
_ [G] And then the next line is exactly like it was in the first part of the song.
[A] _ _ _ _ _ [D] And that [E] is how you can play Red-Haired Boy in the key of A,
ballotic style, on the banjo.
My advice for you when you're learning how to play this,
take it one line at a time.
Learn how to play this first.
[A#] _ [D] Get [Gm] that under your fingers to where you can play it [A] nonstop.
Sounds great.
Then move on to the second line.
_ [G] _ Get that.
[A] Glue those two together.
_ _ [G] _ Now you're already halfway there.
[C#m] Do it one line at a time.
Your progress will be a lot faster.
And if you want to learn more about playing melodic style banjo,
I have a new True Fire video which will be out later this year,
all about melodic style banjo.
I will take you through the keys of G, C, and D.
We might even touch on A and F and a few other ones in there.
But either way, it will be my step-by-step method for teaching you
the basics of how to get around in melodic style.
That's coming out later this year.
Currently on True Fire, I have one for beginning banjo.
I have a video for jam session survival.
I have a video for backup banjo.
And I have one called 30 [F#] Licks You Must Know for bluegrass banjo.
And you can check them all out at the website morebanjo.com.
[C] I hope you'll check them out.
And I hope this has been fun for you for St.
[E] Patty's Day [A] here.
_ _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ [A] _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ [A] _ _ _ [E] _
_ [A] _ _ So long from the Netsky Banjo Studio.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.