Georgia Shuffle on Tunes

Here is a lesson on how to apply the Georgia Shuffle to tunes like Arkansas Traveller, Blackberry Blossom and Whiskey Before Breakfast. 

Blackberry Blossom A part 1st quarter Play-along Track 11:02

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I recommend taking the beginner lesson first: Georgia Shuffle

If you are a more advanced player, this might not be necessary, though you might want to look at the basic version anyway because it will help you to hear the essential melody.

Learning chunks 

I’ve made some “Learning Chunks” to help you learn more easily. These focused exercises contain sheet music, tabs and mp3 snippets to guide you on your fiddle journey.

The idea of Micro-practice is to start with small musical bits, get good at those, and then put them together into bigger pieces until you have gotten better at the technique.

Preparation

Warm up with the D major scale and phrases from the tune (once you’ve learned it) using a D drone: 

Then, warm up the Georgia shuffle with this simple exercise:

D0-1-2-3-0-1-2-3

For more Georgia Shuffle practice, click here. 

Arkansas Traveller exercise 1

B part, first quarter

E3-L2-1-3-L2-1-0-L2-1-0-A3-E1-0-A0

Arkansas Traveller exercise 2

B part, second quarter

A3-2-3-E1-0-A3-E0-L2-1-0-A3-1-E0-0

Arkansas Traveller exercise 3

B part, first half

E3-L2-1-3-L2-1-0-L2-1-0-A3-E1-0-A3-2-0

A3-2-3-E1-0-A3-E0-L2-1-0-A3-1-E0-1-L2

Interlude

Let’s pause for a moment and pay attention to how we practice.

Three Phases of Learning a Tune

As I see it, there are Three Phases of Learning a Tune. 

-The first phase is just learning how to play it start to finish. 

-The second phase is making it sound better by working on tone, tuning, timing and flow.

-The third phase is expression, which includes things like accenting, adding variation, dynamics and improvisation. 

As you enter each new phase, you approach the tune with a beginner’s mind using micro-practice, looping, call-and-response and other practice techniques.

Blackberry Blossom exercise 1

A part, first quarter

EL2-3-4-L2-1-L2-3-1-0-1-L2-0-A3-1-0

Blackberry Blossom exercise 2

A part, second quarter

D1-2-3-1-0-1-3-A0-1-3-1-D3-A0-3-E0

Blackberry Blossom exercise 3

A part, first half

EL2-3-4-L2-1-L2-3-1-0-1-L2-0-A3-1-0-D3

D1-2-3-1-0-1-3-A0-1-3-1-D3-A0-3-E0-1

Whiskey Before Breakfast exercise 1

A part, first quarter

G1-2-D0-1-0-0-1-2-A1-D2-A0-1-A0

Whiskey Before Breakfast exercise 2

A part, second quarter

D3-A1-D3-2-A0-D2-1-0-1-2-1-0-G2

Whiskey Before Breakfast exercise 3

A part, first half

G1-2-D0-1-0-0-1-2-A1-D2-A0-1-A0-D2

D3-A1-D3-2-A0-D2-1-0-1-2-1-0-G2-0

Dianna learning this on Whiskey Before Breakfast

Full sheet music

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4 responses to “Georgia Shuffle on Tunes”

  1. Came back to finish this lesson and this time also watched the video of Dianna’s lesson. I love it! Very clear improvement over the course of it, and I smiled more than once at the tough spots she encountered that also trip me up! Practice may not make perfect, but it sure makes us better! 🙂👍

  2. Wow, another great lesson on this technique! Good choice of tunes, especially with the hoedown patterns of Whiskey Before Breakfast thrown in there. (That also happens to be one of my favorite tunes.) Your reminders to work in increments – Small Steps! – helps me really get this technique into my hands.