Dueling Banjos

Here is a lesson on how to play the melody from the Fortnite dance called Hootenanny. It’s taught by a guest teacher, my friend, and student Toby. It’s his first time giving a fiddle lesson, so be sure to give him a lot of love folks. If you make it to the end you’ll see us bumble our way through the dance.

For those of you not familiar with Fortnite, it’s a popular new multi-player video game. My student Toby is an avid fan of the game and fiddling. So it just made sense that we combine these two awesome things that he loves and make a fiddle video.

A PART:

First quarter: (A1-L2)-3-1-L2-0-1-D3-A0

Second quarter: (D3-3)-D3-3-A0-1-D3-A1-0

Third quarter: A1-0-D3-4-3-2-3-2-0-2-3

Fourth quarter: D3-3-A0-1-D3-A1-A0

Notice that the second and fourth quarters of the melody are the same. They are lifted from the beginning of Yankee Doodle. Click here for a fiddle lesson on that. The third quarter goes pretty fast! But I think you can do it if you start practicing it slowly.

You’ll recognize the main melody as the tune “Dueling Banjos” from the movie Deliverance.

It was originally written by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith and called “Feudin’ Banjos”. Here’s a fun version from the Andy Griffith show:

Full-length play-along track

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Click to read the article: Dueling Banjos and the Great Folk Process

Connections

Similar tunes:

Wabash Cannonball

I’ll Fly Away

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