harrisonfan - Posted - 09/09/2014:  07:59:03

Hello All,

I have always wanted to learn Pete Seeger's version of Little Birdie (shown here: youtube.com/watch?v=8iBlp-3fqmU) but I can't figure out even what strum method he is using.  Is anyone aware of any tabbed version of this song. As mentioned in this thread (banjohangout.org/archive/128867) it may be available in Sing Out! magazine from 1961 but I have been unable to locate this issue anywhere.  Some help would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited by - Lynne on 09/10/2014 19:03:29

Jim Yates - Posted - 09/09/2014:  08:35:44

youtube.com/watch?v=8iBlp-3fqmU

There's an active link. 

Pete's playing clawhammer style tuned low (because of the long neck), but using C shapes and a drop C tuning (gCGBD) 4 frets low, making it in A (if the guitar I have beside the computer is tuned to standard)

harrisonfan - Posted - 09/10/2014:  13:33:16

Thanks for the info Jim! 

It seems like I may just need to slow it down and figure out the exact tab.

A follow up question. In that version, is Pete playing a strict clawhammer (all downward picking) style or is it the normal "Seeger" style of up picking then down picking? 

Could very well be just a matter of experience, but using the standard clawhammer style I can't get anywhere near the speed he shows in that video (even with the couple years of clawhammer exp). However, if I use the "Seeger" style I can get much closer to that speed.  

Thanks!

Edited by - harrisonfan on 09/10/2014 13:33:56

kypfer - Posted - 09/10/2014:  15:29:36

Just for reference, in case it's any help, a tab of Little Birdie is available in Pete's "How to Play the 5-string Banjo" book, page 32 in the "blue" edition, in the Frailing section. He quotes gCGAD tuning and it appears, to my inexperienced eye, to be "standard" claw-hammer. He also mentions a complete transcription being available in a 1961 issue of Sing Out Magazine, but not exactly which issue.

Whether this version is the version used in the video, I'm not nearly good enough to comment  !

Marc Nerenberg - Posted - 09/11/2014:  16:16:19

quote:

---

Originally posted by harrisonfan

Thanks for the info Jim! 

It seems like I may just need to slow it down and figure out the exact tab.

A follow up question. In that version, is Pete playing a strict clawhammer (all downward picking) style or is it the normal "Seeger" style of up picking then down picking? 

Could very well be just a matter of experience, but using the standard clawhammer style I can't get anywhere near the speed he shows in that video (even with the couple years of clawhammer exp). However, if I use the "Seeger" style I can get much closer to that speed.  

 

Thanks!

---

He's playing strictly downpicking - no "Seeger style" up-picking by Pete in this one - which is kind of ironic, since this song has traditionally usually been played using precisely Pete's up-picking style.

I learned this years ago from hearing Pete play it on record, and seeing what the fingering was from the partial tab in his book. The run up and down the neck is not really hard - it's all on the first string. You should be able to figure that part out by trial and error - especially after seeing him play it in the video. It's a straightforward walk up and down the neck.