An anthology of mostly intermediate and advanced arrangements from Jack Hatfield – 112 pages, TWO CDs!
Thirty-eight arrangements from beginner to advanced level. Great supplement to any method. Perfect as a song resource for intermediate to advanced players. Many variations of arrangements found in Bluegrass Banjo Method books One and Two. Many selections include arrangements in upper neck Scruggs style, melodic style, and single string style. Also, slow tempo techniques not shown in other bluegrass method books. For those who already have Bluegrass Banjo Method Books One, Two, and Three, this book is the final volume in the series, Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Four. Completing this series from beginner to advanced levels.
Note: It is not necessary to have completed Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Two or Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Three in order to work from The Best of Jack Hatfield. Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Three – Backup Techniques on the Five-String Banjo is actually a companion book to books one and two. If the essential songs and techniques in Bluegrass Banjo Method Book One and Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Two have been mastered, the student is ready for The Best of Jack Hatfield whether or not Bluegrass Banjo Method Book Three – Backup Techniques on the Five-String Banjo has been studied.
In The Best of Jack Hatfield there are many upper-neck Scruggs style, melodic style, and single string variations to the essential songs from the first two volumes. Selected solos in Section Two and all solos in Section Three take the student far into the advanced level with many new tunes and techniques that go beyond bluegrass such as melodic and single string approaches on traditional fiddle tunes, pop tunes and six Jack Hatfield originals, slow-song chord melody technique and pedal point (classical) techniques and an array of swing licks in several pop/swing tunes as well as a twelve-bar blues arangement which is composed of single-string swing licks that can be considered a lickabulary of swing/jazz riffs. Mel Bay Publications MB22072BCD
Section One – Solos to Vocal Songs (Beginner-Intermediate)
- Tom Dooley
- Old Time Religion
- Sourwood Mountain
- In the Sweet By and By
- Bury Me Beneath the Willow
- When The Saints Go Marching In
- Old Gospel Ship, The
- Little Maggie
- What a Friend We Have in Jesus
- Amazing Grace
- Salty Dog Blues
- Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
- Keep on the Sunny Side
Section Two – Essential Jam Tunes (Intermediate-Advanced)
- Black Mountain Rag
- Sally Goodin
- Wildwood Flower
- Cumberland Gap
- Cripple Creek
- Bugle on the Banjo
- Pedal Point Drills, Part One
- John Hardy
- Old Joe Clark
- Turkey in the Straw (twin)
- Devils Dream (Three part harmony)
- Bill Cheatham
- Salt Creek
Section Three-Solo Performance Tunes (Advanced)
- Hatfield Hornpipe (Jack Hatfield)
- Carroll Best Backstep (Jack Hatfield)
- Jerusalem Ridge
- Chord Melody Drills
- Greensleeves, 3/4 and 4/4 meter
- Dewdrops (Jack Hatfield)
- Pedal Point Drills, Part Two
- Dancer (Jack Hatfield)
- 40 West (Jack Hatfield)
- Blackberry Blossom
- Maiden’s Prayer
- Chord Scale Drills, Part Two
- Somewhere, Over the Rainbow
- Limehouse Blues
- Twelve Blues Bars (Jack Hatfield)
