On my guitar page  I just now uploaded a video of how I attempt to play Darin Aldridge's guitar arrangement of 'The Last Thing on His Mind' by Dennis Duff.  (Videos are in alphabetical order).   I also added there a video in which I very slowly play the introduction to the song and another video in which I very slowly play a couple of other parts of the song.  It turned out to be pretty difficult (for me) to quickly learn to play this song at normal speed using a flat pick like Darin does, since I am not really a bluegrass guitar picker (but you don't have to be a bluegrass picker to master it).  So on the full speed video I wore my banjo picks and played it 3-finger style.  I am still learning to play the song correctly even that way, but hopefully these videos can help you also learn to play it.  If some parts of it seem to difficult for your current level of ability, just try to simplify what you are doing.  It is mainly a vocalist's song, so the guitar doesn't have to do a lot of complicated stuff to make it a great song.  Often "simpler" sounds "better" anyway.


As a reminder, I also put the words and chords to this song down at the bottom in my music and tab section (which is in alphabetical order).




Merry Christmas!
Butch

A week or so ago I first heard this wonderful song written by Dennis Duff and beautifully sung by Darin and Brooke Aldridge.  It is called "The Last Thing on His Mind".  I typed out the words and chords and posted them in the tab section at the very bottom of this blog (tabs are in alphabetical order).  (The words I found various places on the Internet were all full of errors).   I may also make and add a slow video of my attempts to replicate some of Darin's beautiful guitar music as he plays it on this song.

Today I uploaded a video to the guitar page of how I play Michael Card's beautiful song, "The Gentle Healer."  This is based on the arrangement by Selah, which has a key change half way through.  The first 2 verses are in A and the last 2 are in B.  Our Praise Band recently led worship using this arrangement.  Because our piano player was away for a few weeks, I tried to duplicate a lot of the Selah piano part on the guitar.  To help you out with learning the song, I also uploaded the chords that I play, which includes some diagrams of what I do in the transition between verses.  This is at the bottom of the blog, where my tabs are located.  Songs there are in alphabetical order.


Butch

Happy New Year - 2015 !!!


I hope that you and your family had a great Christmas. 


I got a request for banjo tab for the Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin song, 10,000 Reasons.  So I created a quick and dirty arrangement and posted it here for anyone who may also be interested in seeing it.


My tabs are down at the bottom, and they are in alphabetical order, so Ten Thousand Reasons is currently next to the last.


I created the arrangement in the key of G, but our Praise Band sings it in the key of A.  If you want to play it in the key of A, just add a capo at the 2nd fret.  Also, I did not test this draft arrangement by playing along with the song, so it is possible that it won't work exactly right.  But hopefully it will be enough to help you figure out how to play the song. 


Enjoy!
Banjo Butch

Our church's Praise Team is learning an old hymn with new music provided by Aaron Hurst so that we can sing it in 2 weeks.  At the link below Aaron tells where the song came from and shows how he plays it on the guitar.  The song title is "My Savior, My God."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtiE6vaPZK0

Today I uploaded some more banjo instructional videos.  I recently created a slow arrangement of "There is a Fountain" with some neat chords in it (major 7ths, minors, etc.).  That is one of the videos that I just uploaded.  The others are "Waiting for the Sunrise," "The Bells of St Mary's," and "Soldier's Joy."   Enjoy!

Today I added 3 banjo instructional videos:  Arkansas Traveler, Ragtime Annie, and Whiskey Before Breakfast.  I also added a guitar video of Under the Double Eagle.  It has been a long time since I was able to add to this blog, because I have been working out of town for a few years, but I am currently out of work until I get a new contract, so that gave me some time to work on the banjo again after a long period of very little playing.

On 8/4/13 I added the tab to the very bottom of my blog for "Whiskey Before Breakfast".