Take Me Home, Country Roads

This lesson is part of the course Beginning Banjo with Bill Evans.

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The driving sound of the banjo is at the heart of many styles of roots music. Get started with basic chords, strums, and fingerings, along with simple bluegrass rolls, accompaniment patterns, clawhammer style, and more.

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How to Play “Wagon Wheel”

In this lesson you’ll learn to play the jam-session favorite “Wagon Wheel,” using two different roll patterns, the alternating thumb roll and the forward reverse roll. Bill gives you advice on changing chords and keeping the roll going even if your fingers haven’t quite managed to finger the complete chord yet.

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Take Me Home, Country Roads

“Take Me Home, Country Roads” Play-Along Track

Take Me Home, Country Roads

John Denver’s 1970s hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a popular song at bluegrass slow jams and campfire singalongs. In this lesson, you’ll learn a few ways to accompany it, including a pattern that combines the pinch pattern and the alternating-thumb roll. Bill shows you the pattern and then walks you through the chords, including the bridge, which only gets played once but has a somewhat unusual chord progression. He also shows you how to modify the pattern to start with the thumb on either the fourth string or the third string, depending on which chord you’re playing.

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" (Available to subscribers)