Old Joe Clark

from: Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton

This lesson is part of the course Monroe-Style Mandolin with Mike Compton.

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Learn traditional bluegrass-style mandolin as exemplified by the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, with original transcribed solos and tips on reproducing Monroe’s sound, rhythm, and feel.

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TENNESSEE BLUES

Learn the “fancy high part” (all the way up the 15th fret) of “Tennessee Blues” in this video. Mike takes it apart phrase by phrase, showing you the best way to finger the high notes. You’ll also learn the shorter A section, which features sliding double stops up the neck, and some variations on the regular A section. (For full transcription, see Part 1.)

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Old Joe Clark

“Old Joe Clark” Play-Along Track

Old Joe Clark

In his solo for the 1961 recording of “Old Joe Clark,” Bill Monroe takes his cue from the device he used in “John Hardy”: holding down the D note on the A string at the fifth fret through the most recognizable melodic sequence of the first part. Measures eight and 11 are dominated by a short series of eighth notes that deescalate the intensity, one going up, the other down. The second half of the B section is played with four-note A and E chords over a series of the ever-present sixteenth–eighth–sixteenth rhythm.

“Old Joe Clark” Notation/Tab (Available to subscribers)

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