Foggy Mountain Breakdown
From the Film 'Bonnie and Clyde'
One of the most famous pieces of music ever for the 5-string banjo. All your friends will be most impressed when you play this one! And it's a lot easier to play than you might think. Let's take it nice and slow...
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Watch this intro to learn about the four parts you will learn to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
1 – The Roll
Play the same roll three times, slightly differently each time.
2 – The E Minor half time
One of the catchiest parts of the song is also the easiest part to play! A bar of 8th notes (Quavers) over an E minor chord, followed by a Mixed Roll on the same E minor shape.
3 – The Cannon Lick
Named after Gus Cannon, Earl uses this lick a lot at the ends of a line and for punctuation. You will start to hear this everywhere! The same RH picking pattern is used several different ways with different LH fretting options.
4 – The Double D Lick
Another classic Scruggs lick you can play at the end of a lot of Bluegrass songs. This lick is also used in Duelling Banjos.
Part 1 - Forward Roll
The start of this song features a Forward Roll similar to the Index misses a turn roll you might already know. Play this roll three times, slightly differently each time.
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Play a Roll three times to start with.
The roll is modified each time.
1st time – TMTMTIMT
Using the Thumb twice gives a stronger start.
2nd time – IMTMTIMT
This version of the roll can be played around in a loop – I show you that in the video.
3rd time – IMTMTITM
Switch to this fingering to get back to the open g (3rd) string before going into the next section.
Part 2 - the E minor section
Continuing on from the open 3rd (g) string where you finished the previous video. You will play a new roll, based on the Cannon Lick, then go into an E minor chord where you will play some slower notes (quavers, or eighth notes) followed by a Mixed Roll on the same E minor chord.
After this section you will play a Cannon Lick (in the next video) and then play what you've learned in this video exactly the same again.
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This E minor section is satisfying to play. One characteristic of Earl Scrugg’s playing is, along with the rolls that he is famous for, he often uses half speed sections consisting of Quavers or Eighth notes. These slower sections act as a ‘Hook,’ giving the listener something to hang on to.
In this particular song the hook is an E minor chord. You will slide in to the E minor from the 1st fret of the 4th string up to the 2nd fret. Then you will play a few slower notes on the E minor, followed by a Mixed Roll on the same E minor chord.
There’s another roll you will need to connect from the open g string that we ended the previous video with, through to the start of the slide on the 4th string. This Roll goes –
TMTIMIT
This roll is basically the same as the roll we use to play the famous Cannon Lick. You will use this roll six times playing round Foggy Mountain Breakdown once. You can learn more about this in the next video.
Everything you learn in this video you will play twice.
After you’ve played it the first time, you will play one Cannon Lick, then play what you’ve learnt in this video exactly the same again.
The Cannon Lick
One of the most instantly recognisable licks you can play on the banjo. Once you learn to play this, you can add it in at the end of a line and use it in many different ways.
You will play this lick four times in Foggy Mountain Breakdown.
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In this video I show you how to use the basic lick in three different ways. There’s the full Cannon Lick, which you play four times in Foggy Mountain Breakdown; there’s a simplified version which you can use for backup; and there’s the modified version you learnt in the previous video which takes you into the E minor sliding lick.
The Double D Lick
This is one of Earl's most distinctive licks. You will need it to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown, you will also play it in Duelling Banjos and many other songs.
Click through to visit another page and learn this lick.