Cripple Creek Chorus
Add a roll into what you've already learnt
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The Alternating Thumb Roll, also called the Square Roll, is one of the most important things you can learn on the five string banjo playing fingerstyle. The Square Roll is a huge part of Earl Scruggs’ playing, he plays it in many of his most well known songs like Shuckin’ the Corn and Beverly Hillbillies… and here in the chorus of Cripple Creek!
Here’s The Tab For The Chorus
In the above video you will learn how to play the Square Roll in two different ways, by picking a different string with the right hand Thumb. You will also need to fret the third string on the second fret with the left hand.
Song structure
The chorus of Cripple Creek is made of two pieces – the Roll, which you learn on this page, and the Low Melody which you learnt in part 1. You play both parts twice, so the structure is
- Roll – Low Melody
- Roll – Low Melody
It’s a great idea to play this round four times or even eight times just to make sure you’ve truly mastered it before going onto the High Part.
Get tablature for the complete beginners version of Cripple Creek in Scruggs (Bluegrass) style.
Get more help with Square Roll
See bonus video that breaks it down more slowly to get the hang of this easy to learn banjo roll.
Is the Chorus of Cripple Creek the same as the Introduction?
Yes, you play exactly the same thing for the Intro, except you only play it once. The Intro to Cripple Creek is
Roll – Low Melody
Then you go into the High Part to play the whole song. To see how all the pieces of the song fit together, go to the playalong video.
Next Steps
Click here to learn the most catchy part of the song. Just two more bars of music, only eleven notes, and you will be able to play the whole thing!
Thumb Lead
The Cripple Creek chorus is a great example of Thumb Lead style banjo picking. All the while you are playing musically different sounding notes the right hand Thumb is playing on the beat. This makes it much easier for a beginner to keep a steady rhythm.
Thumb Lead is a great style of playing in it’s own right, and it’s also the best way to start playing bluegrass. It’s the way Earl Scruggs started when he was a child!
In the Banjo Academy there are five songs played in Thumb Lead style. These five songs have been carefully selected to give you the best possible experience of this wonderful banjo style.
All of these songs use the same basic right hand picking techniques and simple left hand fingering positions, but each song is unique and will give you a different musical learning experience.
You will also learn how to add the left hand slides into the chorus as demonstrated in the video above.
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