Cherokee shuffle

[Jonathan Peck]

Anyone have a favorite version of Cherokee Shuffle they can share. (PDF or Tabledit)

Right now I'm working on a fiddle version from Mel Bay's The Craig Duncan Master Fiddle Solo Collection. I took out the drone string and made a few other changes to adapt better to mandolin, but It still needs a bit of tweaking.

[woodwizard]

What key is it in? I learned it in the key of G but most play it in A so I had to relearn/transcribe it. That's a great tune.

[AlanN]

There are many out there to choose from. A favorite of mine is from a lesser-known fellow, Tim Laughlin.

[Jonathan Peck]

I'm working it out in A, but I could transcribe a version I like from a different key easy enough. Alan, I did a search for the Laughlin version. I found it on Comando, thanks.

[Jonathan James]

for inspiration, check out this version of Cherokee Shuffle with Frank Solivan and Jesse Cobb of the Infamous Stringdusters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mq_MqS-5uA

[Bruce Evans]

The Carp Camp version.

[Perry]

I like to to try and grab ideas from all the different versions out there.

Here's anothe source of ideas:

If you play it in D (most play it in A) check out Herschel Sizemore's "Lost Indian" on his DVD. There is a TAB booklet with it. "Lost Indian" is basically the first part of Cherokee and then it gets repeated an octave up.

Herschel's version is very tasty. If you learn it you get a higher variation if you want to incorporate it into your Cherokee. And even if you do it in A; moving Hershel's version up to A is easy. Just move everything down a string closer to the floor.

Herschel's DVD is one of the best out there IMHO. No financial interest; I'm not even a rabid fan it's just I've had almost all of these mando instruction videos and just to watch Herschel play is a revelation in taste, time and tone.

Looks like he takes PayPal too.

http://www.herschelsizemore.com/herschel_sizemore_002.htm

[Jonathan Peck]

Well, I try and find something in each new tune or new version of a tune to challenge me or to develop some aspect of my playing that I find I'm weak on, so each time I play the tune I'm building something that I can use in other aspects of my playing.

The reason I was needing to change some parts of this version is so I could take out the drone string that a fiddler would be playing which is how it's written. I decided to go forward putting the drone string back in which is easy enough when the drone string is an open string, but gets more challenging when I have to fret melody notes while my pinky is fretting the seventh fret creating the drone. That's a pretty good stretch on a mandolin and is going to require a bit more finger coordination/independence than I currently possess.

I've played it through one time with the drone string back in...nine hundred ninety nine more times left to go to get it permanent http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Jonathan Peck]

Yeah well I don't know, it sounds old timey on the mando with the drone string. Back to square one I guess. I think I'll stick with parts of the Duncan version and keep messing with the parts that I want to change. Any more versions out there, send them my way. Thanks.

[Hal Loflin]

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

Which one is Jesse and which one is Frank?

[Jonathan James]

Jesse is the younger looking guy with more hair...

I interviewed him last week for a local bluegrass radio show I host and man, what a nice/humble guy! He's really paid his dues before joining the Infamous Stringdusters, with years on the road touring with Mike Snider, Jim Lauderdale, etc. He even stopped playing music for a while and moved to Alaska to do construction. So, when he says he is now truly "living his dream", he really means it...

[Martin Jonas]

I play it in D, using Nigel Gatherer's version which is in tab and standard notation here (http://www.nigelgatherer.com/tunes/tab/tab1/cher.html). #Great tune.

As far as recorded versions are concerned, none better than the one by Fairport Convention, played as a set with the Brilliancy Medley. #It's on their wonderful album "Nine" from 1973, and there is a great live video from the same year on Youtube here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beATl3QI2X8). #Dave Pegg plays mando (a teens Gibson A) and first chops though the Brilliancy Medley before picking lead on Cherokee Shuffle.

The Fairport arrangement has been published in a couple of songbook, too: the invaluable freebie songbook that cam with the Dave Swarbrick box set on Free Reed a few years ago, and the Fairport songbook edited by Martin Allcock. It evens comes with mando tab for the Cherokee Shuffle part.

Martin

[James P]

Several versions to listen to on the Mandolin Project page (http://www.mandolinproject.150m.com/cshuffle.html). #My favorite is Uncle Ken's. #I played Ken's version for my bass player and he said, "Now that's what a mandolin should sound like!" #Gee thanx... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Jonathan Peck]

Thanks everybody. I spent some time listening to some versions of this tune and I finally figured out that the one I have in my head is from The Bluegrass Invasion Album. I've been right around it, but not quite there...thus the constant tweeking. This has been fun as while I was trying to write out what was in my head, I came up with alot of different variations which in the longrun can only lead to better improvisation once I get a basic version down.

Thanks again

[bradeinhorn]

not mando - but there's an awesome yt clip with noam pikelny and andy falco and another flatpicker playuing the tune on their porch. awesome.

[Martin Jonas]

Several versions to listen to on the Mandolin Project page (http://www.mandolinproject.150m.com/cshuffle.html). My favorite is Uncle Ken's. I played Ken's version for my bass player and he said, "Now that's what a mandolin should sound like!"
Ouch -- I'd forgotten about those. Did I really sound that bad four years ago? But then, I had only been playing for less than a year by that time, so I guess I have an excuse. I'm glad to say my timing is rather better now.

Martin

[John Ritchhart]

Get Butch Baldasarri's 30 Fiddle Tunes book. Good version in there. It has great tunes in it and it helps Butch.

[John Ritchhart]

I like this one too cause it's slow enough to play along with:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XZcr56iyskk