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Hey Folks,
I've been trying to learn or rather want to learn Biscuits and Gravy. I've been listening to a version of Don Julian's and I just can't get it started by ear. Extremely frustrating. So I've been looking for tab or standard and can't find anything. If you can help let me know, would you. Thanks ---Gary
Get ahold of Mike Black at his website for Black mandolins.. he is a great guy and would gladly steer you to a source for his tunes.
I'm sure if you emailed Don he would set you up.
I looked at this tune tonight, and thought it was cool. I transcribed the first A section of it, maybe that's enough to get you going. I may try to learn this one myself eventually. Here's a PDF and a TEF file
Attachment 163120
Attachment 163121
This tune was calling my name this evening. I decided to look at the tab I'd written and try using it as a practice exercise. It seems to be a bunch of blues/bluegrass licks played over the I, IV, V of G major. The licks themselves are like finger busters to me, hard to navigate. Anyway, I've decided to use this as a practice routine, and if I ever get it down I'll probably go back to Don's recording and try to learn the whole piece.
OK, I don’t know what that has to do with it, but here’s a way to at least hear it played.
Problem Solved/Biscuits and Gravy
By Three Bean Salad
Off the recording; Acoustic Potluck
YouTube audio only with the tunesmith and ace mandolin builder himself on mandolin. Full disclosure- Mike Black is a friend of mine, also built my A4. Biscuits and Gravy is a joyful finger buster. Problem Solved is pure joy.
Geez Mike, I suppose you're referring to my two posts, the tab and the practice video? If so, I'm happy to explain. OP says he was "trying to learn" Don Julin's version and "just can't get it started by ear. Extremely frustrating."Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Snyder
So, I listened to Don Julin's version and did my best to write the gist of what he plays at the start, working by ear. I've become interested in the song and last night started using the first part as a practice routine and recorded it. I didn't claim that was the original recording or that I have mastered the tune, far from it. At any rate, pretty straightforward, that's what it has to do with it. Full disclosure: I do not know the author, Mike Black, from Adam.
This is the Don Julin recording that I heard:
However it may be painful for you to hear, I like to try and learn stuff by ear - and I don't know Mike - so perhaps you can contact your buddy and post a TAB for us.
Didn't intend to cause an issue here but I'm also not the type to tuck my tail and not particularly embarrassed about revealing my lack of talent by posting godawful videos from time to time.
Looked up the audio you mentioned Mike, great stuff!
That tune doesn't sound a bit like the "Don Julin version" (though I think it's terrific - both Problem Solved and Biscuits and Gravy there are awesome). So I can see now why you must have thought I was off my rocker with what I was playing.
In my view (as mentioned above) the Don Julin piece seems to be a bunch of blues/bluegrass licks played over the I, IV, V of G major. As such, probably don't really belong in the Old Time forum. I'm partial to Old Time music, but played blues guitar for many years and I do like the Don Julin tune. Probably will keep practicing that one and maybe be able to play it some day. At any rate, I still think the TAB I gave above could help someone at least get started on Don's tune.
Yeah, there’s a whole big difference there. I was not aware. I play the Mike Black stuff about once a year at a big festival. He writes challenging tunes. Most of them certainly challenge me. I meant no disrespect.
No worries Mike, I can see that now that I've heard Mike's playing. We were looking at two different things. At this point I'm not sure what the OP wanted, though he did mention Don Julin. Life is good; put it to music!
I decided to hunt for this post today as I'd forgotten the name of this tune and how it went. Discovered that the video of Don Julin's Biscuits and Gravy referenced above had been deleted! No worries, Don himself has posted it now on his channel, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPchPMgdhtc
I've gotten a little better with my mandolin playing now (micro improvements) and probably try this again soon.
So Mark, ole buddy do you have tabledit of the whole song you would share? :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mark Gunter
Kevin, all I had was the first part, it's linked earlier in this thread. Haven't fooled with this anymore, just looked it up again a few minutes ago.
I have to say, though, that I've been busy in the blues on mandolin in G, in E and in A ... and just yesterday I figured out a really cool arrangement of Robert Johnson style licks for Kind Hearted Woman ... I'm really excited about that, and hope to make some videos eventually on these blues studies for the Woodshed Group. No tabs for any of that though.
Many thanks Marc that’s a great tune for intro to the blues scale!
The Tab would be sweet but in any case I’m going to try to learn it by ear with the YouTube slow downer.
(Thanks of course to Don Julin and also to Three Bean Salad)
-I’ve been recently playing full blues scales and doing a one note interval slide up to each note in the scale while moving up the scale. Repeated till it’s second nature. Slides on arpeggios next...
Johnson sounds cool.
Thanks Simon. To be clear, the Don Julin tune, and the Mike Black tune by Three Bean Salad, are two entirely different tunes with the same name. No similarities at all between them that I can discern.
And there is TAB available for the Don Julin tune, in the post #4 above. That TAB should be enough to get anyone started. Beyond that, there are just different bluesy licks along the same theme that can be picked up by ear and played.
Thanks again, yes I can see that if I play the first four measures exactly the same except that every thing is one string closer to the sky, then same again but one string closer to the sky AND two frets up the neck then that would cover for the I the IV and the V in the scale.
Ie over G major chord, over C major and D major(7)