Easy Bluegrass Songs for Beginners

Just starting out? These bluegrass and old-time tunes use only two or three chords, which makes them the perfect place to begin building your backup. Most of them stay on the I, IV, and V chords that show up in tune after tune, so what you learn here carries straight over to the rest of the repertoire — and fewer chords means you can keep your attention on your timing instead of scrambling for the next shape. Pick one, hear it played by the full band, then open it in Jam Trainer to slow it right down and work back up to jam speed.

Soldier's Joy Key of D · 4/4 · Old-time reel Cripple Creek Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune Old Joe Clark Key of G · 4/4 · Modal old-time tune Angeline the Baker Key of D · 4/4 · Old-time tune Sally Goodin Key of A · 4/4 · Old-time breakdown Cumberland Gap Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune Turkey in the Straw Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune June Apple Key of A · 4/4 · Modal old-time tune Arkansas Traveler Key of C · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Bill Cheatham Key of A · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Mississippi Sawyer Key of D · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Liberty Key of C · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Devil’s Dream Key of A · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Golden Slippers Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune When the Saints Go Marching In Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional gospel Man of Constant Sorrow Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Bury Me Beneath the Willow Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Nine Pound Hammer Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Boil Them Cabbage Down (Bile 'Em Cabbage Down) Key of A · 4/4 · Old-time tune Cotton-Eyed Joe Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Forked Deer Key of D · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Temperance Reel Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time reel Girl I Left Behind Me Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Flop Eared Mule Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Sally Ann Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune Little Maggie Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Darling Corey / Dig a Hole in the Meadow Key of C · 4/4 · Traditional song Handsome Molly Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Down to the River to Pray Key of C · 4/4 · Traditional spiritual Oh, Susanna Key of G · 4/4 · Stephen Foster song John Hardy Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song East Virginia Key of G · 4/4 · Traditional song Old Molly Hare Key of D · 4/4 · Old-time fiddle tune Buffalo Gals Key of G · 4/4 · Old-time tune

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