Handsome Molly Banjo Tab

Handsome Molly is one of my favorite clawhammer banjo tunes. It's a traditional Appalachian song that first appeared around 1900. To my ears, it has an Irish flavour to it and it's a fun, not-too-difficult song to play. This post should get you started!

Let's start by taking a look at the arrangement we'll be learning:

For me, Doc Watson does the best version of this song, so give his a watch as well!

Tune to Open G

Start by tuning your banjo to open G - otherwise known as standard G tuning. That's going to be:

5th String: G

4th String: D

3rd String: G

2nd String: B

1st String: D

It's called open G, because when you play all the string without fretting any notes, you're playing a G chord. And since Handsome Molly mostly uses the G chord, that makes this pretty simple!

Grab the tab

Start With the Melody

You'll see two pages in the tab. The first is a complete version of Handsome Molly, and the second is just the melody notes. It's much easier to memorise a song by learning the melody first -- it's much less to memorise! Then you can embellish it as you see fit. You can use the complete version for inspiration, or just use the embellishments and tricks you love to make the song your own. 

Sing It Loud!

This song is a joy to sing. Get into it, give it some oomph and have fun. I've put the lyrics in the tab along with approximately where you'll sing them with the notes. If you're not used to singing and playing at the same time, this is an excellent song to start with.