Here’s a funky tune from my recent collaboration with fiddler, Esther Morgan-Ellis. We’ve been working for the last year on a group of new old-time tunes. We’ve performed them in a series of concerts beginning in Spring 2024, and we plan to release a recording of them soon. Here’s a performance of my tune “Smoot’s Good Foot” from our concert at the University of North Georgia, Dahlonega.
Here’s the tablature for the banjo part and a representative melody line.
Notes About This Tune
- “Smoot’s Good Foot” is in D, played in Double D tuning (aDADE) using the clawhammer style.
- This is a deeply crooked tune that nonetheless has a great groove.
- I usually play the quieter, groovier, unpredictable A part as many times as I like, before signaling to move to the louder, straighter B part.
- Esther and I have been playing “Smoot’s Good Foot” as the closing tune for a set.
- The tune gets its name from MIT student Oliver R. Smoot, for whom the smoot unit of measure was named. See Robert Tavernor’s Smoot’s Ear: The Measure of Humanity for more.
Give the tune a try, and add a comment to let me know what you think!