Banjo tablatures for Shenandoah Breakdown

This is a great Monroe tune that works great in multiple styles. Most banjo pickers blend Scruggs and Melodic when playing this tune. We have several versions to check out. The Scruggs Style - Basic is a good place to start, especially if you are more of a beginner or early intermediate player. You'll learn to navigate this tune with a lot of forward rolls. Check out the licks for some simple variations and get some ideas on how to add more complex and authentic Scruggs "language" to the tune. The Scruggs style elaborated on the basic version by adding in more of the common slurs(hammers and pulls) that you'd hear most banjo pickers play. The licks are a bit more complex and introduce using some melodic language, which is common for this tune.

Check out the Melodic Style to really dive into that style. It's based on the fiddle playing of Kenny Baker. The licks show some alternate melodic lines and include some Scruggs and single string options. Lastly, if you're planning on jamming check out the Vamping arrangement. This one requires some familiarity with the the root shape and first inversion shape. This arrangement is a great workout for your fretting hand and will help you better map out the fretboard. You'll learn where all the common 1, 4, 5 (G, C, & D) chord shapes are and different ways to navigate between them. These patterns will hold true for other tunes with similar chord changes.