Toango,
My first songs on banjo were the following in this order: Banjo in the Hollow, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, and then for the 4th tune–Foggy Mountain Banjo.
Best
10 Songs Every Banjo Player Should Know
Saw this list and noticed I only have 8 of the 25 down.
“Honey, get my banjer! Looks like I gotta increase my practice time.” 
— Begin quote from "fiddlewood"
Here is the list for 25 “jamming tunes” for this years’* Mid-West Banjo Camp*
MBC’s Official List of Bluegrass Jamming Tunes
…
Bile 'em Cabbage Down
…
— End quote
That’s a medically accurate description of digestion, but I don’t think I’d want to see or hear a performance of that song. 
“Clinch Mountain Backstep” is a standard tune in my circles. Pretty easy to learn on mandolin, not sure about banjo.
Not accounting for level of difficulty, if I could play banjo (which I don’t), the three songs I would want to learn early on are:
Cripple Creek
The Ballad of Jed Clampett
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
I know… I am pretty generic, but those are the songs that come to mind.
we cant leave out… Rueben,Flint hill special,I’ll fly away…
Ok…are these song a player should know because of what you learn from them? Or is it because that’s what other people want to hear?
I would say the answer is both. These are songs people want to hear, and they are songs that stretch you musically for a long time. You are a pretty accomplished banjo player by the time you learn 10, or 25 of the most popular banjo songs.
wao it was really informative
Essential song to know…“Happy Birthday”…Be ready for it cause it will find you no matter where you play!
JB
Good call on Happy Birthday. I like to play it on a ukulele. I bet it would be awesome on beardedBanjo’s banjulele!
Learned that on the banjolele a few weeks back for my daughter’s 5th birthday. Talk about a hit!
Cripple Creek
Fireball Mail
Earl’s Breakdown
Ballad of Jed Clampett
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Reuben’s Train
Flint Hill Special
Little Darlin’ Pal of mine
Molly and Tenbrooks
Down the Road
Clinch Mountain Backstep
Dueling banjos
GOSPEL
I saw the light
I’ll fly away
Will the circle be unbroken
Yeah I know, that’s a total of 15, sorry … PS, Jingle Bells is pretty cool too
Been giving this thought, it is easy to get frustrated and lose your focus. Below is years worth of work. I am sure there are better lists, but this covers a lot of ground. Good luck.
- Cripple Creek (standard Scruggs licks) Bunch of more at this level , Nine Pound Hammer, I’ll Fly Away, Little Maggie….long list. Try playing them in other keys.
- Foggy Mountain Breakdown (covers a lot basic licks) Next level up, must be able to play both down the neck and up, take a while to do it right…like years!
- Flint Hill Special (Great drill for hammer on-pull offs) Earls Breakdown too, all work similarly once you get a couple down the others are a lot easier.
- Old Joe Clark (Solid fiddle tune) Salt Creek, Red Hair Boy, the list is long, again after while they all work similarly. Fiddle tunes are great fun because they have a distinctive melody.
- Soldiers Joy (Drop C tuning) Probably others to learn that are just as important. Got to learn to play in C and D tuning too. Then F.
- Blackberry Blossom (intro to melodics)
- Sally Goodin (up the neck training) Sally Ann also good for up the neck training
- Shenandoah Break Down (drive and timing) Lots of these, Gold Rush, Farewell Blues, Pickaway…. Etc., they are the same, they have hook and then a bunch of standard licks. Learn the hook, then add the licks.
- Foggy Mountain Special (Up the neck licks, a must tune to move to advanced playing) Can’t say enough about this one, learn it because there is ton of stuff to take away from it for other stuff.
- Ben’s melodic version of Bill Cheatham (scales playing) Got to be able to play melodic scales fluidly, practice this and once you get it the door is open. A lot of Ben’s tunes are based on this idea. Not easy but doable.
2 Likes
That’s my favourite list so far. Would just change #5 to Home Sweet Home for a drop C tune.
Great descriptions for each. Nice work.
Here’s my list a little more than the suggested ten.
I have been at this longer than most so here is my ROUGH GUIDE on why I think certain tunes fall into certain categories.
Beginner
These tunes are easy to teach and fairly easy to learn, they introduce the student to the basic fundamentals of playing banjo. Students will often make fairly slow progress in their first year and progress will pick up in their second year as they work though these basic lessons. BUT beware of the WALL
In reality students at this level are often too eager to play fast before their brains have properly adjusted to multi-tasking. So it’s important to spend lot’s time practicing key roll patterns and learning to make chord shapes and become skilled at changing between chord shapes. Once you get the hang of this it just makes learning to play tunes that much easier.
Beginner students will often struggle to find the location of the notes and become frustrated at their lack of progress. It’s hard work trying to place your fingers on certain strings without touching others. We all hate playing bum notes so learn to relax, make a point of checking your finger positions when you play a dull note and adjust positioning accordingly. A mirror really helps.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking tunes determine your skill level. ( Tunes are just tunes it’s the elements, the licks the rolls the chord changes and skill content that determine the difficulty) Your skill level will increase as you master different roll patterns, lick combinations and fret hand fingerings. Your timing is very important, getting that right is the key to building speed.
Banjo in the Hollow
Cripple Creek
Boil 'em Cabbage Down
Foggy Mtn Breakdown - Really Basic Down the Neck Version
John Hardy
Amazing Grace
I Saw the Light
Little Maggie
Lonesome Rd. Blues
Long Journey Home (Two Dollar Bill)
Mama Don’t Allow
New River Train
Nine Pound Hammer
Will the Circle be Unbroken
Worried Man Blues
I’ll Fly Away
What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Advanced Beginner
Fireball Mail - Advanced Beginner
Little Darlin’ Pal of Mine - Advanced Beginner
Turkey in the Straw - Advanced Beginner
Old Joe Clark - Advanced Beginner
Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms - Advanced Beginner
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Advanced Beginner
Old Spinning Wheel Key of C - Advanced Beginner
Students at all levels constantly compare their progress with others and wonder why they are not making the same progress. For the most part it’s all down to study, practice and commitment. But our brains process all this stuff at different rates so some folks can work through stuff quicker than others. A key factor to learning is to LISTEN. to the music.
Intermediate
A question often asked on the Banjo Hangout. How will I know when I am ready to move to the Intermediate Level?
My answer - If your comfortable playing basic stuff on the banjo with minimal mistakes then your ready to move on up the ladder to more difficult stuff. At first you will stumble and have many train wrecks as you take on more challenging licks. Again this is all part of the learning process. Yes it’s frustrating but stick with it and you’ll soon find yourself trying some advanced tunes. You have to break some eggs to make an omelette.
Foggy Mountain Breakdown Basic Up the Neck Version
Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Bury Me Beneath the Willow
Black Mountain Rag
Ballad of Jed Clampett
Good Old Mountain Dew
Little Cabin Home on the Hill
Old Home Place
John Henry
Soldiers Joy Drop C
Wabash Cannonball
Tennessee Waltz in D
Old Rugged Cross
Rueben Open D Tuning
Molly and Tenbrooks
Down the Road
Folsom Prison Blues
Freight Train
Life is Like a Mountain Railroad
Grandfathers Clock
Advanced
Duelin’ Banjos This is a tune everybody wants to play but the Eric Weissberg 's arrangement is pretty advanced
Salt Creek
Salty Dog
Flint Hill Special
Dear Old Dixie
Ground Speed
Sally Goodin
Sally Ann
Pike County Breakdown
Randy Lynn Rag
Earl’s Breakdown
Kansas City Rail Road Blues
Under the Double Eagle
Maple Leaf Rag
Black Diamond
Red Wing
Red River Valley
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Lime Rock
The best advice I can offer is really spend the time learning the basic stuff in Ben’s Beginner Track this will give you a solid foundation on which to build your skill level as you climb the ladder.
3 Likes
Hi fiddlewood! Do you have tabs for any of these songs? I’m specifically looking for “I Saw the Light”.
Thanks!
1 Like
Most tabs I have are hand written or on paper. No way to share them if I could even ever find them…
I just shared the list…I never actually went…any music camps are way out of my price range.
sorry…
3 Likes
Well… I don’t think so… FMB is fairly easy…really! FMB gives you an introduction to so many techniques (hammer ons, slides, different rolls (especially forward/reverse), the third measure lick (can be used as an ending on other tunes in G), the “G-tag lick” (can be transplanted into other G measures or used as a filler between phrases in other tunes) as well as a vehicle for very gradually building consistency and speed when used with a slowly ascending metronome. Very often we think something looks difficult when it is not - - - not if you take it two measures or one lick at a time, repeating twenty times each day during practice. Have confidence in your brain and your fingers. Together they can do wonders (if given the chance)!
3 Likes