https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/saint-annes-reel-guitar
This guitar solo is hot and I know you’re gonna love learning it. The 1st A & B parts stick close to the melody but the 2nd A & B parts get a little gritty with some 16th notes and cool slides.
Aunt Anne was an expert crappie fisherman that’s why the pope canonized her
I really enjoyed your St. Anne’s Reel. It has become one of my favorites to play for people. I did, however, learn it in C, but I really like the straight D version as well (I felt sorry for the recorder player, however. Too bad! Ha!). I’m thinking of learning it on the Banjo as well.
There’s a park in Wilmington, NC called Greenfield Lake Park, I was in the process of learning this tune on the guitar in the park when a man and a woman approached me. They were planning to have their wedding in the park and were looking for a suitable spot for it when they heard me play it. They mentioned that the tune fitted the atmosphere of that park to a tee, and wanted me to play it at their wedding as a prelude piece. Well, their wedding was coming up pretty quick and I felt that I wouldn’t be ready in time, so I had to decline. But I did give them the name of the tune so they can use somebody that actually played it well.
A very pretty Celtic tune!
I’m making very good progress on St. Anne’s Reel. Long time ago I decided not to get frustrated when I make mistakes. I try to look at this realistically and realize that this is going to take time, practice, analysis, patience and study (yes, study), noticing the fingerings, keeping my “metronome” (my down-ups) right (timing is everything in Bluegrass and any other form of music).
Enjoying the journey, comparing where I’m at now vs where I was five days ago, has helped. Sometimes we try to compare ourselves to Josh Williams, Billy Strings, etc, but that’s really a no-no! I had to learn to compare where I was to where I’m at, and that’s what matters most.
Robert Funderburk
Wilmington, NC