A New Backing Track for 'The Traveller'

Here is a traditional Irish reel that I learned from Dave Hum called, 'The Traveller.' It is also known as, 'Walker Street.' I used his recording on YouTube as a template to make this backing track. Dave plays it in standard tuning in the key of A (capo 2nd fret, and 7th fret of fifth string), but I have also made backing tracks in the keys of A and G for your preference. Enjoy!

• The Traveller - Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• The Traveller - Tablature (.PDF tabs)
• The Traveller (key of A, normal)
• The Traveller (key of A, slower)
• The Traveller (key of A, slow)
• The Traveller (key of A, woodshed)
• The Traveller (key of G, normal)
• The Traveller (key of G, slower)
• The Traveller (key of G, slow)
• The Traveller (key of G, woodshed

Dave Hum has tablature for sale on his website, but he only tabs the chorus, not the entire song. So, half the song is not tabbed. If you want the partial tabs, you would need to purchase his larger pack with 41 songs, the smaller pack with 10 songs doesn't have 'The Traveller.' I did my best to tab out the song accurately just like Dave Hum did. It took me 6 hours just to tab the first half of the song, which Dave doesn't tab. He only tabbed the chorus.

It also took me about 6 hours to make this backing track. Some songs require more tedious work, which I enjoy. I used a MIDI bass and piano. All the bass and piano notes are entered one mouse click at a time. Sometimes I can use copy and paste to speed things along, which I did a little, but for the most part I need to enter notes individually. I am amazed how nice the quality of MIDI instruments sound.

I used real instrument audio loops for the kick drum, tambourine, cymbal and djembe. There's also some solo piano parts that Dave Hum did, which I tried to imitate exactly the way he did them. I really like playing this song on the 5-string banjo.

Dave Hum (1966-2012) Performs For An Admirer

A New Backing Track For 'Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home'

This is one of my favorite song medleys to play on the banjo. They're both Irish traditional tunes (hornpipes) called, 'Boys of Bluehill' and 'Harvest Home.' These songs are played using the Double C Tuning (gCGCD tuning). For the key of D, capo the 2nd fret, and also the 5th string with a capo at the 7th fret. I have made backing tracks in both the keys of C and D for your preference. I also wrote out some tabs for both songs in Double C Tuning...

• Boys Of Bluehill Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Boys Of Bluehill Tablature (.PDF tabs)
• Harvest Home Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Harvest Home Tablature (.PDF tabs)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of D, normal)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of D, slower)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of D, slow)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of D, woodshed)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of C, normal)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of C, slower)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of C, slow)
• Boys Of Bluehill & Harvest Home (key of C, woodshed)

I also made a backing track for just 'Boys Of Bluehill,' which is my favorite of the two tunes. Recently, I made this recording with my Deering Calico banjo, playing along with the following 'Boys Of Bluehill' backing track...

• Boys Of Bluehill Tablature (TablEdit tabs)
• Boys Of Bluehill Tablature (.PDF tabs)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of D, normal)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of D, slower)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of D, slow)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of D, woodshed)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of C, normal)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of C, slower)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of C, slow)
• Boys Of Bluehill (key of C, woodshed)

I used a MIDI bass, drums and piano. I used a real loop of a djembe at the beginning of Harvest Home. These are really fun happy songs to learn and play. Enjoy!

Dave Hum And Friends Playing For A Crowd

Dave Hum's Substitute For The Famous G Lick

I've noticed in Dave's extensive catalog of songs on YouTube that he never plays the common famous G lick. For whatever reason he doesn't use it. Instead, he likes to play something different, which I have tabbed out and played for you to hear and compare. I love what he plays. I use both of these a lot in my music...

• Dave Hum Substitute Lick (TablEdit)
• Dave Hum Substitute Lick (.PDF)
• Famous G Lick (normal speed)
• Famous G Lick (slow speed)
• Dave Hum's Substitute For G Lick (recording 1)
• Dave Hum's Substitute For G Lick  (recording 2)

I thank God for Dave Hum and the tremendous collection of videos that he left the world. Dave's music has brought me so much joy over the years. I love the banjo. I love music.

Lately I've been touched by some of the piano songs I've been hearing at church, like 'The Family Of God' by Bill Gaither. So, I'm thinking about learning to play the piano. I already understand basic music theory, and I've been messing around with a keyboard MIDI controller for a long time for making backing tracks. To start, I just want to learn this one song, 'The Family Of God.' I'll go from there, Lord willing. I may lose interest, I'll have to wait and see. I'm still fully motivated to keep learning the 5-string banjo. This week I was working on the Dobro, on some stuff I bought from Jimmy Heffernan.

Like Dave Hum, I like different musical instruments. I'd love to learn just a handful of Gospel hymns. Other songs I like on the piano are: 'I Have Decided To Follow Jesus,' 'Grace Greater Than All Our Sins,' 'Amazing Grace' and ''Draw Me Nearer.'

My mother (1935-2001) started learning the piano at age 4 in Sweden. When my grandfather died, my grandma and Mom (age 13) moved from Sweden to the United States. Thankfully both of my parents were born again Christians. I grew up hearing my mother play an old upright piano, which has a very historically distinct sound from the early 20th century. I never heard my mother play any song on the piano other than Gospel hymns, which I cherish. Here are the only recodings I have of her piano, which she played at home when I was just a boy, that I converted from old cassettes to MP3...

• Mom 01
• Mom 02
• Mom 03

Thank you friend for visiting and reading my blogs.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

New Backing Track, “Just Over In The Glory Land”

This is another popular Bluegrass Gospel song, “Just Over In The Glory Land.” I used a recording by “The Rochesters” Gospel Bluegrass family in South Carolina as a template. They perform at our Baptist church revival each year in Pensacola, along with the “Living Proof” Gospel family from Texas. That event is the highlight of our year! The Rochesters originally did the song in the key of D, so I did too. But I also transposed the song to G and A to accomodate our favorite banjo keys, but because those keys were so far away from the original key, you can hear the timbre difference in the tracks. They still sound good, I think. Enjoy!

1. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of A, faster)
2. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of A, normal)
3. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of A, slower)
4. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of A, slow)
5. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of D, faster)
6. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of D, normal)
7. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of D, slower)
8. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of D, slow)
9. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of G, faster)
10. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of G, normal)
11. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of G, slower)
12. Just Over In The Glory Land (key of G, slow)

I used MIDI for bass, piano and drums. I'm playing my Cort acoustic guitar. I add an audio loop djembe and shaker. I also added a nice synthesizer for chord padding, which I learned to do from Dave Hum.

One of my all-time favorite Bluegrass albums from 1974 was titled: "The Gospel According To Steve, Leroy and Brother Dave." The song, "My Wonderful Jesus," was the song that got me hooked to start playing the pedal steel guitar in 1992. Please don't miss the song, "Just Over In The Glory Land." Check out the awesome: 'TAKE'S BLUEGRASS ALBUM CHANNEL,' which contains THOUSANDS of classic Bluegrass and Gospel songs to enjoy and learn from. What a blessing!

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

A New Backing Track For 'Flying Cloud Cotillion'

This is a really great song that Dave Hum recorded. It is called “Flying Cloud Cotillion” or “Flying Clouds.” I love all the melodic playing in this tune, and I think you will too. When I first heard the song it seemed complicated, but in fact this is an easy song to learn and play. I used Dave's song as a template to make this backing track. I made it in both the keys of A and G for your preference, but Dave plays it in G. It is standard tuning. By the way, I learned this week that I can save all TablEdit tabs as a .PDF file, which is great to know. So, I went back and created .PDF tabs for all previous TablEdit tabs for you. All future tabs will be in both formats.

1. Flying Cloud Cotillion Tabs (TablEdit tabs)
2. Flying Cloud Cotillion Tabs (.PDF tabs)
3. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of A, faster)
4. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of A, normal)
5. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of A, slower)
6. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of A, slow)
7. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of A, woodshed)
8. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of G, faster)
9. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of G, normal)
10. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of G, slower)
11. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of G, slow)
12. Flying Cloud Cotillion (key of G, woodshed)

I used a MIDI bass and piano. I added an audio loop of a crash cymbal. Dave didn't use a tambourine, so neither did I in this tune. I'm just using a MIDI kick drum.

The bass notes were all over the place for this song, which I enjoyed entering into MixCraft Pro Studio (I use this program to make all my backing tracks). I have tried other DAW's (Digital Audio Workstations) and none of them are as good as MixCraft in my humble opinion. Plus MixCraft is only a fraction of the price. I wouldn't mind paying more for something that worked great, but I don't think any of the software I've tried is worth it. I tried Cakewalk (the new Reason software), FL Studio, Ableton, and Pro Logic. If someone is into Rap Music, perhaps they would like those other DAW's. But for making actual songs, and recording real instruments if you want them, Mixcraft is superb.

Dave Hum (1966-2012)

A New Backing Track For “Bill Cheatham”

This is a fun fiddle song to learn and play, which uses plenty of the melodic style. I used Dave Hum's YouTube recording, 'Bill Cheatham (2),' as a template to make my backing track. I made backing tracks in both the keys of A and G for your preference, but Dave recorded it in A. I made the woodshed speed nice and slow, so you can learn the song. Enjoy!

1. Bill Cheatham (key of A, normal)
2. Bill Cheatham (key of A, slower)
3. Bill Cheatham (key of A, slow)
4. Bill Cheatham (key of A, woodshed)
5. Bill Cheatham (key of G, normal)
6. Bill Cheatham (key of G, slower)
7. Bill Cheatham (key of G, slow)
8. Bill Cheatham (key of G, woodshed)

Dave Hum wrote tablature for this song, which is available on his website. There are two different tablature packages available: 10 songs or 41 songs. But the 41 songs ($60) include the 10 ($20), so you're better off just buying the 41 songs first, so then you don't need the other 10 (because you'll already have them). But regardless of which item you choose to buy, tabs for “Bill Cheatham” is included in both bundles.

And of course, you can also buy Dave's original backing track for Bill Cheatham if you'd like, in Pack 1. I paid $149 a few months ago for the guy at Nico Backing Tracks to make me ONE BACKING TRACK for the song, “Gaspe Reel.” So, $125 to help Dave's family is a SUPER DEAL for 10 of his authentic backing tracks. It takes me 3 to 8 hours to make one backing track, depending on the complexity of the song. I have no doubt that Dave spent over one thousand hours making tracks for his 219 songs on YouTube. Presently, Dave's family has 115 of has original backing tracks available for purchase. I gladly bought all of them and hope there will be more for sale in the future. There's at least 104 more backing tracks!

Dave Hum was a seasoned musician, highly skilled on many instruments. He had an excellent sense of timing. I have struggled to imitate his superb percussion in my own backing tracks. I also haven't been able to find the audio loops that he used. He may have made his own. I am convinced that Dave used a MIDI bass in his tracks, which is what I have been using in recent months. Sometimes I'll use my Fender Mustang bass, but I think the MIDI sounds very good.

For this tune I used MIDI bass and piano, the usual. I'm using an audio drum loop of real instruments.

Mike Hedding Has A Lesson For 'Bill Cheatham'

1. Bill Cheatham Video (Mike Hedding explains how to play this song)

Mike Hedding plays the song entirely different that Dave Hum does, but I like that, because you learn different ways to articulate the melody. Mike's tabs are more difficult than Dave's, requiring some effort to learn them and build muscle memory, which I enjoyed. Although Mike calls his tabs “intermediate,” I'd call them “advanced.” But it's great stuff to learn.

I clicked on the link on Mike's YouTube page, taking me to his website, where I bought the lesson for Bill Cheatham for $4. I bought it because Mike advertises that it comes with “tracks,” but he doesn't give you any backing tracks without the banjo. I would have gladly paid $40 if it came with a genuine backing track (with no banjo). That is frustrating. He starts off each track playing a full verse of the song on the banjo for one minute, then backs off to let you play for 90 seconds, and then he starts playing again for another minute to finish the song. When someone advertises that you are paying for “tracks,” it implies that there won't be any banjo at all, so you can play along. Mike should tell people upfront that he plays banjo on his tracks. I humbly think if Mike offered full backing tracks for all his songs without any banjo, he'd have more subscribers, including me.

Dave Hum's Cool Dog In His 'Bill Cheatham (2)' YouTube Video

A New Backing Track For “At The Cross”

I wanted to start making some Gospel backing tracks. This is the first, "At The Cross," done Dave Hum backing track style. I am not sure what Dave believed about God. He always seemed friendly and happy in his videos, and from everything I've read about him he was a good man who loved teaching and helping others. So, I suspect he was a Christian, but I don't know. Biblically, we are saved by God's free grace through faith alone in Jesus, not by being good. Albeit, just because Dave never recorded any Gospel songs doesn't mean he wasn't saved. I have gratefully been a born again Christian since age 13, and I prefer folk and Bluegrass songs over Gospel stuff myself. I hope he went to Heaven. I think about that often.

I've made backing tracks in both the keys of G and A. Enjoy!

• At The Cross (key of A, normal)
• At The Cross (key of A, slower)
• At The Cross (key of A, slow)
• At The Cross (key of G, normal)
• At The Cross (key of G, slower)
• At The Cross (key of G, slow)

I used MIDI for bass, drums and piano. I added some real audio cymbals.

I Get A Lot Of Nice Comments About The Dave Hum T-Shirts I Had Made