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