Friday, October 3, 2025

A New Backing Track For “The Mathematician”

This is a Scottish hornpipe composed by one of Scotland's greatest fiddle composers, James Scott Skinner (1843-1927). Dave Hum did an amazing job recording the tune in the key of G, using the 5-string banjo in standard tuning (gDGBD). I have made backing tracks at various tempos in the keys of G and A for your preference. Enjoy!
I used MIDI for the drums, bass and piano parts. On this song, I used both a bass and low piano notes to double the bass tones, which is what Dave Hum did for his backing track. Good stuff! I encourage everyone to purchase Dave's original backing tracks from his family, which are superior to mine, and the money goes to help Dave's family. God bless them!

Dave Hum
(April 11, 1966 - November 14, 2012)

5 String Banjo Instruction [1967] - Earl Scruggs

5 String Banjo Instruction Album [1967] - Earl Scruggs