Arkansas Traveler Guitar Song Chords
Arkansas Traveler guitar song chords and easy guitar tabs, FREE!
This is a great flat-picking beginner guitar song from the American South. Many of your students may already be familiar with this tune but by another name, with the lyrics, "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee -- Won't my mommy be so proud of me?"
Not a true folk song
Arkansas Traveler (pronounced "ahr-kuhn-saw") SOUNDS like a traditional folk song, but actually it was written in the 1800s by a fellow named Colonel Sanford C. "Sandy" Faulkner, according to Wikipedia.
A committee in the state of Arkansas wrote new lyrics for this song in 1947 in preparation for making the song the state song -- but I have put the traditional song lyrics in the sheet music.
Here is the key of C version:
Please scroll down the page for the links to the printable PDFs.
A violin performance in D
Here is a terrific rendition of the beginner guitar song, played on violin. This fiddler is a real pleasure to listen to. She is playing in the key of D, using double stops (more than one string at a time), a much fancier version than what I have here:
The key of G is easy
Here is what the key of G looks like, with a little bit different ending than the C and D versions.
Differences in the melody
I mentioned that the music is a bit different in the key of G.
That's because I didn't want to take the guitar tabs down to F#, fret 4, in the fast passage that comes at the end of each section. That's fine; every version you hear will be a little different from all the others!
Check out a duet version
In one of the guitar books I sometimes require my guitar students to purchase, The Hal Leonard Bluegrass Method, there are several flat-picking duets. Arkansas Traveler is one of them, in the key of C.
It is a lot of fun, and my beginner guitar students really like it. Mostly the parts move in parallel thirds, making nice harmony even if no one provides a chord background.
Here is the song on mandolin, with a lesson! I want to borrow a mandolin and try it:
The links for the guitar & fiddle PDFs, with guitar tabs:
Download easy guitar tabs "Arkansas Traveler" for guitar and fiddle in the key of C
Download guitar song chords in the key of D
Download beginner guitar song chords for guitar and violin in the key of G, with a different ending
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
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