Shortnin' Bread easy guitar tabs and fiddle sheet music, free!
This is a traditional American song. A very easy guitar chord song with a melody easy even for beginners, Shortnin' Bread is a toe-tapping tune!
Here's a cute little bluegrass band playing this old-time song, very nicely indeed... it looks like they have a home-made bass:
The easy guitar tabs for Shortnin' Bread:
Please scroll down the page for the free PDF downloads!
Don't worry about the lyrics and how they don't really match the rhythm of the notes! The kids will not care.
This easy version with simple timing is much easier to play than would be a version where the rhythm changed with each line (and maybe with each verse) to match words, which with this and other folk songs, can be notoriously changeable anyway!
My favorite key to play this song in with my students is the key of A, because it goes nicely with Boilem' Cabbage Down, as a medley.
We play Boilem' Cabbage, then Shortnin' Bread, then last of all Cripple Creek as written in Brian Wicklund's American Fiddle Method Book 1. (We add singing, too -- and a bass!)
Here is a version of Shortnin' Bread for violin in A. I decided I need an arrangement for my beginning violin players that doesn't have chord symbols over the tops of notes, because some kids will be confused by these.
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Once fiddle players can play Shortnin' Bread in the key of A, they can easily move it down to the other strings and play the same pattern in the keys of D and G.
Now here is one more version of Shortnin' Bread - this video by "The Tractors" is WILD! (I always show it to my students, and I don't mind watching it multiple times!)
The links for the guitar & fiddle PDF sheets:
Download Shortnin' Bread for guitar and fiddle in the key of A
Download these easy guitar tabs in the key of C
Download Shortnin' Bread free fiddle sheet music and guitar tabs in G
The link for the violin melody, no chords:
Download easy fiddle song Shortnin' Bread for violin, with no chord symbols
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Wendy:
Hi Dana! I really enjoyed being at your site!
You have offered so many versions of each tune. This is a lovely thing to provide for students and teachers, Dana.
Thank you!
Lin:
Thank you for a most excellent site. I am a classical guitar teacher, who endeavors to cover chords and finger style as well.
I especially liked the printable Celtic music, as some of my teenage students enjoy it! Thank you, again.
Cheryl:
AMAZING site!
Helps me a lot as a music teacher too. I'm a violin and piano teacher, and I think this is an incredible site!
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.