Cumberland Gap Bluegrass Banjo EASY TAB
Cumberland Gap is the very first song I ever learned to play on the banjo. It is one I often start my own students with. If you just bought a banjo and want to know where to start with songs this is a GREAT Beginner Bluegrass Banjo song.
In this tab you are getting three versions.
- The most Basic Simple Version of Cumberland Gap you can find anywhere.
- Same version but with hammer-ons and slides added in.
- An up the neck Easy version.
The way most people go about this is open up the Earl Scruggs book and try to play/recreate what he did. BIG Mistake! He had been playing over a decade when he recorded that; it makes no sense for a pure beginner to start with that. I’m giving you something doable in a step by step series. After you are done, you’ll be ready to tackle that version later on.
Here are the three versions you are getting:
Cumberland Gap Song & Chords
The form of the tune is only FOUR MEASURES, so it’s a short one. You just do it over and over and over until your audience asks you to stop 🙂
The song doesn’t even use a C major chord; it’s only these three chords G Em D. Here is the chord chart:
| G | G/Em | G | D/G |
Cumberland Gap is an old folk tune that’s been around since rocks, no, just kidding, but it was first recorded in the early 20’s. Gid Tanner and The Skillet Litters did an early version of it. Woody Guthrie also did a notable version of it. One of my favorite versions is by Morgan Sexton (whose version I also have on my site, in a different tuning and style nevertheless).
