I learned the tune Walking in the Parlor last week at the banjo workshop I attended, led by Bruce Molskey. I like this deceptively simple, hypnotic tune a lot and I’ve been playing it quite a bit since the workshop, trying to get it right. Here are a few versions of Walking in the Parlor I found on the YouTube.
Let’s start with Dwight Diller. This tune likely comes from the Hammons family, and Diller learned from them.
Here is Steve Jeter, doing a great version on a gourd banjo…
Now check out this 1927 version played on a Jew’s harp by Obed “Dad” Pickard
One of my favorite performances of this tune was done by Mark Koranda. He has that foot tapping groove thing happening even on a simple tune like this.
That is a pretty little tune. I particularly like the idyllic setting, under a big old tree, of the first video.