Wagoner’s Lad

Many of the recordings you’ll find under this name actually use a different melody and lyrics, so if you go searching for it under this name, the music will most likely be different (except for Pete Seeger’s version, linked below). I learned this version from a bootleg recording of a concert by John Hartford. I loved the melody and thought it was perfect for students! One last note— this melody is also used in the tune Jack of Diamonds and Rye Whiskey. Just goes to show how many overlapping branches there can be in the fiddle tune family tree!

Here is the basic melody:

And here is sheet music for my duet arrangement, which has a challenging second part:

DUET PART I

DUET PART II

DUET SCORE

Here it is phrase by phrase if you’d like to learn it by ear…

Wagoner's Lad - Learn Phrase by Phrase

And here you can play along with either part of the duet:

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Finally, this is Pete Seeger’s version (the only recording that I’ve found with the same name and melody the Hartford version).

Pete Seeger - Wagoners Lad

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