Cricket on the Hearth — Mandolin Tab

Mandolin tab and sheet music with synced audio · Key of D · 120 BPM · 4/4 time · Folk - American · Beginner

Chords used in this arrangement: D, G, A.

In old English dialect, a "cricket" was actually a low wooden footstool, the kind you'd park by the fireplace, so the tune's name is less about chirping insects and more about a cozy hearthside seat. The tune itself is an Ozark and east Tennessee breakdown, documented by folklorist Vance Randolph in his 1954 survey of traditional Appalachian tunes, and bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker learned his version from Kentucky fiddler Art Wooten off a late 1940s radio broadcast. It's part of a surprisingly sprawling tune family that includes cousins with names like "Drunken Billy Goat" and "Mud Fence," so you'll notice that bouncy, rollicking DNA all through it. At 120 BPM it sits in that sweet spot, fast enough to groove but not so fast that you can't settle into the rhythm before the B-part picks up and pushes you along.

This page includes mandolin tablature, standard music notation, and a chord chart — printable as PDF and playable in sync with the original recording. Change the key, slow the tempo down, and loop the bars you want to practise.