“St. Anne’s Reel” is a traditional French-Canadian tune in the public domain that was made popular by Joseph Allard in the 1930s. This song was originally played on the fiddle but it has become a favorite flatpicking tune of guitarists at bluegrass jams.
In this guitar lesson, you’ll learn how to play a traditional melody for “St. Anne’s Reel” on guitar. We’ll work through two different flatpicking guitar arrangements with tablature. The first arrangement will be played at a higher octave and it will work up the guitar neck on the B and E strings. The second arrangement has a nice low-pitched sound that will turn some heads at your next bluegrass jam. After you learn the guitar breaks, practice your bluegrass flatpicking over our “St. Anne’s Reel” backing track in D.
Video 1 – Playthrough with Tablature
Video 2 – Full Breakdown
| Video Start Time | Lesson Topic |
|---|---|
| 00:00 min | Breakdown – Measures 1 through 5 |
| 05:34 min | Breakdown – Measures 6 through 9 |
| 08:36 min | Breakdown – Measures 10 through 17 |
| 10:38 min | Practice the A Part |
| 11:49 min | Breakdown – Measures 18 through 21 |
| 17:11 min | Breakdown – Measures 22 through 25 |
| 19:03 min | Breakdown – Measures 26 through 33 |
| 20:41 min | Practice the B Part |
