Cricket on the Hearth

“Cricket on the Hearth” is a traditional American fiddle tune in the public domain that dates back to the Civil War. The song was made popular by East Tennessee fiddler Charlie Acuff. At the age of 12, Charlie learned to fiddle from his grandfather, Charlie Boyd Acuff, and one of the songs passed down was “Cricket on the Hearth”. Since then, this tune has been recorded by several artists and it has become a standard melody for bluegrass guitarists.

This song is usually played in the key of D on guitar by placing your Capo on the 2nd fret and using key of C chords. A common version of the rhythm guitar part is tabbed out below.