Mandolin Song Breakdown: Forked Deer

Forked Deer is one of those tunes that shows up in jams all over the place. it’s a ton of fun to play and a great workout for your fretting hand. It has a mix of melodic lines, rhythmic bounce, and that unmistakable old-time flavor that crosses over nicely into bluegrass circles.

There are a few different versions floating around and as a standard, that means depending on where you are this tune may be a little different. Once you know the basic structure, you’ll hear players putting their own spin on it, sometimes even changing the order of the phrases or swapping out licks entirely.

This breakdown focuses on one common version that’ll get you through most jam settings, and then you can branch out as you go.

Listen

Here are a few versions I really like all a little different in style and feel. Listening to a handful of takes is always helpful before digging into your own version.

• The Osborne Brothers – Bright, clean, and tight. Classic bluegrass style with a smooth mandolin approach.
• Emory Lester – Energetic, modern, and full of personality. Definitely worth a few listens to catch all the nuance and harmonies!
• Bryan Sutton – More drive and punch, with great rhythmic clarity and pick direction you can really learn from.
• Jake Eddy – Energetic, modern, and full of personality. Definitely worth a few listens to catch all the nuance.

Sheet Music for Forked Deer

I’ve included two voicing options in the below chart. The idea is to learn both positions individually first, then start blending them together – like doing the first voicing option for the first half of the A part, then the second option for the B part etc.

• Forked Deer Melody

Melody for Forked Deer

There are two main positions I’ve used for the melody on the breakdown. Start with the first position then, once you have that down perfect, try the second position out. Ideally you want to be able to move between the positions on demand.

Voicing Option 1

Starting off with a simplified open and more “standard” open way to play the basic melody. Note the slides that kick of the B part. Since the last notes in the 2^nd ending of the A part are the E and F^# played, I usually start at the G note and slide up to the A on the 7^th fret of the D. If that doesn’t sound like you want, try sliding from the G^# on the 6^th instead.

Voicing Option 1

If you are looking for a way to improve your pinky strength / dexterity, this is a great voicing option. The F^# and C^# notes on the 11^th frets of the G and D strings are all hit by your pinky when played as written. To add some pinky specific exercises, try focusing on phrases that incorporate the 11th frets on the G and D strings. For example focusing on measure 4 in the first line or measures 15 to 18 can be a great exercises.

Since it’s up the neck a bit, this is also a great voicing to help with soloing and improvisation. Try playing the melody as written in measures 1 and 2 of the A part, then improv the melody in that position for measures 3 and 4. Try repeating that throughout the whole tune or modify it (i.e. just play 1 measure of the melody, then improv then next etc).

Additional Practices

Like a lot of fiddle tunes, the melody for Forked Deer is almost like playing a major diatonic (or 7 tone) scale straight through. In the first measure for example, the notes are D E F# G A – which is just playing the D Major scale up to the A (or 5th) note. A great practice for beginners on this is simply to play exercises involving the D Major Diatonic scale.

You can also use the D Major Pentatonic scale in your solos. While you lose 2 notes that are in the melody lines (specifically the G and C^# notes), the simplified scale form can be helpful when soloing.

Wrap Up

I hope you liked this breakdown for Forked Deer. I encourage you to experiment on this tune a bunch and try to learn a few different variations. Experiment around a bit and let me know what you think in the comments below.

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