How to play The Streets of Laredo on a Tremolo Harmonica with 20 Holes

Buy Me a Coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KerinGedge
Check out my Instruments on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/shop/keringedge (paid link)
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For more harmonica TABS check out my TABS page here!
https://tunebasics.blogspot.com/2019/09/harmonica-tabs.html
Shack photo by Eniko Polgar on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@eniko

This tutorial is for a Tremolo Harmonica with 20 Holes

Streets of Laredo" (Laws B01, Roud 23650),[1] also known as the "Cowboy's Lament", is a famous American cowboy ballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[2]
Derived from the traditional folk song "The Unfortunate Rake", the song has become a folk music standard, and as such has been performed, recorded and adapted numerous times, with many variations. The title refers to the city of Laredo, Texas.
The old-time cowboy Frank H. Maynard (1853–1926) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, claimed authorship of the revised Cowboy's Lament, and his story was widely reported in 1924 by the journalism professor Elmo Scott Watson, then on the faculty of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Lyrics

As I walked out in the streets of Laredo
As I walked out in Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy, all wrapped in white linen
All wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay.

"I see by your outfit, that you are a cowboy.
"These words he did say as I slowly passed by.
"Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story,
For I'm shot in the chest, and today I must die."

"'Oh once in the saddle I used to go dashing,
'Oh once in the saddle I used to go gay.
First down to Rosie's, and then to the card-house,
Got shot through the body, and now here I lay."

"Oh, beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly,
And play the dead march as you carry me along;
Take me to the green valley, there lay the sod o'er me,
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin,
Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall.
Put bunches of roses all over my coffin,
Roses to deaden the clods as they fall."

"Then swing your rope slowly and rattle your spurs lowly,
And give a wild whoop as you carry me along;
And in the grave throw me and roll the sod o'er me.
For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

"Go bring me a cup, a cup of cold water.
To cool my parched lips", the cowboy then said.
Before I returned, his spirit had departed,
And gone to the round up – the cowboy was dead.

We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly,
And bitterly wept as we bore him along.
For we loved our comrade, so brave, young and handsome,
We all loved our comrade, although he'd done wrong.

Tune Basics is the popular music education series created by #musician/content creator Kerin Gedge (That's Me). It's purpose is to teach anybody who wants to learn the very basics of how to play Musical Instruments which includes DiatonicHarmonica, TremoloHarmonica with 24 holes, Tremolo Harmonica with 16 holes, Tremolo Harmonica with 20 holes, ChromaticHarmonica, kalimba with ten keys, recorder and PennyWhistle (also known as TinWhistle).
Tune Basics aims to introduce he student with clear animated instructions for how to play basic and recognisable songs. Tune Basics avoids delving into technique or styles but will, where possible, provide relevant links to professional musicians who can take the learner deeper when they want to move on from basic lessons.
TuneBasics also provides HarmonicaTabs TinWhistleTabs /PennyWhistleTabs and KalimbaTabs on the Tune Basics blog, link provided above. Please be sure to browse my harmonica TABS list as there may be harmonica tabs there that haven't yet been made into a tutorial for this channel!
TuneBasics believes that ANYONE can learn to play harmonica (or whatever instrument for that matter!). It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you don't know about music. If you can follow the this how to video then you’re well on your way to becoming a musician. But don’t expect to “get it” over night. Practicing your instrument will always make perfect. Sometimes you may need to watch these tutorials a few times to get the hang of a song. Most melodies on Tune Basics are broken up into simple manageable phrases so learn one phrase at a time! Pause, practice and then continue. And when you’re ready to move onto more complicated lessons check out Liam Ward at learntheharmonica.com or Tomlin Lecki at tomlinharmonicalessons.com. Did I mention they're awesome? And way better harmonica players than me!
Finally please support TuneBasics by becoming a patreon patron or simply donating a dollar on buymeacoffee.com see links above!
Thanks for watching! And STAY TUNED!