Goober Peas
A Civil War Song for Guitar
Goober Peas, fun free online guitar tabs! Kids love this silly but authentic song from the Civil War.
This is a great sing-along song
Along with having goofy words that are fun to sing, there's something really catchy about this song's rhythm, and the tune! When my students play it, I can't help singing along.
Here are Johnny Cash and Burl Ives singing this Civil War-time song, with a slightly different treatment of the melody than my version, below:
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
With easy beginner chords
The chords of this song can be played even by beginners, if you use "small" chords. Both C and G can be played with just 3 strings, using 1 finger. (Study the Giant Chords page to see how to make "small" C and "small" G.)
Good practice for learning D7 to go with G and C chords
This is a good song with which to learn the D7 chord, which is easily moved into from the small C chord:
Leaving the Left Hand 1 finger in position on fret 1, string 2 (C), add the 2 and 3 fingers alongside on fret 2 to make the D7 chord.
When it's time to change to G, leave finger 3 down on string 1, and slide into fret 3 for the small G chord (and the same approach for the BIG G chord, plus arching the index and middle fingers across to the other side of the neck, if that is your preferred fingering).
Try a Bass note plus single strum pattern
Goober Peas is a good candidate for a strong chord accompaniment featuring "thumb, strum --- thumb, strum ---."
I tell kids there are two pulses per measure in this song: one of them is the thumb (or pick), and one is the strum.
Because the rhythm seems to "swing," the song has a relaxed feeling to it, just like a bunch of guys "sittin' by the roadside on a summer's day...lyin' in the shadows underneath the trees."
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
Learn where the chord roots are, with full chords
Because each of the three chords used in Goober Peas has its important bass note on a different string, this song is good memory practice for where the real bass of each chord is.
With the G chord, the thumb should pluck string 6 when using the full G chord). With the C chord, the thumb should pluck string 5. And with the D chord, the thumb should pluck string 4.
It's great to watch kids as they pick this up and begin to hear when they've plucked the wrong string.
We use the pick sometimes, and the fingers sometimes. It's easier to be accurate with the bare thumb, but the pick sounds so good, and students need practice doing both.
Where the pattern changes
There are two spots in the song where suddenly there's no room to do "Thumb, strum." It's where there are two different chords in the measure.
We always drop the thumb pluck in those measures and just do one strum per chord. I sing, "Goodness, how delicious! STRUM, and STRUM, and THUMB, STRUM!" (Right back into the regular pattern on the next measure.)
The two-strums-in-a-row measures give a fun "punctuation" to those spots. Kids feel the "rightness" of it musically, and how it breaks up the monotony of the primary pattern, yet how fresh the old pattern feels when you go back to it after the interruptions.
And... just what are these goober peas?
So have you figured out just what "goober peas" ARE? Peanuts! Hope y'all enjoy this free easy guitar tabs sheet music!
The guitar music link:
Printable free online guitar tabs Goober Peas
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Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church? Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Comments
Do you have a funny story about this music, or does it remind you of something you'd like to share with other readers? Do you have a question? I'd love to hear it!
Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...
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About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
Recent Articles
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"Rose" Titanic song is perhaps the most beautiful of all the music from the Titanic movie. See and listen to a lovely piano arrangement! -
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Down By the Salley Gardens is a pretty song from the British Isles with poetry by William Butler Yeats. Download piano, vocal, & lead sheets for your students!