Black Mountain Rag
Black Mountain Rag
Chords you’ll need to know
Chord Chart
Demo Videos
Instrument Lessons
How to play Black Mountain Rag - Guitar Lesson - Doc Watson Style
Music With Ryan
Black Mountain Rag in A for the Mandolin!
Banjo Ben Clark
Black Mountain Rag in C for Banjo!
Banjo Ben Clark
Black Mountain Rag Mandolin Lesson!
Banjo Ben Clark
How to Play Black Mountain Rag- Online Guitar Lesson in A!
Banjo Ben Clark
How to Play Black Mountain Rag on Banjo!
Banjo Ben Clark
How To Play Black Mountain Rag on Mandolin!
Banjo Ben Clark
"Black Mountain Rag" | Doc Watson - Traditional Bluegrass Guitar Lesson with TAB
Brandon Johnson
Learn to play - Black Mountain Rag - Bluegrass Banjo
Jim Pankey
Black Mountain Rag - Mandolin Lesson for Advanced Players
Mando Mike
How to play "Black Mountain Rag" - Billy Strings - Guitar Lesson with Tab
B-RoM
About This Song
Black Mountain Rag is a classic showcase tune strongly associated with the legendary flatpicker Doc Watson, and more recently with Billy Strings. It's typically played in D and follows a straightforward 1-4-5 progression (D-G-A), making it one of the more accessible instrumentals in the bluegrass repertoire and a great choice for newer players joining their first jam sessions.
The tune features three distinct parts that build on each other melodically, with the signature syncopated rhythm that gives it its distinctive drive. While the chord progression is simple, the melody itself has some quick position shifts and string crossings that reward practice—it's easier to follow along with rhythm than to nail the lead breaks, but both are achievable goals for developing players.