Riffy

Folk Training Sheets

Traditional Appalachian repertoire, Doc Watson-style flatpicked instrumentals, and country/rockabilly arrangements. Same chord-shape + animated rhythm + per-bar embellishment approach as the bluegrass sheets.

Junior Parker / Elvis Presley, arr. James Burton

Mystery Train — James Burton (TCB / Vegas-era)

Key of E · Medium train shuffle, ~120 BPM. Straight 8ths with palm-muted alternating bass — the "train rhythm" is the whole point. Chord chops on back-beat (& of 2, & of 4). Embellishments hit between vocal phrases.

Junior Parker wrote and recorded it in 1953; Elvis cut the canonical version at Sun in 1955 with Scotty Moore on guitar (slap-back rockabilly). James Burton played it through Elvis's entire TCB/Vegas …