Hi everyone,
Janene will not be available to lead the beginner jam this coming Tuesday (Nov. 19th) and Tuesday after that (Nov. 26th).

None of this affects the High Beginner - Low Intermediate Jam that I lead on Thursdays. I'll be leading that jam both tomorrow evening (Nov. 14th), and on the Thursday after that (Nov. 21st).

The next beginner jam that Janene will lead will be on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd.

Attached here are the new song lists that will replace the current ones for the beginner jam when the jam resumes on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. These will be used for the months of December, January, and February at the beginner jam. I have also attached here the other handouts used for the beginner jam. No changes have been made to these.

I'll send out the song of the week email for the Dec. 3rd jam when it gets closer to that date.

Song List
13 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the (current) main list, and 2 from the (current) additional songs list:

Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cluck Old Hen - A
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - C
Gold Watch And Chain - E
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - D
Long Journey Home - G
Mountain Dew - G
New River Train - B
Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms - D
Shortnin' Bread - A
When The Saints Go Marching In - B
I'll Fly Away - G
I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes - C

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​Attached here are the new song lists that will replace the current ones for the beginner jam when the jam resumes on Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. These will be used for the months of December, January, and February at the beginner jam.

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Clinch Mountain Backstep' in the key of A.

​
Recordings 
Ralph Stanley - key of A 
Clinch Mountain Backstep

Bluegrass '96 - key of A
Clinch Mountain Backstep

Blue Highway - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTEF5keaPhk


Jam Videos
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression for the A-Part is:
1115
1151
 
The chord progression for the B-Part is the same, except that there is an extra 'half-measure' of the '1' before the first '5'.  If one is counting the beats in the first line of the B-Part in cut common time (2/2), one would count it as: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,1,2.
(On the sheet music attached here, I have written the first line of the B-Part as 3 measures in 2/2, followed by a measure in which the time signature changes to 1/2, followed by a measure that returns to 2/2.)


Melody & Key
Although the melody of Clinch Mountain Backstep consists only of the notes of the Am pentatonic scale, it is called at jams in A (Major) rather than Am because the '1' chord that is used in the chord progression for the song is an A Major Chord rather than an Am Chord ('1m'). To call Clinch Mountain Backstep in A Minor instead of in A (Major) at a jam would imply that 1m Chords are to be played in place of 1 Chords.

In the attached melody sheet for Clinch Mountain Backstep, I have used the key signature for Am (no sharps or flats, same as the key signature for C Major, the Relative Major of Am) instead of the key signature for A Major (3 sharps) to avoid the need to write natural signs in nearly every measure. I hope that my doing this makes the sheet music easier to read than if I had used the key signature for A Major.

The notes that make up the Minor Pentatonic Scale, or as I like to call it sometimes 'The Clinch Mountain Scale', are: 

                    1, b3, 4, 5, b7
Key of A:    A  C   D  E  G
Key of G:   G  Bb C  D  F
Key of D:    D  F   G  A  C
etc.


Song List
14 songs were played at last night's jam: 8 from the main list, and 6 from the additional songs list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - D
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cluck Old Hen - A
Gold Watch And Chain - E
Long Journey Home - D
New River Train (played twice) - B & G
She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain - D
Way Down Town - C
Buffalo Gals - A
Cripple Creek - A
I'm Thinking Tonight Of My Blue Eyes - B
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - G
Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong - G
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Files:
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Banjo tab
Download File

Clinch Mountain Backstep - Guitar tab
Download File

Clinch Mountain Backstep - Mandolin tab
Download File

Clinch Mountain Backstep - Melody in A
Download File