Hi everyone,
Cahill will be leading the beginner jam this coming Tuesday (Mar. 4th).
The song of the week is 'You Are My Sunshine' in the key of E.


Recordings
Alan O'Bryant - key of E
Alan O'bryant - You Are My Sunshine - YouTube

Tom Adams - key of D (instrumental)
You Are My Sunshine - YouTube


Jam Videos
Jason Homey - Keys of E & G
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology


Progression
1111
4411
4411
1511

(Prog. V4 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout)
In the key of E: 1=E, 4=A, 5=B.
In the key of D: 1=D, 4=G, 5=A.
In the key of C: 1=C, 4=F, 5=G.


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam: 13 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 2 that are on neither list:

Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cluck Old Hen - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - D
Forked Deer - D
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Gold Watch And Chain - C
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms - C
Shortnin' Bread - A
Sitting On Top Of The World - G
Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong - C
You Are My Sunshine - Bb
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - G
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - G
Liberty - D
Long Black Veil - E
This Land Is Your Land - C

Happy Pickin',
Jason

In the attachments, I have included new song lists for the Beginner jam. Starting next week, these will replace the song lists that were used for the jam between December 2024 and February 2025. (I have also included in the attachments the two other handouts for the jam that go together with the song lists. No changes have been made to these handouts.)

For each of the songs with vocals, two keys are placed in parentheses. The purpose of this is not to dictate what key individual singers should sing the songs in, but to be a guide for choosing a key appropriate for one's voice and for the style of the music. For the men: start with the key that is listed first, and then from there, gradually lower or gradually raise the key to find which key works best for you to sing the song in. (But, in general, the higher, the better, for the style of music.) For the women: start with the key that is listed second, and then from there, gradually lower or gradually raise the key to find which key works best for you to sing the song in. (But, in general, try not to raise the key very much higher: once again, keeping in mind the style of music we are dealing with here.)
​

Hi everyone,Adam will be leading the beginner jam this coming Tuesday (Feb. 25th).
The song of the week is 'Cluck Old Hen' in the key of A. 


Recordings
Fletcher Bright & Bill Evans - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE2zPlDtKyg

Ralph Stanley - key of A 
(1) Cluck Old Hen - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A
Cluck Old Hen - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Jason Homey - key of A
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
A-Part:
1  1/4  1  5/1 

B-Part:
1  1/b7 1  5/1
In the key of A: 1 = A; 4 = D; 5 = E; b7 (flat seven) = G. 
In the key of G: 1 = G; 4 = C; 5 = D; b7 (flat seven) = F.


Key
Although the melody of Cluck Old Hen consists only of the notes of the Am pentatonic scale, it is called at jams in A (Major) rather than A Minor 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 Cluck Old Hen 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 standard notation melody sheet for Cluck Old Hen, 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.  


Song List
14 songs were played at last night's jam: 9 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - G
Forked Deer - D
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Gold Watch And Chain - A
Nine Pound Hammer - G
Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms - G
Shortnin' Bread - A
Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong - G
Angeline The Baker - D
Beautiful Brown Eyes - C
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - A
O Susanna - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Files:
Cluck Old Hen - banjo tab
Download File

Cluck Old Hen - guitar tab
Download File

Cluck Old Hen - mandolin tab
Download File

Cluck Old Hen - melody in A
Download File

Hi everyone,
Dan will be leading the beginner jam this coming Tuesday (Feb. 18th).
The song of the week is Columbus Stockade Blues in the key of G.


Recordings
Tony Trischka - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTfbb21C0HY

Bill Monroe - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9M-v2efKSo

Della Mae - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IA0NKOfXIo 


Jam Videos
Jason Homey - key of G
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
Verse: 
1111
5511
1111
5511
(Prog. W5 on the basic chord progressions handout)

Chorus:
4411
4455
1111
5511

In the key of G: 1 = G, 4 = C, 5 = D
In the key of A: 1 = A, 4 = D, 5 = E
In the key of C: 1 = C, 4 = F, 5 = G
In the key of D: 1 = D, 4 = G, 5 = A


Stops
As played at most bluegrass jams, there is a stop in the middle of the chorus progression.  
For measure 8 of the chorus progression, everyone who is playing backup plays a D chord or a D note at the beginning of the measure (when the song is played in the key of G), then silences their strings immediately afterwards, and then plays nothing until the beginning of the next (9th) measure.  Hence, during the last 3/4 of measure 8 of the chorus progression, the only thing that should be heard is either the vocal (if a chorus is being sung) singing the words: "In your", or the instruments whose break it is (if a break is being played over the chorus progression). 

When playing a break over the chorus progression, there should be no stop made by the instrument(s) playing the break (only the instruments playing backup should do the stop), for there needs to be something keeping time during the measure in which the stop occurs so as to help guide everyone to come back in at the same time as each other at the beginning of the 9th measure of the progression. 


Arrangement
Typically at the jams, the song starts with an intro break played over the verse progression only. All subsequent breaks (except possibly for the very last one) are then played over both the verse and the chorus progression, and are split between two different types of instruments, except for when we do an 'everybody' break.

Sometimes a 'tag' is added to the last sung chorus.  That means that after singing the final chorus, the lead singer might choose to repeat either the last line (last 4 measures: starts with: "(yes) / leave me little darlin'...) of the chorus, or, more commonly for this song, might choose to repeat the last two lines (last 8 measures: starts with: "In your / heart...") of the chorus before ending the song.  


Song List
15 songs were played at last night's jam: 10 from the main list, and 5 from the additional songs list:
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - G
Forked Deer - D
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - F
Gold Watch And Chain - A
In The Pines - G
Long Journey Home - A
Shortnin' Bread - A
Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong - C
You Are My Sunshine - Bb
Beautiful Brown Eyes (played twice) - C
I'll Fly Away - G
Old Joe Clark - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - Bb

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Files:
Columbus Stockade Blues - banjo tab
Download File

Columbus Stockade Blues - guitar tab
Download File

Columbus Stockade Blues - mandolin tab
Download File

Columbus Stockade Blues - melody in G
Download File