Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :)
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Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we are on summer schedule and here is how it will work: If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Friday. Have fun jamming :) Hi, The jam on this coming Thursday will be the last intermediate jam I host until after Labor Day. When it gets closer to the time that I will resume leading the jam, I will send out a new song list for the final phase of the intermediate jam (Sept. - Dec. 2018). The song of the week is 'Blue Ridge Cabin Home' in the key of Bb. Blue Ridge Cabin Home was originally recorded by Flatt & Scruggs, but in many Bluegrass circles, the Bluegrass Album Band (Tony Rice - guitar, vocals; J.D. Crowe - banjo, vocals; Doyle Lawson - mandolin, vocals; Bobby Hicks - fiddle; Todd Phillips - bass) version of Blue Ridge Cabin Home, released in 1981, has replaced the Flatt & Scruggs version as the primary point of reference for the song. Blue Ridge Cabin Home - The Bluegrass Album Band - key of Bb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htxGouge9-g For the phase that the intermediate jam is entering into, I think it is time for us to focus more on observing and copying the nuances found on high quality standard bluegrass recordings of the songs we are most familiar with playing at the jam. Listen to the recording a few times, listening first for the tempo, feel/groove, and overall rhythmic pulse of the song. Pay attention to where each of the instruments and the vocals are sitting in the mix (i.e., relative loudness) at various times within the song, and where they sit relative to the beat. Also notice the tone of the instruments and vocals. Play along with the recording (without slowing it down). Crank it up good and loud, so you can clearly hear it above your playing, without having to restrain yourself from digging in to your instrument. Sing along with it also, being careful to copy the phrasing of the lyrics as closely as possible. Make sure to allow your playing to be influenced by the recording as you play along with it. Here I have in mind not so much your choices of notes, but the manner and energy with which you play your notes. Finally, turn the recording off, and play the song by yourself, seeing if you can still channel the same overall feel in your playing that you were able to achieve when you were under the direct influence of the record in listening to it and playing along with it several times over. Some specifics worthwhile observing on the recording: 1) The pickup measure, together with the first few notes that come after it, played by the banjo at the very beginning of the song, with attention not so much to the choice of notes being played, but rather to how the notes are being played: timing, tone, attack, degree of sustain, etc. 2) How the band as a whole sounds together with the banjo when the band first starts playing after the pickup measure. 3) The melody-based nature of the banjo intro break. 4) How the banjo and the fiddle take turns being the dominant/featured backup instrument during the vocal parts of the song, and the types of licks that they use when being featured versus when not being featured. 5) Where the instruments overall sit in the mix on the choruses, and how this differs from where they sit in the mix on the verses. 6) What the guitar does during the verses and choruses when there is a pause in the vocals 7) Which parts of the fiddle, guitar, and second banjo breaks are melody-based, and what types of licks are being played in the non-melody based parts of these breaks. 8) What the banjo does at the end of the guitar break right before the last chorus starts. 9) How the band as a whole sounds in ending the song (the last 2 measures). Other things worthwhile taking the time to do: listen to the recording all the way through with your attention focused on the chop rhythm on the mandolin; listen to the recording all the way through with your attention focused on the bass. Doug's Tune Doug's Tune - The Dillards, Back Porch Bluegrass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2o9qodACL8 Here's the whole album, which has several songs on it that we play at the jam or that are similar to songs we play at the jam: Dooley, Old Home Place, Old Joseph (a.k.a., Old Joe Clark), Reuben's Train (a.k.a., Reuben), Banjo In The Hollow (closely related to Cripple Creek), Lonesome Indian (closely related to Cherokee Shuffle), and songs that would work well to introduce into the jam (Somebody Touched Me, Rainin' Here This Morning, Hickory Hollow). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYrzAcbEJE8&list=PL364AB01CC96EEB89 Happy Pickin', Jason Blue Ridge Cabin Home - Banjo tab
Download File Blue Ridge Cabin Home - Guitar tab Download File Blue Ridge Cabin Home - Mandolin tab Download File Blue Ridge Cabin Home - Melody in A Download File Hi, The song of the week is 'Gold Rush' in the key of A. Recordings Bill Monroe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxG11BmCsVk Sierra Hull & Highway 111 with Ben Somerville https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25uW-bUjXI4 Tony Rice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G89t4bo5kzU Form & Progression 'Gold Rush', like majority of the fiddle tunes played at the jam, is an AABB tune. (This means that the tune consists of two parts, each of which is played twice before the next part is played.) The chord progression for the A-Part is: 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 The progression for the B-Part is: 1 4/1 1 1 1 4/1 1/5 1 At some jams you may hear a 6m chord being played in place of the 1 chord in the 4th measure of the B Part. (The 6m is the relative minor of the 1 chord. In the key of A: 6m = F#m.) Bluegrass Fiddle Tunes Unlike most of the fiddle tunes played at the jam, Gold Rush is not a traditional old-time tune that has been adapted for Bluegrass, but was composed by Bluegrass musicians to be a Bluegrass tune (in this case, by Bill Monroe and Byron Berline). As the jam group has progressed since September of 2015 until now, our choices of instrumentals to call at the jam has gradually shifted away from the most basic of traditional fiddle tunes well known in Bluegrass (e.g., Boil The Cabbage Down), towards the more complex of the traditional fiddle tunes that tend to be popular at Bluegrass jams (e.g., Red Haired Boy). Along the way, a few fiddle tunes specific to the Bluegrass genre, like Gold Rush, have made their way into our jam repertoire. Hand in hand with this, a few specifically Bluegrass banjo tunes have also been introduced into the jam. If we carry on in the direction we are headed, we may arrive at a more balanced ratio between traditional fiddle tunes and specifically bluegrass fiddle tunes being called at the jam. In connection with this, I would expect to see an increase of bluegrass banjo tunes being played at the jam, and perhaps also bluegrass mandolin and guitar tunes. Here is the list of instrumentals that have been played at the jam since Sept. 2015, given in approximately the order in which they were first played at the jam. In cases where I put 'bluegrass fiddle', 'bluegrass banjo', etc. in parentheses, the tune is not of bluegrass origin, but, as far as I can tell, has come to be associated with bluegrass more so than with any other genre, and has been adapted to bluegrass in such a manner as to make it sound (at least to my ears) like it was written for the genre. These are tunes that I regard as though, for all practical purposes, they may just as well have been written for bluegrass. For tunes that strike me as unusual tune choices for a bluegrass jam, I have put the titles in brackets. Each of those tunes have only been played once at the jam. Boil The Cabbage Down Cripple Creek - (bluegrass banjo) Soldier's Joy Angeline The Baker Old Joe Clark - (bluegrass banjo/fiddle) Buffalo Gals [Liza Jane - an old-time tune, usually played in A, with the same title as another tune further down the list] Flop-Eared Mule Shortnin' Bread Liberty Wildwood Flower - (bluegrass guitar/banjo) The Girl I Left Behind Me Big Sandy River - bluegrass fiddle Arkansas Traveler Reuben - (bluegrass banjo) Liza Jane Bill Cheatham Cherokee Shuffle Gold Rush - bluegrass fiddle Red Haired Boy Clinch Mountain Backstep - bluegrass banjo Rubber Dolly Whiskey Before Breakfast Tennessee Waltz Turkey In The Straw Over The Waterfall Fireball Mail - (bluegrass banjo) Big Sciota Cluck Old Hen Cheyenne - bluegrass fiddle [Sandy River Belle] [Irish Washerwoman] Back Up And Push - (bluegrass fiddle) Red Wing Sally Goodin - (bluegrass fiddle/banjo) Forked Deer Shuckin' The Corn - bluegrass banjo Home Sweet Home - (bluegrass banjo) Earl's Breakdown - bluegrass banjo [Chicken Dance] Devil's Dream Salt Creek - (bluegrass fiddle/banjo) Farewell Blues - (bluegrass banjo) Cumberland Gap - (bluegrass banjo) John Hardy - (bluegrass banjo) Flint Hill Special - bluegrass banjo Blackberry Blossom Foggy Mountain Special - bluegrass banjo Black Mountain Rag - (bluegrass fiddle/guitar) Rawhide - bluegrass mandolin Maiden's Prayer Melody & Breaks In addition to, or in place of, making use of the recordings and the melody sheets provided here as a starting point for coming up with a break on your instrument for Gold Rush, I recommend checking out the following: Gold Rush - guitar lesson (Tony Rice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P2zYrKF-G0 Gold Rush - A Part - banjo lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OywtyEeBZuE Gold Rush - B Part - banjo lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na6ucWjrnUE Gold Rush - fiddle lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFVc0l6fw5Y Gold Rush - mandolin lesson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YcL2VaccBY Please be aware that the melody sheets I offer in the attachments represent only one of many possible interpretations of the basic melody of Gold Rush. Some of the melody-based breaks you hear on good recordings of the tune will come closer than others to sounding like they are based upon what you see written on the melody sheets. (Be careful also not to mistake the mere melody for a full-fledged bluegrass break.) In addition to differing interpretations of the melody, on banjo, the style in which a player chooses to play will also be a factor as to how much their break is able to sound like it is based upon the interpretation of the melody offered here. For instance, a purely Scruggs-style break will necessarily skip over some of the notes in the measures that consist mostly of 8th notes, often replacing them with 'filler' (non-melody) notes. In order for a 3 finger style banjo player to grab all the notes on the melody sheet, it would be necessary to make at least a certain amount of use of melodic style and/or single string style. In learning Gold Rush from a recording (or from a transcription of a recording), remember that there are countless 'right' ways to play a break for this tune or for any other bluegrass tune, so there is no need to try to learn to play a break exactly as it is played on a recording. Even if you wish to learn to play a break for Gold Rush exactly as on a certain recording, if you come across a spot or two in the break that you are having particular difficulty playing or figuring out how to play, I recommend that you try to find something different to do in that spot of the break. Rely on the musical sensibility and knowledge of how music works that you have acquired to guide you in doing this. Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, I will not be at the next intermediate jam (5/18/2018). The song of the week will be 'I Saw The Light' in the key of Bb. Though not originally a bluegrass song, 'I Saw The Light' has by now become a bluegrass jam standard. Everything about the song - its melody, its chord progression, its subject matter, etc., makes it perfect for bluegrass. 'I Saw The Light' was written and originally recorded by Hank Williams. Recordings The Stanley Brothers - key of Bb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmr8NpP6chE Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys - key of B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhApr777YWY For the sake of comparison and contrast, here is the original Hank Williams recording of I Saw The Light (key of G): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYkOQXUMBhE Progression & Melody The chord progression for I Saw The Light is: 1111 4441 1111 11511 Notice that the last line of the progression consists of five measures, instead of only four. In the key of Bb: 1=Bb. 4=Eb, and 5=F. The Bb chord consists of the notes: Bb,D, and F The Eb chord consists of the notes: Eb, G, and Bb The F chord consists of the notes F,A,C. Together, these notes make up the Bb Major Scale: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, but the melody of 'I Saw The Light', like many other songs, makes use of only 5 of these: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the scale (In Bb, these notes are Bb, C, D, F, and G: these 5 notes form what is called the Bb Major Pentatonic Scale.) Capo 3 For playing in the key of Bb, banjo and guitar players almost always capo the 3rd fret so they can play as if they were playing in the key of G. (Bb is 3 half-steps higher than G.) For this reason the melody sheets attached here for guitar and banjo are written in the key of G. [In the key of G: 1=G. 4=C, and 5=D. The G chord consists of the notes: G. B, and D. The C chord consists of the notes: C, E, and G, The D chord consists of the notes: D, F#,, and A. Together, these notes make up the G Major Scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#. The 5 notes: G, A, B, D, and E form the G Major Pentatonic Scale.] Harmony I welcome harmony singers to sing not only the choruses with me, but also on the last line of each of the verses: "Praise the Lord, I saw the light" (the last line of the verses uses the same words and melody as the last line of the chorus.) Man Of Constant Sorrow - E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBVnKYOvWcs Black Mountain Rag - A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Aljv0KpzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-oTuPADMMg Rawhide - C https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB26S7cj3n0 Progression for the B Part is: 3333666622225555 Happy Pickin', Jason Hi, The song of the week is 'Dooley' in the key of A. Recordings The Dillards - key of B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFYKYm3TPA&list=RDgxFYKYm3TPA&start_radio=1 Progression The chord progression is uncommon for a vocal bluegrass song in that it makes use of progressions that are usually reserved for fiddle tunes: The progression for the chorus is the same as the progression for the A Part of Liberty: 1144 1151 ...unless one counts as part of the progression the extra measure of the 1 on the recording that separates the end of the chorus from the beginning of the breaks. But this extra measure has usually been left out when we have played the song at the jam, and I intend on keeping it that way when I lead the song at the jam as it goes through its song of the week cycle. The progression for the breaks and verses is the same as the progression for the A Part of Boil The Cabbage Down and the B Part of Soldier's Joy: 1 4 1 5 1 4 1/51 (played twice for a complete verse or break) This is Prog. Y7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. This progression is closely related to the most common chord progression in bluegrass for vocal songs, namely the progression that is used for Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Wreck Of The Old '97, I Still Write Your Name In The Sand, and countless other songs: 1144 1155 1144 1511 (Prog. V7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. Notice that Prog. Y7 differs from Prog. V7 only in that Y7 runs through the chord changes twice as fast. Where there are two measures of a given chord back to back in V7, there is only one measure of that same chord in Y7. Where there is one measure of a given chord in V7 before the next chord change, there is only half a measure of that same chord in Y7 before the next chord change. Breaks Since I intend on leaving out the extra measure of the 1 chord between the end of the chorus and the beginning of the breaks, there will be no time for me to call out the breaks that immediately follow the chorus. (Notice that the chorus progression as written here ends with only one measure of the 1 chord.) If one does three quarter note pickups into these breaks, the first of the pickup notes must start immediately after the last sung syllable of the chorus. So, for breaks following choruses, you will need to rely solely on visual cues from me. Ending I end the song with a vocal tag by repeating the last phrase of the chorus: 'and I'll pay you back someday'. With the tag included, the progression for the final chorus will become: 1144 1151 511 The last syllable occurs on the first beat of the second to last measure, which allows for a typical two-measure ending lick to be played on the 1 chord measures that the song will end with, just like in nearly all the other vocal songs we play at the jam. Happy Pickin', Jason
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Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018started as Beginner Jam in Jan 2015 Songs regularly called at Bluegrass Jams and links from Jason's "Song of the Week" emails. (from Renee)
Songs
All
in alphabetical order
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