We'll Meet Again Sweetheart info

We'll Meet Again Sweetheart

10/13/2018

Hi,
The song of the week is 'We'll Meet Again Sweetheart' in the key of Bb.

Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of B (instruments tuned up a half step higher than standard)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c7YkAY4vtU

This was the first song that Flatt and Scruggs recorded together after leaving Bill Monroe's band. (Lester Flatt on guitar and lead vocal, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Jim Shumate on fiddle, Howard Watts, a.k.a. Cedric Rainwater on upright bass, and Mac Wiseman on guitar and tenor harmony vocal.) It is one of 28 songs that Flatt & Scruggs recorded together on Mercury Records between 1948 and 1950. To listen to the complete collection of 'the Mercury Sessions' refer back to the intermediate jam song of the week write up for 'Why Don't You Tell Me So': https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/intermediate-jam/category/why-dont-you-tell-me-so

Parmley & McCoury - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH7lwX4Aodk

This is the first version of 'We'll Meet Again Sweetheart' I heard when I was just beginning to get into Bluegrass. This record (in the form of a cassette tape I bought at a Bluegrass Cardinals concert) has been in my collection since 1992, and was a big influence on my playing. From the same album, check out the following songs. This is really high quality Bluegrass well worth taking the time to listen to (over and over) and absorb.

Roll On Buddy - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5TelnMbjGs

I'm Going Back To Old Kentucky - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrMQODKjHsA

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8NMZIfID8

Down The Road - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtyoeRQKMC0

I'll Drink No More Wine - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrXHNk6bA2k

Smoke Along The Track - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIm5NYfEXN4

I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmtL2wbfOYs

Progression
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart uses the same progression that is used to play 'Blue Ridge Cabin Home' and 'Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong':

1144
5511
1144
5511
(Prog. W8 on the Basic Chord Progressions chart.)

Key of Bb Review
In the key of Bb: 1=Bb, 4=Eb, 5=F
The notes that make up the Bb chord are Bb, D, and F.
The notes that make up the Eb chord are Eb, G, and Bb
The notes that make up the F chord are F, A, and C.
Together, these notes form the Bb Major Scale: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, and A.

If you are fiddler or a mandolin player, and you already play songs or licks in the key of F, then, provided that these songs or licks do not require using the 4th string, you can take your same fingerings for F and move them all one string lower in pitch, and you will thereby be playing in Bb.

For playing chop chords on the mandolin that use no open strings, if you move the chords shapes you use for playing in the key of A up by one fret, this will put you in the key of Bb.

For playing in the key of Bb, bluegrass banjo and guitar players almost always capo to the 3rd fret, so that they can use the same fingerings that they would use for playing in the key of G. (In the key of G: 1=G; 4= C; 5=D.)

Here are the corresponding notes of the G and Bb Major Scales:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
G, A, B, C, D, E, F#
Bb,C,D,Eb,F, G, A

Banjo players will need to raise the pitch of the fifth string to a Bb note (registers as A# on most tuners). This is done by capoing (with a 5th string capo, or 8th fret spike) the 5th string at the 8th fret. For banjo players who do not have a fifth string capo or an 8th fret spike (that includes myself), spike the 5th string at the 7th fret, and then tune it up a half step to a Bb (A#) note. This is best done by ear by playing the 5th string with the thumb while playing the 3rd string with the index finger, turning the 5th string tuning peg slowly until the 5th string sounds harmonious with the 3rd string.

When playing up the neck on banjo in the key of Bb (capo 3, playing as if in G), you may find it helpful to use your 10th and 15th fret markers as your primary points of reference.

Melody
The melody of We'll Meet Again Sweetheart uses all 7 notes of the Major Scale, with the lowest note being, in Nashville Numbers, the '5' below the '1' (F note in the key of Bb; D note in the key of G). and the highest note being the '4' above the '1' (Eb note in the key of Bb; C note in the key of G).

One characteristic feature of the melody of this song is how often and how long the melody lingers on the 3rd of each chord (i.e., in the key of Bb: D notes during Bb chord measures, G notes during Eb chord measures, and A notes during F chord measures. In the key of G, the corresponding notes and chords are: B notes for G chord measures, E notes for C chord measures, and F# notes for D chord measures).

Another feature of the melody (at least the way I sing it, as reflected in the attached melody sheets) is the unusually wide intervals between some of these 3rds of each chord and the note that immediately precedes them. This occurs, for instance, at the end of measure 2 going into measure 3, where the melody abruptly descends from the 3rd of the 1 chord to the 3rd of the 4 chord, and in measure 6, where the melody abruptly ascends from the root of the 5 chord to 3rd of the 1 chord in anticipation of the upcoming chord change from the 5 back to the 1. This feature of the melody severely limits the range of keys in which I can feel comfortable singing the song in.

Happy Pickin',
Jason