Song of the Week
I'll Fly Away' will remain the song of the week for the jam next Thursday. ('Bury Me Beneath The Willow' will be the song of the week for the jam after that.)

Song List
17 songs were played at last night's jam: 12 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - C
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow (played twice) - D & G
Down The Road - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Soldier's Joy - D 
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Angeline The Baker - D
Liberty - D
Long Journey Home - A
A Memory Of You - C
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - C

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'I'll Fly Away' in the key of G. 

Recordings
Del McCoury Band - key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOAmHrzE8v4

Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz-0C2dhKlg

Bill Evans, Jason Homey, Janet Beasley, & Gary Eller - key of A (starts at 0:51)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5FlspZlKE

The first and third recordings come closer than what the second does to how I'll Fly Away has usually been played and sung at the jam, both in terms of where the breaks occur in the song, and the vocal harmony arrangement.

Progression
The chord progression for I'll Fly Away is:

1111
4411
1111
1511

This is Progression V3 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout, and is the same progression that is used for 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Mountain Dew', 'Cryin' Holy' 'When My Time Comes To Go', the chorus of 'It's Mighty Dark To Travel', some versions of 'Sitting On Top Of The World', and many other songs.

Since 13 out of the 16 measures of this progression consist of 1's, memorizing the progression need not involve anything more than just remembering the location of the 4's and the location of the 5 within the progression.

In the key of G: 1 = G, 4 = C, 5 = D. For the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the other 7 keys that the song may be played in at the jam, refer to the beginner jam Nashville Number Charts handout included in the attachments, or scroll down to the 'Summary of the Teaching Segment' section near the end of this song of the week write-up.

Melody
While the chord progression is the same for both the verse and the chorus of I'll Fly Away, the melody of the chorus differs from the melody of the verse. The spots that differ are the whole first line, and on the Del McCoury Band recording, and in the way that I have sung the chorus at the jams, also in the first two measures of the 3rd line. ('When I die': the ascending sequence of D, E, and G notes when in the key of G, instead of the descending sequence of B, G, and D notes that the 3rd line of the verse melody begins with.)

In ascending order of pitch, when played and sung in G, the notes that make up the melody for the verses are: D, E, G, A, B, C, and the notes that make up the melody for the chorus are: D, E, G, A, B, C, D, with the high D note being the note that the chorus starts on. To see what these notes would be for the 7 other keys that I'll Fly Away may be played in at the jam, refer to the Nashville Number System Charts handout in the attachments, notes 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 on the larger of the two charts.

Breaks
In the attachments, I have provided the verse melody as a guide for creating melody-based breaks for each of the instruments; but since the progression is the same for both the verse and the chorus, if you know the chorus melody and would like to play a break that is based upon the chorus melody instead of the verse melody, feel free to do so, just not at the beginning of the song for the intro break. This can make the song a bit more interesting, especially when two breaks are played back to back, or after several breaks have been already been played in the song that have been based upon the verse melody, and it will work in the context of the collective breaks that we play at the beginner jam, since the chorus melody is for the most part harmonious with the verse melody.

Here is an instrumental recording of I'll Fly Away that contains both verse and chorus breaks on each instrument: banjo (key of G), guitar (key of C), fiddle (key of F), mandolin  (key of Bb), dobro (key of Eb), banjo (key of G):

Bluegrass '96 - Scott Vestal, Aubrey Haynie, Wayne Benson, Jeff Autry, Rob Ickes, & Mark Schatz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5joNSHVKzg

Harmony
I welcome harmony singers to sing not only on the choruses, but also on the second and fourth lines of the verses (the 'I'll Fly Aways'), like on the first and third recordings given here. Please remember though that when singing harmony, it is important to be focused on the lead singer as much as possible for the sake of timing, tuning, and phrasing. 

In the attachments, I have included a simple three part harmony arrangement for the choruses (the notes for the 'I'll Fly Aways' in the verses are identical with the notes for the 'I'll Fly Aways' in the choruses, so I have not included a harmony arrangement for those parts of the verses in the attachments.) There are much more interesting note choices that one could use for the harmony parts than what I have written here, but for the sake of those who are just beginning to learn to sing harmony, I have tried to keep the parts as simple and straightforward as possible. 

On the harmony sheet attached here, the notes for the tenor harmony are the highest of the groups of three notes on the staff, the notes for the baritone harmony are the lowest, and the melody is the middle set of notes. If it suits your vocal range better, you may drop the tenor harmony part an octave to create the harmony part that is known in bluegrass as the 'low tenor', or you may raise the baritone harmony an octave higher to create the harmony part that is known in bluegrass as the 'high baritone'. 

On the third recording provided here, Bill, Janet, Gary, and I took turns singing the lead on the solo parts (the first and third lines) of the verses, but we each stuck to a given part when singing together on the chorus and on the second and fourth lines of the verses: Bill sang the melody, Janet sang the tenor harmony, I sang the baritone harmony, and Gary sang bass.

Lyrics
On the Del McCoury recording, there are two verses:
1. Some glad morning when this life is over....
2. Just a few more weary days and then....

On the Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch recording, there are four verses:
1. Some bright morning when this life is o'er....
2. When the shadows of this life have gone....
3. Oh how glad and happy when we meet....
4. Just a few more weary days and then....

On the Weiser Banjo Camp 2016 Instructors Concert recording, there are four verses that are essentially the same as the four on the preceding recording, but the order of the middle two verses is inverted:

Bill: Some glad morning when this life is o'er....
Jason: Oh how glad and happy when we meet....
Janet: When the shadows of this life are gone....
Gary: Just a few more weary days and then....

At the jam, I usually sing three verses:
1. Some glad morning when this life is over....
2. When the shadows of this life have grown....
3. Just a few more weary days and then....

On the rare occasion when I have sung all four verses at the jam, I have usually put them in the same order as on the Gillian Welch & Alison Krauss recording

Pickup Notes
The verse melody of I'll Fly Away starts with the same note as do the melodies for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains and Beautiful Brown Eyes, and all three of these songs start with the 1 chord. Therefore, the same set of pickup notes that are effective to use for starting an intro break for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains and Beautiful Brown Eyes will also work for starting an intro break for I'll Fly Away. 

https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/my-homes-across-the-blue-ridge-mountains
(The section on Pickup Notes is near the middle of the write-up.)

Other songs on the current main list and additional songs list for the jam for which the same set of pickup notes (5, 1, 2: D, G, A when in the key of G; E, A, B when in the key of A, etc.) will work well for starting an intro break include: All The Good Times Are Past And Gone, Blue Ridge Cabin Home, Banks Of The Ohio, Canaan's Land, A Few More Seasons, I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand, Love Me Darling Just Tonight, A Memory Of You, Will You Be Loving Another Man, You Are My Sunshine, and Your Love Is Like A Flower.

For the first complete measure of all these songs starts with the 3rd note of the Major Scale (a B note when in the key of G, a C# note when in the key of A, etc.), and all these songs start with the 1 chord. 

An alternative set of pickup notes which will work equally as well for starting all these songs, except for the two that have the 5,1, 2 pickup notes built into their melody (Banks Of The Ohio and You Are My Sunshine), and which some may prefer to use, is 5, 6, 1.

key of G:   D,  E,   G 
key of A:   E,  F#,  A
key of Bb: F,   G,   Bb 
key of B:   F#, C#, B 
key of C:   G,   A,   C 
key of D:    A,   B,  D 
key of E:    B,   C#, E
key of F:    C,   D,   F

The pickup measure for the intro break on all the Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss recording consists of this set of pickup notes, and the pickup measures for the intro breaks on the Del McCoury and Weiser Banjo Camp recordings are standard banjo licks that are based upon this set of pickup notes.

Fill-in Licks 
The third measure of lines 2 and 4 of each verse has only one syllable in it, which is sung at the beginning of the measure. And, the measure that follows begins with a rest. During these kinds of 'dead spaces' within the melody of a song, it is very common for a fill-in lick to be played on one or more of the instruments. In the attachments I have included a chart of simple fill-in licks for guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin that will fit well into measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of lines 2 and 4 of the progression for I'll Fly Away when the song is played in the key of G. These same licks are also good to use in measures 3 to 4 of lines 2 and 4 of your breaks. 

On the attached chart of fill-in licks, notes in parentheses are not really part of the fill-in lick proper and may be omitted if they are inconvenient to get into from what you were doing immediately before the fill-in measures begin. For instance, if you are playing chop chords on the fiddle or mandolin right up to the point where the fill-in measure starts, you may wish to substitute a quarter note rest in place of the quarter note in parentheses that occurs at the beginning of the fill-in lick measure.  Likewise, the notes you play in a break in measure 2 of line 2 may lead you more naturally to play a D note at the beginning of the next measure rather than a G note, for the D note is the melody note. When this happens, just substitute the D note in place of the G note shown in parentheses on the chart.

If a harmony vocalist fills up the 'dead space' in the melody at the end of the second line of the chorus by singing 'in the morning' (like on two of the three recordings given here) in that spot, then it is best to not play a fill-in lick on the instruments there. This is an instance of what one might call, by way of analogy, a 'vocal fill-in lick'.

Endings
For songs like I'll Fly Away that use a progression that ends with two measures of the 1 chord, and in which the last syllable is sung at the beginning of the first of these two measures (which includes the overwhelming majority of the non-instrumental songs on the current main list and additional songs list), it is common for a two-measure ending lick to be played on the instruments during the last two measures of the progression when the song is going to end. In most cases, this means the last two measures of the final chorus (or, for songs that don't have a chorus, the final verse) of the song. 

In the attachments, I have included a chart of simple two-measure endings in the key of G for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, and bass that will work for all of the songs that fit into this category, except for the ones played in 3/4 time.

Notice that the last note played in each of the endings coincides with the beginning of the second half of the last measure. (For 3/4 time songs, appropriate ending licks would have their last note coincide with the beginning of the last measure.)

Summary of the Teaching Segment at the Jam (Feb. 7)
The 7 natural notes arranged in perfect 5ths (span of 5 letters, difference of 7 half-steps) are, in order: F, C, G, D, A, E, B, which can be remembered as:

Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.

This is the order in which sharps are added to key signatures. 

Fiddles, mandolins, violas, and cellos are tuned in perfect 5ths: G, D, A, E (fiddles and mandolins);  C, G, D, A (violas and cellos).

Reversing this order results in the 7 same notes being arranged in perfect 4ths (span of 4 letters, difference of 5 half-steps) : B, E, A, D, G, C, F:

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.

This is the order in which flats are added to key signatures.
Basses and the 6th through 3rd strings of guitars are tuned in perfect 4ths: E, A, D, G.  

Expanded to include sharps and flats, these sequences of 7 letters are repeated three times, with flats on the left, naturals in the middle, and sharps on the right for the order of perfect 5ths:

Fb, Cb, Gb, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#
and sharps on the left, naturals in the middle, and flats on the right for the order of perfect 4ths:

B#, E#, A#, D#, G#, C#, F#, B, E, A, D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb
The sequences of perfect 5ths and 4ths group together in close proximity with each other the notes and chords that most frequently show up together in songs. 

For instance, in the sequence of perfect 5ths, the 4 chord is to the immediate left of the 1 chord, and the 5 chord is to the immediate right of the 1 chord. E.g., C, G, D are the 4, 1, and 5 chords in key of G; G, D, A are the 4, 1, and 5 chords in the key of D; E, B, F# are the 4, 1, and 5 chords in the key of B; Eb, Bb, F are the 4, 1, and 5 chords in the key of Bb.  

Song List
15 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 12 from the main list, 2 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - G
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
Cripple Creek - A
Down The Road - A
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D 
Angeline The Baker - D
Canaan's Land - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Little Birdie' in the key of Bb.

Recordings
Red Smiley - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-dSrfm47XY

The Stanley Brothers - key of Eb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sakr_M1KMaM

Lonesome River Band - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaQXT-sgtOg

Progression
The chord progression I use for Little Birdie is;

1155
5511
1155
5511

On the Basic Chord Progressions handout, this is the first half of Progression V9 (and Progression W9) played through twice.
               

                      1        5         Guitar & Banjo                       Banjo 5th string tuned to
Key of G      G       D         No capo, play in G                 G
Key of A       A       E         Capo 2, play as if in G            A  
Key of Bb     Bb     F        Capo 3, play as if in G            Bb (=A#)
Key of B       B       F#      Capo 4, play as if in G            B
Key of C       C       G        No capo, play in C                  G
                                      or Capo 5, play as if in G            C
Key of D       D       A        Capo 2, play as if in C             A
                                      or No capo, play in D                  A
Key of Eb     Eb     Bb     Capo 3, play as if in C            Bb (=A#)
                                      or Capo 1, play as if in D            Bb  (=A#)
Key of E        E       B       Capo 4, play as if in C              B
                                     or Capo 2, play as if in D              B
Key of F        F       C       Capo 5, play as if in C              C   
                                     or Capo 3, play as if in D              C

Note for Banjo Players: Tuning the fifth string up to A, Bb, B, and C notes is usually done with the help of either a 5th string capo or spikes. For the A note, the 5th string is capoed or spiked at the 7th fret. For the Bb note, the 5th string is capoed or spiked at the 8th fret. For, the B note, the 5th string is capoed or spiked at the 9th fret. For the C note, the 5th string is capoed or spiked at the 10th fret. For banjo players who use spikes but, like me, do not have 8th and 10th fret spikes, for the Bb note, spike the 5th string at the 7th fret and then manually tune it up a half step to a Bb (A#) note, and for the C note, spike the 5th string at the 9th fret and then manually tune it up a half step higher to a C note. 

Caution: If you try to tune the 5th string up to B and C notes without the help of spikes or a 5th string capo, don't be surprised if the string breaks. Even tuning the 5th string up to A and Bb notes without the help of a spike or a 5th string capo can be risky, especially if your strings are old. Also, tuning one string up manually a whole step or more will put the other four strings out of tune enough on most banjos that you will likely need to retune all five strings in order to be reasonably in tune.

On the Red Smiley recording, half a measure of the 5 chord is deleted from the last line of the progression during the banjo break. Two extra measures of the 1 chord are added to the progression at the end of the first two breaks, and one extra measure of the 1 chord is added to the progression at the end of the third (last) break.

On the Stanley Brothers recording, an extra measure of the 1 chord is added to the end of the last line of the first three breaks, and two extra measures of the 1 chord are added to the end of the last line of the fourth  break. Lines 1 and 3 of the verses are lengthened sometimes to six and half measures, and at other times to seven measures, with the last three of the measures being where the 5 chord is played. Line 2 of each verse is six measures long: 551111. The first and fourth verses are twenty-three measures long, the second verse is twenty-four measures long, and the third verse is twenty-three-and-a-half measures long. 

On the Lonesome River Band recording, the progression is:

11155
5511
11155
5511

with an extra two measures of the 1 chord being added to the end of the progression for the breaks, the first chorus, and the second verse.

Key of Bb: Tips for Fiddle & Mandolin Players
Some may find it helpful to think of a less familiar key in relation to a more familiar key. One way of approaching playing in Bb is to think of the key of Bb in relation to the key of A. Bb is a half-step higher than A. Therefore, if one raises by a half-step all the notes of the A major scale, or all of the notes of a melody played in A, this will result in playing in the key of Bb:

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

For mandolin players who play closed position chords (no open strings being played), this way of approaching playing in less familiar keys can be especially useful. For instance, to find the 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of Bb (Bb. Eb, and F), one can just simply take the chord shapes that one uses for the 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of A (A, D, E) and move them up one fret higher, knowing that this will result in the corresponding 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of Bb. The same principle applies also to closed-position (no open strings) double stops on mandolin and fiddle.

Melody                      
In ascending order of pitch, the melody notes for Little Birdie are:

                    5      6     7    1     2    3  
                  sol    la    ti    do  re  mi
Key of G:    D    E    F#   G    A   B  
Key of A:    E    F#  G#   A   B   C#
Key of Bb:  F    G     A    Bb C   D
Key of B:    F#  G#  A#  B  C# D#
Key of C:    G    A     B    C   D   E
Key of D:    A    B    C#  D    E   F#
Key of Eb:  Bb  C    D   Eb   F   G 
Key of E:    B    C#  D#  E    F# G#
Key of F:    C     D    E     F    G   A

On the attached melody sheets, the choice of notes, and the timing of the notes coincide for the most part with how Red Smiley sings the first verse on the recording. It is the first half of measure 4 of line 3 that is omitted in the banjo break on the Red Smiley recording.

In the banjo breaks on the Stanley Brothers recording, Ralph Stanley extends the second melody note in measures 1 and 9 a half-measure longer than what is shown in the attached melody sheets. (In singing the verses, Ralph also extends these same notes, but for longer than just one-and-a-half measures). But then, by omitting in his breaks half of the 4th and 12th measures shown on the melody sheets, the result is that lines 1 and 3 of his breaks end up being the same length as lines 1 and 3 on the melody sheets (four measures each, not counting the short pickup measure that occurs before the first measure proper of line 1) even though some of his melody notes are played half a measure later than what is shown on the melody sheets.

On the Lonesome River Band recording, in all parts of the song, the second melody note in measures 1 and 9 is extended a full measure longer than what is shown on the melody sheets.

Arrangement & Lyrics
On the Red Smiley recording, the arrangement is: break, verse, break, verse, break, verse, with the last verse being a repeat of the first verse. 

On the Stanley Brothers recording, the arrangement is: break, verse, break, verse, break, verse, break, verse. The third and fourth verses start with the same words as the first verse ('Little Birdie, little birdie'). The lyrics for the first half of the first and fourth verses are identical with each other ('Little Birdie, little birdie, won't you sing to me your song'). 

On both recordings, there are no harmony vocals. This is common in bluegrass arrangements of songs that are sung without a chorus.

On the Lonesome River Band recording, the arrangement is as follows:

Banjo Break
Chorus
Verse 1
Chorus
Fiddle Break
Verse 2
Verse 3
Chorus
Mandolin Break
Verse 4
Chorus
Banjo Break
Chorus

The lyrics for the chorus, which is sung with harmony, are essentially the same as the lyrics for Red Smiley's first and last verse, and Ralph Stanley's first verse. But, of the four verses in this arrangement, only the last one is similar to any of the verses on the two other recordings.

When leading Little Birdie at the jams, I have almost always used Ralph's set of lyrics (four verses, no chorus), and to lengthen the arrangement, I usually have called two breaks back to back between the second and third verses, and two or three breaks between the third and fourth verses. 

Pickup Notes
The set of pickup notes that the melody of 'Nine Pound Hammer' starts with are equally effective to use to start an intro break for Little Birdie. Refer back to the section titled 'Pickup Notes' in the recent beginner jam song of the week write-up for Nine Pound Hammer:

On banjo, another effective way to start an intro break for Little Birdie is to play a half-note pinch (e.g., 5th and 1st strings played together simultaneously, lasting for half a measure before the next note is played) followed by the two quarter notes that the melody starts with.

Fill-in Licks in Backup & Breaks
The third measure of lines 2 and 4 of each verse has only one syllable in it, which is sung at the beginning of the measure. And, the measure that follows begins with a rest. During these kinds of 'dead spaces' within the melody of a song, it is very common for a fill-in lick to be played on one or more of the instruments. In the attachments I have included a chart of simple fill-in licks for guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin that will fit well into measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of lines 2 and 4 of the progression for Little Birdie when the song is played in the key of Bb. These same licks are also good to use in measures 3 to 4 of lines 2 and 4 of your breaks. 

On the attached chart of fill-in licks, notes in parentheses are not really part of the fill-in lick proper and may be omitted if they are inconvenient to get into from what you were doing immediately before the fill-in measures begin. For instance, if you are playing chop chords on the fiddle or mandolin right up to the point where the fill-in measure starts, you may wish to substitute a quarter note rest in place of the quarter note in parentheses that occurs at the beginning of the fill-in lick measure.  Likewise, the notes you play in a guitar break in measure 2 of lines 2 and 4 may lead you more naturally to play the open 3rd string at the beginning of measure 3 of those lines than to play the note at the 3rd fret of the 6th string. When this happens, just substitute the open 3rd string note in place of the lower note shown in parentheses on the chart.

Compare this section with the 'Fill-in Licks in Backup & Breaks' section in the Nine Pound Hammer song of the week write-up for the beginner jam:

Song List
13 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 12 from the main list, and 1 from the additional songs list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Cripple Creek - A
Down The Road - A
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
Mama Don't Allow - A
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Angeline The Baker - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason
​

Little Birdie - Banjo tab G (Capo 3)
Download File

Little Birdie - Guitar tab G (Capo 3)
Download File
​
Little Birdie - Mandolin tab in Bb
Download File

Little Birdie - Melody in Bb
Download File

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Shortnin' Bread' in the key of G, played as an instrumental.

Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of G (starts at 0:49)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FgpQyk5ibw

Ron Block - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFUvwpqPb8E

The Freight Hoppers - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfb_LddQ738

Form & Arrangement
Shortnin' Bread is a two-part fiddle tune.  Each part is 4 measures long, and is repeated before going on to the next part. This form (2 parts each repeated) is called AABB.  'A' stands for 'A-Part', i.e., first part, and 'B' stands for 'B-Part', i.e., second part. 

Since each part is 4 measures long, it takes 16 measures (4x4) to get through a single complete break for Shortnin' Bread. This is half the length of a single AABB form break for 'Boil The Cabbage Down', 'Buffalo Gals' and 'Soldier's Joy'. For, in those tunes each part is 8, instead of only 4, measures long.

On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, the AABB form is altered the second time through it. After playing AABBAA, Scruggs plays four B-Parts back to back, the first two of which are a variation on his basic B-Part.  

The Ron Block recording copies Scruggs on this, but also has four B-Parts back to back for the last banjo break as well. The arrangement in full is as follows:

Banjo:  AABB
             AABBBB
Fiddle: AABB
             AABB 
Banjo:  AABB
Guitar: AABB
Mandolin: AABB
Mandolin/Fiddle (split break): AA (mandolin) BB (fiddle)
Banjo: AABBBB
Banjo: Double Ending (4 measures)

The Freight Hoppers consistently stick to the AABB form, despite the fact that only one of their vocal sections in the arrangement (the second one) takes up the length of one complete round through the form. The first, third, and fourth vocal sections are sung over the second A-Part of the form and the two B-Parts that follow it. The fifth vocal section is sung over the final two B-Parts of the song, which is then followed by a double ending.

8 Potato Intros
On the recordings provided here, the tune starts with nothing more than either a quarter or a half measure's worth of pickups leading into the first A-Part. At a jam, however, this is not a very effective way to start a tune. 

One of the best ways to kick-off most AABB fiddle tunes at a jam is to drone in a straight but rhythmic manner the root note of the key that the tune is in (often together with another one of the notes that also belong to the 1 chord) for four measures to lead into your intro break.This is called in bluegrass and old-time circles the '8 Potato Intro'. 

To hear examples of this way of starting a tune, refer back to the recordings given in the recent 'Boil The Cabbage Down' song of the week email. On the Grascals and John Hartford & The Dillards recordings, the fiddle starts the tune with an 8 Potato Intro. On the Tommy Jackson recording, and in the mandolin video lesson, a shorter two measure version of this manner of starting a tune is used, which is called a '4 Potato Intro'.

In the attachments, I have included sheets that show good ways to play on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo, 8 Potato Intros for the keys of G and A. I have also included on these sheets, simpler (unfortunately, also less effective when both are played correctly) ways to play this type of intro on each of these instruments for those who are new to playing this type of intro, and may have difficulty playing the more developed forms of the 8 Potato Intros with the right feel and with rock-solid timing. 

Playing with the right feel and timing are crucial to making the 8 Potato Intro an effective jam tool. If anything at all goes wrong with the timing or feel of the 8 Potato or with the transition from the 8 Potato into beginning of the A-Part, the whole purpose for using it is thereby defeated.

Progression
Both parts of Shortnin' Bread use the same chord progression:

1  1  1  5/1 

That is, three measures of the 1 chord, followed by half a measure of the 5 chord, followed by half a measure of the 1 chord. The progression is played four times to get through one complete round of the AABB form.

In the key of G: 1 = G; 5 = D.

This progression shows up frequently in fiddle tunes in which each part is only 4 measures long. Other tunes besides Shortnin' Bread that use this progression for at least one of their parts include 'Cotton-Eyed Joe' (both parts), 'Cripple Creek' (B-Part), 'Cumberland Gap' (both parts), 'The Eighth Of January' (B-Part), and 'Sally Goodin' (both parts).

Double Endings
On the recordings of Shortnin' Bread given here, there are an extra 4 measures played at the end of the tune after the final B-Part. These are called 'double endings', for they consist of two 2-measure length ending licks played back to back. 

For most songs that use a progression that ends with two measures of the 1 chord (e.g., songs that use any of the progressions in row V, W, or X on the basic chord progressions chart), it is common for a two-measure ending lick to be played on one or more of the instruments over the last two measures of the progression to end the song. Most AABB tunes, however, do not use progressions that end with two measures of the 1 chord, and the last melody note in their parts almost always occurs at either the beginning or in the middle of the last measure of the progression, rather than at the beginning of the second to last measure of the progression. For these reasons, ending licks for AABB fiddle tunes almost always are playedafter the last measure of the final B-Part rather than during the tail-end of the final B-Part.

In the attachments, I have included examples of double-endings for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo suitable for most key of G and key of A  fiddle tunes.

On the recordings, the double endings are played on the same instrument that played the final break. On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, the double ending is played on the banjo alone, while being backed up by the other instruments on the first half of the ending, and, then on the last note of the second half of the ending. On the Ron Block recording, the fiddle plays the double ending together with the banjo, while being backed up by the other instruments on the whole ending. 

At the beginner jams, what tends to happen most often, and usually works better than some of the other options, is for everyone who wishes to play a double ending to do so, regardless of which instrument section played the last break, while the rest of the players play nothing during the double ending, except on the last note of the ending. 

What is played on the last note of the ending by the backup instruments typically includes things such as a single strum on the 1 chord (good for guitars and mandolins, and sometimes for banjos), the root note of the 1 chord being played by itself (especially good on the bass and in the low register of the fiddle), a double stop consisting of two notes of the 1 chord (especially good for fiddles), and a three-note pinch on banjo consisting of notes of the 1 chord 

Melody
When played in the key of G, the melody of Shortnin' consists of, in ascending order of pitch, the notes GABDEG. 

Compare this with the set of notes used to play the melody for two other recent songs of the week: 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains', and 'Nine Pound Hammer'. When played in G, the melody notes for these songs are, in ascending order of pitch: DEGABD. Notice that both sets of notes have in common with each other that they consist of nothing but G's, A's, B's, D's and E's. Only the range of the notes is different: G (lowest note) to G (highest note) for Shortnin' Bread, and D (lowest note) to D (highest note) for the two other songs.

Like in the melodies for many other AABB fiddle tunes, the two halves of each part of Shortnin' Bread begin the same way as each other, and both parts end the same way as each other. Notice on the attached melody sheets that  measure 3 of the A-Part is identical with measure 1 of the A-Part, that measure 3 of the B-Part is identical with measure 1 of the B-Part, and that measure 4 of the B-Part is identical with measure 4 of the A-Part.

Besides these commonplace repetitions within fiddle tunes, there are even more points of similarity within and between the parts of Shortnin' Bread than is typical for fiddle tune melodies. The 2nd measure of the A-Part is almost the same as the 1st and 3rd measures of the A-Part, and the 2nd measure of the B-Part is identical with 1st and 3rd measures of the B-Part. 

Finally, the only difference between the 1st and 3rd measures of the B-Part on the one hand, and the 1st and 3rd measures of the A-Part on the other hand, is which octave the G note is played in that starts the measure. There is very little in the melody of Shortnin' Bread to learn and memorize, for the tune is about as repetitious as what an AABB tune can be, while still having well-defined parts. The prominence of the high G note in the A-Part coupled with the absence of this note in the B-Part is enough to make the two parts readily distinguishable from each other in terms of a 'high part' and a 'low part'.

The melodic content of many of the breaks on the recordings given here deviate significantly enough from the version of the melody I have provided in the attachments to warrant comment. The most commonly recurring differences involve little more than a reversal of the order in which two consecutive melody notes are played. For example, to reproduce a close semblance of the implied melody for the A-Part in the banjo breaks on the Flatt & Scruggs and Ron Block recordings, all one needs to do is to play E notes in place of the D notes, and D notes in place of the E notes. When playing breaks for Shortnin' Bread at the jam, I tend to make use of both types of versions of the melody, freely mixing them together with each other in a variety of combinations.

Keys
On the main song list for the beginner jam, both the key of G and the key of A are given as options for playing Shortnin' Bread when the tune is called during the first half of the evening. On account of this, I have included in the attachments melody sheets in standard notation and in mandolin tab written in A (in addition to the ones written in G), so that one can easily compare the notes used to play the melody in A with the corresponding notes used to play the melody in G. 

While most fiddle tunes have only one key in which they are traditionally played in (e.g., 'Angeline The Baker', 'Liberty', and 'Soldier's Joy' are 'D' tunes; 'Boil The Cabbage Down', 'Cripple Creek', and 'Old Joe Clark' are 'A' tunes), some have two, or even three different keys  associated with them (e.g., 'Miss McLeod's Reel' - G and A, 'Fisher's Hornpipe' - D and F, 'Golden Slippers' and 'Turkey In The Straw' - G, A, and D.)  However, in the case of Shortnin' Bread (and also 'Buffalo Gals'), it would not be odd for the tune to be played at a jam in any of the four most fiddle-friendly keys: G, A, C, or D.

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

Here is a short solo fiddle version of Shortnin' Bread in D, complete with an 8 potato intro, and single ending:

Hillary Klug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsefjHKdmFM

The notes that make up the melody for Shortnin' Bread form a scale that is called the Major Pentatonic Scale. The Major Pentatonic Scale consists of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the Major Scale. The following chart shows the notes that make up the G, A, C, and D Major Pentatonic Scales.

                      1     2     3     5      6     (8 = the same note as 1, but an octave higher)
                     do   re  mi   sol   la   (do)
Key of G:     G     A    B     D     E    (G)
Key of A:      A    B    C#   E     F#  (A)
Key of C:      C    D    E     G     A    (C)
Key of D:      D    E    F#   A     B    (D)

Song List                                                                                                          
14 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 12 from the main list, and 2 from the additional songs list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Cripple Creek - A
I'll Fly Away - G
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Old Joe Clark - A
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Beautiful Brown Eyes' in the key of G.

Recordings
Jimmy Martin (Jimmy's daughter Lisa on lead vocal) - key of D - 3/4 time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWFQn6-WgSY

Gibson Brothers - key of Bb - 2/2 time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IupOvRqFqSo

Arthur Smith Trio - key of G - 3/4 time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZqWNuJPd6o

Red Allen (Beautiful Blue Eyes) - key of G - 2/2 time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhPgbKqwNkc

Time Signature
Beautiful Brown Eyes is one of a handful of songs that may be played at a bluegrass jam in either 3/4 (waltz) time (1-2-3: boom-chuck-chuck rhythm on guitar) or in 2/2 (cut common) time (1&2&: boom-chuck-boom-chuck rhythm on guitar). Other songs like this include 'Before I Met You', 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky', 'Down In A Willow Garden', and 'Paradise'.

On the current main song list for the beginner jam, Beautiful Brown Eyes is specified as being played in 3/4 time. One reason why I did this is because there is only one other song on the list that is in 3/4 time, namely, All The Good Times Are Past And Gone, but being just as comfortable with 3/4 time as with cut common time is an essential bluegrass playing skill. Another reason is that people who are new to bluegrass but who are already familiar with this song are more likely to know a version of it in 3/4 time rather than in cut time. So, until the current main list is revised near the end of the Summer, whenever Beautiful Brown Eyes is played at the jam during the first half of the evening, I will lead it in 3/4 time; but, during the second half of the evening, if the person who calls the song wishes to play it in cut common time instead, then that is how it will be played.

Progression
The chord progression for Beautiful Brown Eyes is:

1144
1155
1144
5511
This is Prog. W7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.
(In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D)

This chord progression differs by only one measure from the most common chord progression in bluegrass, namely the progression that is used to play 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow', 'Come Back Darling', 'I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand', 'A Memory Of You', etc.:

1144
1155
1144
1511
(Prog. V7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)

In order to avoid accidentally playing Progression V7 in place of Progression W7 for Beautiful Brown Eyes at the jam, some may find it helpful to remind themselves before the song starts that in the last half of the progression for Beautiful Brown Eyes, the 4 chord is followed immediately by the 5 chord (instead of returning to the 1 chord first before going to the 5 chord).   

Arrangement
When there are four different types of lead instruments at the jam, I most often arrange the song as follows:

Break
Verse 1
Chorus
Break
Verse 2
Chorus
Break
Break
Verse 3
Chorus
Break 
Break
Chorus

or:

Break
Chorus
Break
Verse 1
Chorus
Break
Verse 2
Chorus
Break
Verse 3
Chorus
Break
Break
Chorus

with all breaks being full-length breaks (four musical lines: the same as the number of lines of complete verse or of a complete chorus). 

These arrangements have more in common with the arrangements of the song on the Gibson Brothers and Arthur Smith recordings than with the arrangements on the other two recordings. On the Jimmy Martin recording, the intro break is a half-length break (using the last half of the progression). On the Red Allen recording, the intro break is a quarter-length break (called a 'turnaround', using the last line of the progression). On both of these recordings, the first chorus is immediately followed by a verse instead of by a break.

Melody
The melody sheets attached here are based upon how I sing the melody for the chorus. My choice of notes for the chorus is more similar to the Arthur Smith recording than to the other recordings, but my timing on some of the notes is quite different. However, on the Arthur Smith recording, the melody for the verses is the same as the melody for the chorus, whereas on the other three recordings, and in the way that I also sing the song, the second line of the melody for the verses differs from the second line of the melody for the chorus. 

The melody, as I sing it, consists of the first 6 notes of the Major Scale. (In some versions of the melody the 6th note is absent):

                  do   re   mi   fa   sol  la
                    1     2     3     4    5    6
Key of G:    G    A    B     C   D    E
Key of A:    A    B    C#   D   E    F#
Key of Bb: Bb  C    D     Eb  F    G
Key of B:    B    C#  D#  E    F# G#
Key of C:    C     D    E     F    G   A
Key of D:    D    E    F#   G    A    B
Key of E:    E    F#  G#   A    B   C#
Key of F:     F    G    A    Bb   C   D  

Lyrics
For the chorus of Beautiful Brown Eyes, I use the same lyrics that are sung on the Jimmy Martin, Gibson Brothers, and Arthur Smith recordings. For the verses, however, I use essentially the same set of lyrics as those on the Red Allen recording.
 
Harmony
I welcome all to sing harmony with me on the chorus of the song. Since the starting note of the melody is the 3rd note of the Major Scale (a B note when in the key of G), and the progression starts with the 1 chord (a G chord when in the key of G), the starting note for the tenor harmony (i.e., the harmony part directly above than the melody) is the 5th note of the Major Scale (a D note when in the key of G), and the starting note for the baritone harmony (i.e., the harmony part directly below the melody) is the 1st, or root, note of the Major Scale (a G note when in the key of G). For, together, these three notes make up the 1 chord (a G chord when in the key of G.)

The last note of the melody for Beautiful Brown Eyes, like for most songs, is the 
root (1st) note of the Major Scale, and, also like in most other songs, the progression at this point in the song calls for the 1 chord to be played. Therefore, the ending note for the tenor harmony part is the 3rd note of the Major Scale (a B note when in the key of G), and the ending note for the baritone harmony part is the 5th note of the Major Scale (a D note when in the key of G). 

Breaks
When the melody for the chorus of a song differs from the melody for the verses of the song, it is much more common for melody-based breaks to follow the melody for the verses, rather than the melody for the chorus. However, since the verse and chorus melodies for Beautiful Brown Eyes do not differ much from each other in versions in which there is a difference, it is of little consequence whether one bases one's break on the verse melody or on the chorus melody. Examples of both types of melody-based breaks are found on the recordings. For example, the first two breaks on the Gibson Brothers recording are based upon the chorus melody, whereas the third break (the guitar break) is based upon the verse melody. 

Pickup Notes
Beautiful Brown Eyes starts with the same melody note as My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, and the progressions for both songs start with the 1 chord. Therefore, the same set of pickup notes that I suggested for starting an intro break for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains in the song of the week email from two weeks ago will also work for starting an intro break for Beautiful Brown Eyes. (Using three quarter notes for a pickup measure of an intro break works just as well in 3/4 time as it does in 2/2 time.) Refer back to the section on 'Pickup Notes' and the melody sheets in the song of the week write-up for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains.

Song List
14 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 12 from the main list, and 2 from the additional songs list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - G
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
New River Train - F
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Way Down Town - E
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Canaan's Land - A
Worried Man Blues - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi, 
The song of the week is 'Nine Pound Hammer' in the key of A. 

Recordings
Lonesome River Band - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tNA13W2cds

Tony Rice - key of A 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u964a0f38s

Guitar and banjo players who wish to play along with the Lonesome River Band performance of the song can capo to the 4th fret and play as if playing in G. For fiddle, mandolin, and bass players who wish to give playing in B a try, the 1, 4, and 5 chords in the key of B are: 1=B, 4=E. 5=F#. The B chord consists of the notes: B,D#, and F#; the E chord: E, G#, and B; the F# chord: F#, A#, and C#.

Remember, on youtube you can adjust the tempo by clicking on settings, and then clicking on 'speed'.

Form 
The verses of Nine Pound Hammer consist of two 4-measure lines (8 measures in total). Each verse is completed by an equally short chorus, also consisting of two 4-measure lines (8 measures in total). 

A single full-length break for Nine Pound Hammer consists of four 4-measure lines (16 measures in total, which is the same length as a verse and chorus together), to which one or more additional measures may be added to the end of the last line when the break is to be followed by a verse instead of by another break. 

In most other songs played at the jam, verses and choruses are twice the length of the verses and choruses of Nine Pound Hammer, and a single full-length break consists of the same number of musical lines as a single verse or a single chorus, rather than that of a verse and a chorus together.

Progression
The chord progression for Nine Pound Hammer is:

1144
1511

This progression is merely the second half of other more commonly occurring progressions. E.g., the progression for 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow', 'Come Back Darling', 'I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand', 'A Memory Of You', and 'Your Love Is Like A Flower' (Prog. V7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout):
1144
1155
1144
1511

or for the progression for 'Mama Don't Allow', 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain', 'When The Saints Go Marching In', and 'Will You Be Loving Another Man'  (Prog. V2):
1111
1155
1144
1511

In the key of A: 1=A; 4=D; 5=E
The A chord consists of the notes: A, C#, and E; the D chord consists of: D, F#, and A; and the E chord consists of: E, G#, and B.

Banjo players and most guitar players will wish to capo to the 2nd fret to play in A; so the key that they will be thinking in will be G.

In the key of G: 1=G; 4=C; 5=D.
The G chord consists of the notes: G, B, and D; the C chord: C, E, and G; the D chord: D, F#, and A.

Arrangement
All the breaks on the Lonesome River Band recording are full-length breaks, but in the last two break sections of the arrangement two breaks are played back to back without a verse and chorus intervening between them. Except for the fiddle intro break, all the breaks on the Tony Rice recording are double-length breaks (8 musical lines). The long break section after the first chorus consists of two double-length breaks played back to back. 

In the Lonesome River Band's arrangement of the song, each verse is sung solo, and then call and response harmony is used on the choruses. On the Tony Rice recording, the verses, instead of the choruses, are sung with call and response harmony.

On these points, the Lonesome River Band arrangement of the song is quite similar to how Nine Pound Hammer has usually been played and sung at the weekly jams in the Pioneer Building.

Melody
In order from lowest to highest, the notes that make up the melody of Nine Pound Hammer are:

                  5    6    1     2   3    5
                 sol  la  do  re  mi  sol
key of G:   D   E    G    A   B    D
key of A:    E   F# A    B   C#  E
key of Bb:  F   G   Bb  C   D    F
key of B:    F# G# B   C# D# F#
key of C:    G   A    C   D   E    G
key of D:    A   B    D   E   F#  A
key of E;     B   C# E   F# G# B
key of F:     C   D    F   G   A    C 

These are the same notes used to play the melodies for 'Foggy Mountain Top', 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains', 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Amazing Grace', 'Long Journey Home', and 'Mountain Dew'.

The melody of the chorus of Nine Pound Hammer starts higher than the melody for the verses, but then ends the same way as the melody for the verses. 

Lyrics
When leading the song at the jams, I usually sing all five of the verses that are included in the Tony Rice performance, but with slightly different wording. To these I often add the 'John Henry' verse that is sung in the Lonesome River Band arrangement, using it as the second to last verse. To lengthen the song even more, I sometimes repeat the first verse at the end of the song.

On the other hand, when I wish to reduce the number of verses, so as to allow for a greater number of breaks to be played without making the song last so long, I may sing only three or four verses, usually leaving out the 'ain't one hammer in this tunnel' verse, the 'this nine pound hammer killed John Henry' verse, and sometimes also the 'when I'm long gone, you can make my tombstone' verse.

The lyrics for the chorus that follows the verse that begins with '(there) ain't one hammer in this tunnel' are different from the lyrics for the other choruses in the song. Instead of 'Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow', etc.,' the lyrics I sing for this chorus are: 'Rings like silver, shines like gold, rings like silver and shines like gold.' I sometimes also alter the first half of the chorus that follows the 'when I'm long gone' verse to: 'Roll on buddy, pull your load of coal'.
 
Breaks
While the intro break for the song should follow the melody closely enough to make it clear what song is being played before the first verse is sung, it is not necessary, or even desirable, for all subsequent breaks to do this. Nine Pound Hammer lends itself quite well to lick-oriented improvised breaks that may deviate considerably from the melody. (Listen especially to the Tony Rice recording for examples of this.) This is a good song to use as a means for practicing any licks that you may have in your repertoire that fit over a line of 1144 or a line of 1511 for the key that you are playing the song in.  

Pickup Notes
In the melody sheets attached here, notice that the first three notes of the melody of 'Nine Pound Hammer' are quarter notes, and that they occur before the first complete measure of the tune. (In cut common time, i.e., 2/2 time, as well as in common time, i.e., 4/4 time, 3 quarter notes make up only three-quarters of a complete measure.) Make it a point to remember these notes, because they will be useful for starting your intro breaks for many other songs that, like 'Nine Pound Hammer', also have as their first melody note in their first complete measure the note that has the same name as both the key that the song is being played in, and the first chord played in the song. (E.g., 'Little Birdie', 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain'.)

These notes are:

                 5     5     6      leading to   1   
                 sol  sol   la                        do
key of G:   D    D     E                        G  
key of A:    E    E     F#                       A  
key of Bb:  F    F     G                        Bb 
key of B:    F#  F#   G#                       B 
key of C:    G   G     A                         C 
key of D:    A    A     B                         D  
key of E;    B    B     C#                       E  
key of F:    C    C     D                         F   

Fill-in Licks in Backup & Breaks
The 7th measure of each verse and chorus has only one syllable in it, which is sung at the beginning of the measure. And, the measure that follows begins with a rest. During these kinds of 'dead spaces' within the melody of a song, it is very common for a fill-in lick to be played on one or more of the instruments. In the attachments I have included a chart of simple fill-in licks for guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin that will fit well into measure 7 through to the first quarter of measure 8 of the progression for Nine Pound Hammer when the song is played in the key of A. These same licks are also good to use in measures 7 to 8, and in measures 15 to 16 of your breaks. 

On the attached chart of fill-in licks, notes in parentheses are not really part of the fill-in lick proper and may be omitted if they are inconvenient to get into from what you were doing immediately before the fill-in measures begin. For instance, if you are playing chop chords on the fiddle or mandolin right up to the point where the fill-in measure starts, you may wish to substitute a quarter note rest in place of the quarter note in parentheses that occurs at the beginning of the fill-in lick measure.  Likewise, the notes you play in a guitar break in measures 6 and 14 may lead you more naturally to play the open 3rd string at the beginning of measures 7 and 15 than to play the note at the 3rd fret of the 6th string. When this happens, just substitute the open 3rd string note in place of the lower note shown in parentheses on the chart.

Song List
15 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 10 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - G
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - G
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Canaan's Land (a.k.a. Where The Soul Never Dies) - A
Liberty - D
Long Journey Home - A
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain - G
Mountain Dew - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' in the key of G.

Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNapvXhcNS8

The Mashville Brigade - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJSbcFYJl6I

Progression
The chord progression for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains is:
1111
5511
1111
5511
This is Prog. W5 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout. 
  
In the key of G: 1=G; 5=D. The G chord consists of the notes G, B, and D. The D chord consists of the notes D, F#, and A.

Notice that the second half of the progression is identical to the first half of the progression. Therefore, there are really only two lines (8 measures) to memorize. You should not need to look at a written copy of the progression while playing the song at the jam. Take a glance at the progression before the song starts, and just remember that every second line starts with two measures of the 5 chord. All other measures in the progression are 1's. 

Be prepared, however, to add an extra measure or two of the 1 chord to the last line of the progression for a break that occurs right before the singing starts up again, and the progression starts again from the beginning. This is common in bluegrass arrangements of songs. On the Flatt and Scruggs recording of the song, all three of the breaks are played as:
1111
5511
1111
55111

On the Mashville Brigade recording; the first three breaks, the last (fifth) break, and the first chorus are played as:
1111
5511
1111
551111

Melody
In listening to the Flatt & Scruggs recording and/or from looking at the attached melody sheets, notice that the melody of the song has only 5 notes in it. In ascending order of pitch, these are: E, G, A, B, and D. To make the melody slightly more interesting, the banjo, in its intro break lowers the G note in measures 3 and 11 to the D below the E note that is the lowest note in the vocal melody; the dobro break which occurs in the song after the second chorus does this same thing in measure 3, but not in measure 11. On this point, the sung melody on the Mashville Brigade recording coincides with the version of the melody played in the banjo intro break on the Flatt & Scruggs recording.  

Make it a point to remember this sequence of notes, and be sure that you can locate them on your instrument: D E G A B D. There are many songs that, when played in the key of G, have this same range of notes (lowest note D, highest note the D an octave higher) and have no other notes than G's, A's, B's, D's, and E's. Songs like this on the current main list and additional songs list for the beginner jam include 'Foggy Mountain Top', 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Amazing Grace', and 'Long Journey Home'. 

When transposed to each of the 7 other keys that these songs may be played in at the jam, these notes become:

key of A:    E   F# A   B  C#  E
key of Bb:  F   G  Bb C   D   F
key of B:    F# G# B  C# D# F#
key of C:    G   A   C  D   E   G
key of D:    A   B   D  E   F#  A
key of E;    B   C# E  F# G#  B
key of F:    C   D   F  G   A    C 

On the Nashville Number Charts included in the handouts for the beginner jam, these notes correspond with the numbers 5 6 1 2 3 5.

Melody/Progression Relationship
Notice that in the melody for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, the only notes that are dwelt on for half a measure or more are notes that belong to the chord being played at the time: G, B, or D notes during G chord measures, and A notes during D chord measures. It is because of those A notes at the beginning of lines 2 and 4, that a chord change occurs at the beginning of those lines, for the A note is not part of the G chord. It is typical, in the key of G, for a D chord to be played when the melody of a song dwells on an A note, for of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of G, namely, G, C, and D, the D chord is the only one that contains an A note. 

Breaks
In the breaks on the recordings, the measures that have only one or two melody notes in them sometimes have what sound like extra 'melody' notes added to them in addition to the many filler notes that are placed around the melody, whereas the measures that have 4 melody notes in them often have one or two of these notes deleted from them, and when not deleted, they sometimes get displaced within the measure.

For a slow-moving melody, as this song has, it will not work well to play for your break only what you see written on the attached melody sheets. In order to maintain good control of the rhythm, tempo, and feel of the song during your break, so that everyone who is playing backup during your break can be following you rather than the other way around, your break needs to consist mostly of eighth notes and quarter notes, not half notes and whole notes. 

Simple Guitar, Mandolin, and Fiddle Breaks
If you don't know what other notes would work to put around the melody, then for lack of anything else to do, keep to the melody notes, but - on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle - change half notes to a quarter note followed by two eighth notes, and for whole notes, do this twice: i.e., quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter, eighth, eighth. To see what this rhythm looks like when written out, refer to the 'guitar break' in the attachment. I have not included a fiddle break sheet or a mandolin break sheet in the attachments, because the guitar break tab suffices to show for the sake of all three of these instruments what the rhythm is that is being applied here to the melody. 

Simple Banjo Breaks
The banjo is a different story than guitar, mandolin, and fiddle (repeating the same note several times in a row in the manner described above doesn't work so well when playing with finger picks), so I have also included a 'banjo break' sheet in the attachments. This is a very basic break (a lot more is going on in the banjo breaks on the recordings than in the banjo break given in the attachments) which is given here to demonstrate how one can take one roll pattern (in this case, the alternating thumb roll) and place it around the melody, turning quarter notes into a pair of eighth notes, half notes into a series of four eighth notes, etc. To avoid the monotony that results from playing nothing but eighth notes in one's break, I have substituted for the roll in a few places a single quarter note followed by a quarter note double stop (called a 'pinch' on the banjo).   

Pickup Notes
On the break sheets, I have also included a pickup measure for each of the 4 instruments. You will need to use these, or something like them, in order to kick off the song effectively on your instrument without having to count into the song. Remember these three notes: D, G, A. These will work well as pickups for nearly any song in the key of G in which the first complete measure of the melody starts with a B note while a G chord is being played.

The corresponding notes for the 7 other keys used at the jam are:
key of A:   E,  A,  B leading to a C# note on an A chord.
key of Bb: F,  Bb, C leading to a D note on a Bb chord.
key of B:   F#, B, C# leading to a D# note on a B chord.
key of C:   G,  C,  D leading to an E note on a C chord.
key of D:    A,  D,  E leading to an F# note on a D chord.
key of E:    B,  E, F# leading to a G# note on an E chord.
key of F:    C,  F,  G  leading to an A note on an F chord.  

Lyrics
The lyrics of 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' are quite repetitive and easy to memorize. For this reason, this is one of the songs I recommend learning to sing to those who wish to lead a song at the jam, but do not have much experience yet in doing so. Other songs on the current beginner jam song lists that are fairly easy to memorize include: Mama Don't Allow, New River Train, Lonesome Road Blues, Long Journey Home, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, This Little Light Of Mine, When The Saints Go Marching In, and Worried Man Blues. 

For most of these songs, you need not know any more than three verses (in addition to the chorus for the songs that do have a chorus) in order to be ready to sing and play a complete arrangement of them at the jam. Notice that on the recordings of My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains given here there are only three verses sung (plus the chorus), yet, if you were to look online for lyric sheets for the song, or listen to other recorded versions of the song, you would come across some other verses for the song in addition to these three.

Singing from Memory 
It is important to sing from memory when leading the singing at a jam, because, whenever the lead singer is singing, he is the one who is primarily in control of the timing and rhythm of the song. So, he should be singing toward the group as a whole, and his lips should be clearly visible to the group, since the group is supposed to be following him. One cannot lead a song very effectively at a jam when reading the lyrics off a page. If the page is at eye level (for instance, on a music stand), then the page (and the stand) will form a barrier between the lead singer and his fellow jammers. If the page is below eye level (on the ground, or on one's lap), then the lead singer will be looking down, singing towards the ground, instead of towards the group.

This does not mean that one should not bring lyric sheets to a jam. For, even when a song is memorized, it is very easy to forget - in the moment how the 2nd verse (and subsequent verses) of a song starts. So, near the end of the break that comes right before another verse will be sung, it can be useful to be able to quickly glance at the lyrics to remind oneself, if one forgets. Observe, though, that this does not involve looking at the lyrics while singing.

However, instead of referring to a page on which the lyrics are written out in full, it is better to just write out the first line of the 2nd verse, and the first line of each subsequent verse in large print, and then place the page on the floor in front of you. Many guitar players - myself included - will tape smaller versions of these kind of 'cheat sheets' to their guitars for songs that they fear they might forget the lyrics to, so that - if needed - they can take a quick glance at them before starting to sing the next verse. (This will also work for stand-up bass players.)

If one needs to see more than just the beginnings of the 2nd and subsequent verses of a song in order to jog one's memory enough to be able to get through singing the whole song without serious errors, then this is usually a good sign that one does not yet know the song well enough to lead it effectively at a jam, and that one should give it some more practice at home before leading it at a jam.

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Boil The Cabbage Down' in the key of A.

Recordings
Tommy Jackson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgNU-kBAZ6M

The Grascals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441sSWWxee4


Form
Like a lot of other traditional fiddle tunes and folk songs that have been absorbed into bluegrass, there are many noticeably different versions of Boil The Cabbage Down. At bluegrass jams, one of the more common ways of playing it is as an instrumental in the key of A with the typical fiddle-tune form AABB, and that is how we will play it at the beginner jam when it is played during the first half of the evening. Alternate versions of the song are welcome to be introduced during the second half of the evening.

AABB means that the tune has two parts (A-Part = first part; B-Part = second part), each of which is played through twice before going on to the next part.
Like many other fiddle tunes, each A-Part and each B-Part is 8 measures long. Therefore, it takes 32 measures (8x4) to get through a complete break for Boil The Cabbage Down.

On the Tommy Jackson fiddle instrumental recording, Boil The Cabbage Down is played as a three-part tune: the tune is played through twice using the form AABBCC, and then deviates from there, being played as AABBAACCAA.

In contrast to this, The Grascals' vocal version uses only the A-Part of the tune.

Progression
The chord progression for the A-Part (and also for Tommy Jackson's C-Part) is:
1    4    1    5
1    4    1/5 1
This is Progression Y7 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout.

The chord progression for the B-Part is:
1    1     1    5
1    4     1/5 1
This is Progression Y2 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout.

'1/5' means that the measure is split between the 1 chord and the 5 chord.
In the key of A: 1=A. 4=D, 5=E.

Banjo players and most bluegrass guitar players habitually capo to the 2nd fret for playing in the key of A, so their chord shapes will be the same as those for the 1,4, and 5 chords in the key of G, which are: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D.

Video Lesson
Boil The Cabbage Down mandolin lesson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaIitAtwS5M 

I recommend this not only for mandolin players, but for anyone who wishes to get a better handle on the melody of the tune and the difference between the A-Part and the B-Part of the tune. You might notice that my version of the melody for the B-Part (see the attached melody sheets) differs a bit from the version of the melody used here, but this kind of variance in interpretation of the melody from one person to the next is quite common within bluegrass and old-time music, especially on fiddle tunes.

Fiddle players should be aware that the mandolin is tuned the same way as the fiddle, so the fingering positions are identical on both instruments. The mandolin breaks in the youtube link - including the one that uses double stops (i.e., two strings being played simultaneously) can be played note for note on the fiddle just as easily as on the mandolin.

More Recordings
John Hartford & The Dillards (starts at 1:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Ga8oeQ-qs

The opening fiddle break follows the form AABB, but the banjo break that comes after it plays AAAA. The remainder of the arrangement consists mostly of variations on the A-Part and improvisational playing over the chord progression for the A-Part.

Jackstraw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bzE8-5GfMM

The form for the breaks is ABB and the form for the vocal sections is AB, but with the high part being used as the A-Part (i.e., the first part), and the low part being used as the B-Part (i.e., the second part), which is the opposite of what we will be using as the A and B Parts at the jam.

Melody & Breaks: Fiddle, Mandolin, and Guitar
In the attachments, I have included the basic melody for Boil The Cabbage Down in standard notation, mandolin tab, banjo tab, and guitar tab. 

For fiddle, mandolin, and guitar players who wish to create simple break based upon the basic melody, I recommend applying a constant shuffle rhythm to the melody. That simply means playing a constant pattern of one quarter note followed by two 8th notes. Two cycles through this pattern is the length of one measure of music in cut time (2/2), and is counted as: 1  &a2  &a. In the attachments, I show what this rhythm looks like when applied to the first 4 measures of the melody for the B-Part of Boil The Cabbage Down (see the attachment titled 'Shuffle Rhythm Example'.)

Melody & Breaks: Banjo
For banjo players who wish to create a simple melody-based break for Boil The Cabbage Down, I recommend applying one type of roll pattern across the board to the whole tune. For this purpose, the two roll patterns that work best to apply to the whole tune are the alt. thumb roll and the forward roll. (See the attachment: 'Fitting Rolls Around the Melody' for examples of this.) 

Remember, on banjo, there is more than one convenient location within the first few frets for some of the notes; in particular, banjo players will often get the B note on the 4th fret of the 3rd string instead of using the open 2nd string, so that they can slide into the B note, and so that they can put an alternating thumb or reverse roll around it. Likewise, they will often get the D note on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string instead of using the open 1st string, so that they can hammer into the D note, and so that they can avoid starting a roll on the 1st string.  

For those who wish to create a more complex melody-based break for Boil The Cabbage, I recommend making use of several different roll patterns: experiment with them to discover for yourself at which points in the break you find that one roll works better than another to carry the melody.

Have a happy New Year!
Jason

Hi,
On Jan. 3rd, I'll be starting a new weekly beginner bluegrass jam at Revitalize Juice Bar in the Pioneer Building (6th and Main downtown Boise) on Thursday evenings from 6:30pm to 9pm. 

How The Beginner Jam Works: Song and Key Selection
For the first phase of the new beginner jam, we shall, for the first half of the night, play only songs on the 'Main List' and only in the keys specified for each song on that list (see the attachments). In this phase of the new beginner jam, I'll lead the singing on all songs called during the first half of the evening. 

For the second half of the night, people are welcome to call and lead the singing on any beginner-friendly bluegrass or quasi-bluegrass songs that they would like to play at the jam, and with most of the key restrictions removed, including for songs that are on the main list. For the person leading the singing on a song ought to choose a key for that song that suits his or her voice for bluegrass-style singing.

The Beginner Jam Handouts
To help give a clearer idea of what kinds of songs will tend to work well at the beginner jam in its initial phase, I have attached here, in addition to the Main List, another list of songs titled 'Additional Songs'. 

On this list, there are a number of songs that are more associated with genres of music other than bluegrass, but which lend themselves well to being played as bluegrass songs, and most of these are well-known both inside and outside of bluegrass circles. I have also included some songs on the additional songs list that are virtually unknown outside bluegrass circles for those who might prefer to take the approach of finding specifically bluegrass songs appropriate to introduce into the new beginner jam rather than songs already familiar from other genres. But most of the songs on the list fall somewhere between these two ends of the spectrum. 

Also included in the attachments are two other handouts for the new beginner jam: a chart of 'Basic Chord Progressions' that the song lists are keyed to, and a handout titled 'Nashville Number System Charts' in which the number names of the chords are translated into letter names for each of the keys that songs will be played in at the jam. Additionally, I have also included an explanation of the handouts in the attachments.

Have a happy New Year!
Jason

Basic Chord Progressions
Download File
​
Nashville Number System Charts
Download File