Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Shortnin' Bread', played as an instrumental. I intend to lead the tune twice at next week's jam: first in the key of G, and then in the key of D, but I recommend practicing it also in the keys of A and C.


Recordings
Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1NKw99Anlo  

Hillary Klug - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsefjHKdmFM

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

David Parmley & Cardinal Tradition - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN6u9FnCOrE  


Jam Videos 
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Shortnin' Bread.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Form & Arrangement
As played at the jams, and on the Snake River Boys and Hilary Klug recordings and the jam videos, 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. But, as you can hear on the other recordings, this is not the only way to arrange the tune.

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


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.

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).

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.


Melody
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)

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 files at the bottom of this write-up 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, Ron Block, and David Parmley recordings, all one needs to do is to play, when in the key of G, E notes in place of the D notes, and D notes in place of the E notes, or when in the key of A, F# notes in place of E notes, and E notes in place of F# 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, much as I did in my banjo breaks on the Snake River Boys recording.


Keys
On the main song list for the beginner jam, I have given the keys of G, A, C, and D all as options for playing Shortnin' Bread at the jam. 

I have included in the files section 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. For the key of A on guitar and banjo, capo the 2nd fret and play as if in G.

For the key of C, on fiddle and mandolin, lower the fingerings for the key of G down one string. For the key of D, on fiddle and mandolin, lower the fingerings for the key of A down one string.

For banjo and guitar, I have included melody sheets in the keys of C and D in addition to the key of G. Another good way to play the tune on banjo and guitar in the key of C is to capo the 5th fret and play as if in G, and another good way to play the tune on banjo and guitar in the key of D is to capo the 2nd fret and play as if in C.


8 Potato Intros
On the Snake River Boys and the Hilary Klug recordings, and on the jam videos, the tune starts with an 8 Potato Intro before the first A-Part is played. This is a highly effective way to start most fiddle tunes at jams.

An 8 Potato Intro consists essentially in droning 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 an intro break.

In the files section at the bottom of this write-up, 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. 
For 8 Potato Intros in the key of D (and for banjo and guitar, the key of C also), refer to the attachments in the song of the week write up for Soldier's Joy:
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/soldiers-joy (scroll down to the very bottom of the page)

For 8 Potato Intros in the key of C on fiddle and mandolin, drone C and E notes together, with the C being the lower of the two notes. This can be done on either the fourth and third strings (5th fret on the fourth string and 2nd fret on the third string on mandolin), or on the second and first strings (3rd fret on the second string on mandolin, and open first string).


Double Endings
On all but one of the recordings of Shortnin' Bread given here (and also on the four jam videos), 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. (On the Hilary Klug recording, there are only an extra 2 measures played at the end. This is a single ending. But the last 2 measures of her final A-Part sound much like the first half of a typical double ending, and she plays these right before going into her single ending.)

In the files at the bottom of this write up, 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.

For double endings in the key of D (and for banjo and guitar, the key of C also), refer to the attachments in the song of the week write up for Soldier's Joy.
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/soldiers-joy (scroll down to the very bottom of the page)

For key of C double endings on fiddle and mandolin, take the fingerings you use for the key of G double endings and lower them by one string, so that you will have C notes in place of G notes, A notes in place of E notes, G notes in place of D notes, etc. 


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 13 from the main list, 6 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Before I Met You - C
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Down The Road - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Liberty - D
Long Journey Home - A
Mama Don't Allow - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Shortnin' Bread - A
Way Down Town - A
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Wreck Of The Old '97 - C
Angeline The Baker - D
Beautiful Brown Eyes - C
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - D
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - A
Lonesome Feeling - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason



Shortnin' Bread - melody in G
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - melody in A
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - mandolin tab (G)
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - mandolin tab (A)
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - guitar tab
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - guitar tab (D)
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - guitar tab (C)
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - banjo tab
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - banjo tab (D)
Download File

Shortnin' Bread - banjo tab (C)
Download File

8 Potato Intro in G
Download File

8 Potato Intro in A
Download File

Double Endings in G
Download File

Double Endings in A
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Mama Don't Allow' in the key of A. 

Recordings 
The first two of the three recorded versions of Mama Don't Allow given below are very different from each other. The first, from Flatt and Scruggs, is a straightforward Bluegrass studio recording arrangement of the song, featuring only three lead instruments (banjo, fiddle, and dobro), while the second, from Doc Watson, has more of a jam feel to it, and, in addition to featuring traditional Bluegrass instruments (mandolin, banjo, guitar, etc.) it also includes and features some instruments that are not among the first instruments that usually come to mind when one thinks of Bluegrass (drums, piano).

Flatt & Scruggs - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfXlI6Fz4j0  

Doc Watson - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-ODoOHoNyQ  

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A (starts at 12:09)
Jason Homey and the Snake River boys, IBA Open Mic, 10_22_19 - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Mama Don't Allow. I recommend playing along with the one listed first, in which I am on guitar playing the song in the key of A, and with the one listed third, in which I am on mandolin (also in the key of A).
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
The chord progression for Mama Don't Allow is:
1111
1155
1144
1511

(Progression V2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)  

In the key of A: 1=A; 4=D; 5=E
In the key of G: 1=G; 4=C; 5=D.


Use of Fill-ins in Backup Playing
While listening to the recordings provided here, observe that the instruments not only take turns playing breaks, as determined by the lyrics, but also take turns being featured as the dominant backup instrument behind the vocals.  As soon as the name of the instrument is mentioned in the first line of the verse, this is an opportunity for that instrument to play a fill-in lick during the two measures of 'dead space' that occur in the vocal between the last syllable of the first line of the verse and the first syllable of the second line of the verse.  Two measure length 'dead' spaces' occur also after the last syllable of the second line and after the last syllable of the fourth line; so, in each verse there are three different spots where the appropriate instrument can announce its presence by playing a fill-in lick in anticipation of its upcoming break.

In the recorded versions, most of the fill-in licks used are not among the simpler ones to learn to play. In addition to the melody sheets for Mama Don't Allow, I have included in the attachments examples of a round of backup for each of the five instruments (including bass) that are almost always present at the jams. These sheets give examples of more widely accessible fill-in licks for each of the instruments, and show where to put the fill-ins in the progression. In the measures that I have left blank on the sheets, just play what you usually play for backup. (There are two example sheets given for banjo, since, depending on what order in which one learns one's rolls, chord shapes, etc., some banjo players are likely to find the set of fill-ins on the first sheet considerably easier to play than the set of fill-ins on the second sheet, while other banjo players may find that nearly the exact opposite is the case for them.)

On the backup sheets, 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 measure begins. 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 rest of equivalent time value in place of the note in parentheses that occurs at the beginning of the measure. In other cases, you may find yourself playing some other suitable note or notes in place of the ones in parentheses. 

Notice that during the final verse of Mama Don't Allow on the Doc Watson recording, several instruments play fill-in licks during the 'dead spaces' simultaneously. This is because the break that follows this verse is an 'everybody' break. For, in the final verse, Doc does not name an instrument. The same thing happens at the jams when, instead of naming an instrument in a verse, I sing "Mama don't 'low no bluegrass music 'round here."


Breaks
With the exception of the 4 chord measures in line 3, there is not much to the melody of Mama Don't Allow. So when creating a break for this song, try to do more than just merely shuffle (or on banjo, roll) through the melody. Make use of fill-in licks, and any other licks you know that will fit over the chords being played. These licks need not always imply the melody. Notice that in many of the breaks on the recordings, licks are used that have little or nothing to do with the melody of the song.


Bass Break
As commonly played at jams, the bass player is given a break on Mama Don't Allow, whereas for most other songs this is not done. Bass breaks for this song are not usually melody-based, so in place of a melody sheet for bass, I have included a bass break for Mama Don't Allow in A that is similar to the one played on the Snake River Boys live performance of the song given in the recordings section at the top of this write-up.
I have also included in the attachments a banjo tab that illustrates a very common way for all instruments to play backup during a bass break. Since this is significantly different from how backup is played on the instruments during banjo, guitar, mandolin, and fiddle breaks, I recommend taking a glance at this sheet if you do not have much experience with playing backup during a bass break, and I also recommend listening to and playing along with the mandolin jam video for Mama Don't Allow that I provided the link for in the jam videos section of this write-up. 
While I have written the backup sheet for the bass break only in banjo tab, I have included it here not only for the sake of banjo players. Guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dobro, harmonica players, etc., can also use it to get an idea of what to do for backup during a bass break on Mama Don't Allow at the jams. Translated into guitar terms, for instance, the sheet indicates that one would play a strum for the specified chord at the beginnings of measures 1,3,5,7,9,11,13, and 14 and only allow the notes of the chord to ring on for the space of a quarter note (there should be dead silence from the backup instruments in all the places where rests are written on the page), and then play a fill-in lick  starting in measure 15 and extending into the beginning of measure 16 before resuming one's ordinary way of playing backup again. On guitar, the most typical fill-in to use here would be some form of the 'G-run'. For one example of the 'G-run', refer to measure 15 plus the first note in measure 16 on the attached sheet titled 'Mama Don't Allow - guitar - fill-ins in backup.'


Bass Verse
For the verse that is sung right before the bass break, the way that we have played backup on this verse at the jams also differs from how we have played backup for the other verses. At the beginning of measure 3 of lines 1 and 2, we have played a quarter note (whether that be a single note, a double stop, or a chord) and then we have played nothing during the remainder of the measure and nothing during the measure that follows (i.e., measure 4 of lines 1 and 2), thereby allowing for the fill-ins that our bass player(s) have played in those spots to be more clearly heard. (Refer to the sheet in the attachments titled 'Mama Don't Allow - bass - fill-ins for bass verse' to see examples of bass fill-ins in lines 1 and 2 of a round of backup.) To hear what this sounds like, refer back to the Snake River Boys live performance of Mama Don't Allow in the recordings section: the bass verse starts at 13:54 in the video.


Pickup Notes
The last 3 notes printed on the six fill-ins in backup sheets in the attachments are the set of pickup notes that I recommend using to lead into most of your breaks for Mama Don't Allow. 


Song List
19 songs were played at last night's jam: 14 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 - A
Cripple Creek - A
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Liberty - D
Light At The River - C
Little Birdie - C
Long Journey Home - A
Mama Don't Allow - A
New River Train - F
Nine Pound Hammer - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Angeline The Baker - D
Cluck Old Hen - A
Forked Deer - D
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Faded Love - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Gathering Flowers From The Hillside' in the key of G.

Recordings
Earl Taylor & Jim McCall - key of G
Gathering Flowers FromThe Hillside - Earl Taylor & Jim McCall with The Stone Mountain Boys - YouTube

Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper - key of A (starts at 2:55)
Sing The Carter Family's Greatest Hits [1977] - Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper - YouTube

Hylo Brown -  key of F (starts at 28:00: last song on the record)
Sings Bluegrass Songs That Wonderful, Old Time Way [1959] - Hylo Brown - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (starts at 3:48)
Jason Homey and the Snake River boys, IBA Open Mic, 10_22_19 - YouTube

Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Gathering Flowers From The Hillside. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression for 'Gathering Flowers' is:

1111
1155
1111
1511
This is Prog. V1 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 the relation between the progression for 'Gathering Flowers' (V1) and the progressions used to play 'Mama Don't Allow' (V2), 'Foggy Mountain Top' (V6), and 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow' (V7). V1 simply stays on the '1' chord in all the spots where these other progressions have a '4' chord. In all four of these progressions, the locations of the '5' chords are the same (measures 3 and 4 of line 2, and measure 2 of line 4), and in all these progressions, measures 1 and 2 of lines 1, 2, and 3, and measures 1, 3, and 4 of line 4 have the '1' chord.


Melody 
The melody of Gathering Flowers shares a lot in common with the melody of Foggy Mountain Top. The only places where the two melodies significantly deviate from each other are from the second half of measure 2 through to the first half of measure 4 in lines 1 and 3. Compare the melody sheets for Gathering Flowers at the end of this write-up with the melody sheets in the attachments in the song of the week write-up for Foggy Mountain Top:
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/foggy-mountain-top  (scroll down to the bottom of the page)


Harmony
Just like in Foggy Mountain Top, a previous song of the week, each musical line of the melody for Gathering Flowers starts with the same note: a D note when in the key of G, which is the highest note in the melody. The syllable that coincides with the beginning of each musical line of the chorus is shown in bold type below. On these syllables, the tenor harmony note is a G note when in the key of G, and the baritone harmony note is a B note when in the key of G.

I've been gathering flowers from the hillside,
To wreath around your brow;
But you kept me waiting so long dear,
That the flowers have all withered now.


Fill-ins
There are four dead spaces in the melody of each verse and chorus of Gathering Flowers that are long enough for a fill-in lick to be used to fill up these spaces. These occur at the end of every musical line, starting in measure 3 of the line and ending in measure 4 of the line, which is the same location within a line that a fill-in fits into the progressions for all the previous songs of the week that I have discussed the use of fill-ins in connection with.  Here is a summary of most of the songs of the week since September of last year in which fill-ins fit into one or more of their lines:
                                                                                                line 1        line 2       line 3        line 4
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains              no fill        no fill        no fill       fillin (1)
& Beautiful Brown Eyes chorus

Nine Pound Hammer, Little Birdie, I'll Fly Away,             no fill         fillin (1)     no fill      fillin (1)
Will The Circle Be Unbroken & Way Down Town

Beautiful Brown Eyes  verses,                                            no fill         fillin (5)     no fill      fillin (1)
Bury Me Beneath The Willow, 
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone,
A Memory Of You  
& Foggy Mountain Top                                                                            

Gathering Flowers From The Hillside                               fillin (1)       fillin (5)     fillin (1)   fillin (1)

The numbers in parentheses refer to the chord that is called for at the time of the dead space in which the fillin lick is played.

Gathering Flowers provides more opportunity than any of the other songs for practicing fillins, and since there is room to fit three fillins on the 1 chord in each verse and chorus, it also provides a good opportunity for practicing varying your choice of fillins, if you know how to play more than one fillin for the 1 chord.

For G and D fillins (the 1 and 5 chords when in the key of G), refer back to the attachments in the song of the week write ups for Bury Me Beneath The Willow and I'll Fly Away:
Beginner Bluegrass Jam Songs - Idaho Bluegrass Association (scroll down to the bottom of the page)
Beginner Bluegrass Jam Songs - Idaho Bluegrass Association (scroll down to the bottom of the page)


Pickup Notes
Concerning Pickup Notes into a break for Gathering Flowers. Instead of playing only the 2 pickup notes (B and C) that are sung in the vocal melody (see the melody sheets at the bottom of this write-up) to lead into the first complete measure of your break, it is often more effective at jams to add a 3rd quarter note, a C#, after these two notes, especially if you the one kicking off the song with an intro break. The chromatically ascending sequence of pickup notes: B, C, C# to lead to a D note on a G chord is commonplace on good Bluegrass records (good examples of this are at the beginning of the banjo intro break and at the beginning of the fiddle break on the first youtube link given here for Gathering Flowers). Three-quarters of a measure, rather than just half a measure, worth of pickup notes gives everyone at the jam a better sense of what the tempo of the song will be, so that they can all start playing backup confidently behind the person playing the intro break at the beginning of the first complete measure of the break. This is a good case in point illustrating how it is sometimes better to make modifications to the melody as sung, rather than to follow the melody slavishly, when creating melody-based breaks. 

Note: Many melodies do not have any built-in pickup notes leading into their first complete measure; in these cases one needs to create a pick-up measure to have an effective intro break for the song. This can be done by borrowing pickup phrases from other songs in which the first full measure of the song starts with the same note and same chord as the song in question, or one can learn common generic pickup phrases used on Bluegrass records for each specific situation: e.g., a generic pickup phrase leading to a B note on a G chord, a generic pickup phrase leading to a C note on a C chord, etc.


Song List
19 songs were played at the jam on Thursday: 12 from the main list, 6 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Cripple Creek - A
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Liberty - D
Light At The River - A
Long Journey Home - A
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Old Joe Clark - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Way Down Town - E
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - A
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Angeline The Baker - D
Cluck Old Hen - A
Cryin' Holy - G
Foggy Mountain Top - C
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - E
Auld Lang Syne - Bb

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - banjo tab
Download File

Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - guitar tab
Download File

Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - mandolin tab
Download File

Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - melody in G
Download Fil

Hi everyone,
In the new year, the Beginner Bluegrass Jam will continue to be held on Thursdays from 6:30 - 9pm at the Ironwood Bar & Grill. 

In the attachments, I have included new song lists for the jam. Starting next week, these will replace the song lists that we used for the jam between September and December 2022.

The song of the week is 'All The Good Times Are Past And Gone' in the key of A.  This song is played in 3/4 time.


Recordings 
Flatt and Scruggs - key of A 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LnhLmyOKmM

Jimmy Martin - key of C 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBZFUNecJN8

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A (starts at 11:23)
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 6_25_19 - YouTube  


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for All The Good Times Are Past And Gone. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression for All The Good Times Are Past and Gone is:
 
1141
1155
1141
1511
This is Progression V6 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. Other songs, and parts of songs, on the song lists for the beginner jam that use this same progression are Amazing Grace, the verses and breaks of Before I Met You, Foggy Mountain Top, the verses and breaks of I've Lived A Lot In My Time, Light At The River, and the verses and breaks of Little Cabin Home On The Hill.
In the key of A: 1 = A; 4 = D; 5 = E.
With a capo on the 2nd fret, the chord shapes become: 1 = G; 4 = C; 5 = D.
 

3/4 Time
In 3/4 time (a.k.a. Waltz time), there are 3 beats per measure. On guitar, when playing rhythm, one measure will consist of 'boom-chuck-chuck', i.e., 'bassnote-strum-strum', rather than the more common rhythm for bluegrass songs of 'boom-chuck-boom-chuck'. Notice that this means that in 3/4 time it takes two measures, instead of one, to get through a cycle of root-5 (alternating bass) on guitar (and on bass, if you are playing only one note per measure). For this reason, it can be useful to think of the chord progression in groups of two measures. 


Root-5: Guitar, Bass (and Banjo)
The root note of each chord is simply the note that has the same letter name as the chord. The '5' of the chord is the 5th note of the major scale that has the same letter name as the chord. The first five notes of the A major scale are A, B, C#, D, and E, so when playing 'root-5' over an A chord, this means that you are alternating between an A note and an E note.

There are six major (and six minor) chords for which identifying the 5 involves nothing more than counting up the musical alphabet, without having to worry about sharps or flats. The six are: A, C, D, E, F, and G. So, the 5 of C (counting C  as 1) is G (1,2,3,4,5: C,D,E,F,G), the 5 of D is A, the 5 of E is B, the 5 of F is C, and the 5 of G is D. 


3/4 Time Root-5: Guitar, Bass (and Banjo)
Taking the progression two measures at a time, the first two measures allow one to play 'root-5' over the 1 chord, but the second group of two measures (i.e., the third and fourth measures) allow one to play only the root note of the chords called for there, because the second of these two measures has a different chord than what the first of these two measures does. So, this scenario is similar to what happens in the non-3/4 time songs we play at the jam in which a single measure is split between two chords (e.g., the 7th measure of each of the parts of Boil The Cabbage Down, Old Joe Clark, and Soldier's Joy, or the 2nd and 4th measures of Down The Road and the A-Part of Cripple Creek).

The second line of the progression for All The Good Times allows one to play root-5 over the 1 chord and then over the 5 chord. Notice that this means that two root notes over the 1 chord end up being played back to back, one in the last measure of the first line, and one in the first measure of the second line, since the first line of the progression ended with the 1 chord, and there was only time to play the root note of the chord, but not the 5, because the third measure of the first line called for a chord other than the 1 chord.

Notice that on the Flatt and Scruggs recording, an extra measure of the 1 chord is played at the end of each of the breaks before the vocal comes in. The same thing happens on the Jimmy Martin recording, except that after the mandolin intro break, two extra measures of the 1 chord are played before the vocal comes in. On The Snake River Boys recording, 2 extra measures are played at the end of the first three breaks, each of which are followed by a verse, but no extra measures are played at the end of the fourth (last) break which is followed by a chorus. When playing this song at the jam, these kinds of things may or may not happen, so be prepared for any number of these scenarios. The safest thing to do here is to just keep on hitting the root note of the chord (on bass and guitar) at the beginning of each of these potential additional measures of the '1' chord so as to guarantee that you will be playing the root note of the chord at the time when the progression starts over from the beginning.  


3/4 Vamp/Chop: Mandolin, Fiddle, Banjo, and Dobro
When playing a 'vamp' or 'chop' rhythm on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, or dobro, a measure of 3/4 time will consist of 'rest-chuck-chuck', which is the same as the guitar rhythm, just without the bass note at the beginning of the measure.


3/4 Rolls (Banjo)
When playing a roll in 3/4 time on banjo, you will have time for a maximum of 6 plucked notes per measure (counted as '1 & 2 & 3 &'), rather than the usual maximum of 8 notes per measure ('1 e & a 2 e & a'), Considered in relation to a roll pattern consisting of 8 notes, this usually involves omitting either the last two notes of the roll, or in some cases, the 5th and 6th notes of the roll, or the 3rd and 4th notes of the roll. If approaching playing in 3/4 time from his angle, make sure that the 3/4 time rolls you create by dropping notes from the standard 8 note rolls don't result in the need to play two 8th notes back to back with the same finger of your picking hand.


3/4 Licks
There are many standard (common time: 4/4, or cut common time 2/2) licks on banjo, as well as on the other bluegrass instruments, that have 3/4 time equivalents. The 3/4 time versions of these licks in many cases can be derived from the common time or cut common time lick by omitting a quarter of a measure's worth of the least essential notes of the lick. 

To help illustrate this, I have included in the Files section at the bottom of this write-up a chart of A and E fill-in licks for fiddle and mandolin, and G and D fill-in licks for banjo and guitar (capo 2 to raise them to A and E), presented in the context of 2 measures worth of 3/4 time backup playing. 

The two A measures (written as G measures, capo 2, for banjo and guitar) fit the last two measures (that is, measures 15 and 16) of the progression for All The Good Times when played in the key of A. The two E measures (written as D measures, capo 2, for banjo and guitar) fit the last two measures of the second line (that is, measures 7 and 8) of the progression for All The Good Times when played in the key of A. 


Ending the Song
In the Files section at the end of this write-up, I have included a chart of 'Waltz Time Endings in the Key of A' which shows simple, but effective, ways on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo to end 'All The Good Times Are Past And Gone', and almost any other song in 3/4 time when played in the key of A. These endings are played for the last 2 measures of the final chorus. They are not 'tack-on' endings to be played after the last 2 measures of the final chorus. The first beat of the first measure shown for each of the endings coincides with the last sung syllable in the song. Each of the endings shown are easily transposable to each of the other 7 major keys that songs are played in at the jam.


Fiddle & Mandolin Breaks: Easy Double Stops
When played in the key of A, the melody of All The Good Times Are Past And Gone can easily be harmonized in the context of a melody-based fiddle or mandolin break, by playing the next highest open string together with the string that the melody is being played on. On the A chord measures, play the open E string along with the A, B, and C# melody notes that are played on the A string. and play the open A string along with the E melody note that is played on the D string. On the E chord measures, play the open E string along with the A, B, and C# melody notes that are played on the A string. On the D chord measures, play the open A string while playing the F# and A melody notes on the D string. All of this works well because the A and E notes (2nd and 1st open strings) are notes that are part of the A chord, the A note is also part of the D chord, and the E note is also part of the E chord.


Lyrics
I sing the three verses that are on the Flatt & Scruggs recording, and occasionally add Jimmy Martin's second verse to this for a fourth verse.
For the chorus, I sing the set of lyrics that are on the Flatt & Scruggs recording. Notice that there is a difference between the lyrics for the 1st and 3rd lines of the chorus. The first line is the same as the title of the song ('All the good times are past and gone'), but the third line is: 'All the good times have passed and gone.'


Harmony
Since the starting note for the melody of the chorus is the third of the 1 chord (a C# note when in the key of A), the starting note for the tenor harmony is the fifth of the 1 chord (an E note when in the key of A), and the starting note for the baritone harmony is the root of the 1 chord (an A note when in the key of A). 

On the Snake River Boys performance of All The Good Times Are Past And Gone included in the Recordings section of this write-up, you might notice that although I sing the melody on the verses, I switch to singing the baritone harmony on the choruses, while the bass player takes over singing the melody on the choruses. 


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 6 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Mama Don't Allow - D
A Memory Of You - A
New River Train - F
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Cluck Old Hen - A
Jambalaya - C
Liberty - D
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - A
Mountain Dew - G
Will You Be Loving Another Man - A
Auld Lang Syne - G
Silent Night - C
Sitting On Top Of The World - G

Have a happy New Year!
Jason


Files:
All The Good Times - banjo tab
Download File

All The Good Times - guitar tab
Download File

All The Good Times - mandolin tab
Download File

All The Good Times - melody in A
Download File

Waltz Time Endings in the Key of A
Download File

E Chord Fill-in Licks in Waltz Time
Download File

A Chord Fill-in Licks in Waltz Time
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Soldier's Joy' in the key of D.


Recordings 
Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys (guitar & fiddle breaks) (starts at 3:50) - key of D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyZWC5CVdaI
 
Larry Rice and the Bottom Dollar Boys (mandolin, fiddle, Scruggs-style banjo: tuned GCGBD, capo 2, & guitar breaks) - key of D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzZ2tSENgTY

Earl Scruggs & John McEuen: a good example of Scruggs-style banjo and Clawhammer banjo being played together. Scruggs' banjo is tuned GCGBD; John McEuen's banjo is tuned GCGCE. Note: since there is no fiddle or mandolin here, they get away with playing Soldier's Joy in C (no capo) instead of D (capo 2). 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5OKxPE59Bo

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys (fiddle, mostly Scruggs-style banjo, with a bit of single-string and melodic styles: tuned ADGBD, and guitar breaks) (starts at 7:53) - key of D
Jason Homey and the Snake River boys, IBA Open Mic, 10_22_19 - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Soldier's Joy. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Form & Key 
Soldier's Joy follows the most typical form for traditional fiddle tunes: AABB, with each A-Part and each B-Part being 8 measures long. (Total: 32 measures). Like most traditional fiddle tunes, there is only one key that it is usually played in: in this case 'D'.


Progression
A-Part:
1    1    1    5
1    1    1/5 1
(Prog. Y1 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)
 
B-Part
1    4    1    5
1    4    1/5 1
(Prog. Y7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. This is the same progression that is used to play the A-Part of Boil The Cabbage Down.) 
In the key of D: 1 = D; 4 = G; 5 = A. 


'To capo or not to capo'
Many banjo players and some guitar players prefer to play Soldier's Joy in D by capoing to the 2nd fret and then playing it as if in 'C'. For this reason, I have included both key of D and key of C tabs for banjo and guitar in the files at the bottom of this write up.. 

If you have the capo on the 2nd fret for playing Soldier's Joy in D, then your chord shapes need to be the same as those for playing in the key of C without a capo: 1=C; 4=F; 5=G.


Banjo Tunings
On banjo, no matter which of these two options you choose: capo  2 or no capo, you will need to raise your 5th string up to an A note (i.e., spike/capo your 5th string to the 7th fret) in order to be able to play an effective Scruggs-style or Clawhammer-style break.

Most Scruggs-style banjo players who prefer the capo 2 option tune their 4th string down a whole step so as to retain access to the lowest melody note in the tune when playing within the first 5 frets. (This is called 'C tuning': without the capo the 4th string will be tuned down to a C note. With the capo on the 2nd fret, the 4th string will then register as a D note when not fretted.) 

Most clawhammer banjo players play Soldier's Joy either by tuning to Double C tuning: GCGCD or Open C tuning: GCGCE, and then capo to the 2nd fret in order to be playing in D. 


8 Potato Intros
Since the most effective way to start most fiddle tunes at a jam is by playing an 8 potato intro before starting into the first A-Part of your intro break, I have included a file at the end of this write-up that gives 8 potato intros suitable for Soldier's Joy and most other key of D fiddle tunes, for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. 

Note: If you have pickup notes leading into the first complete measure of your break, you must cut the 8 potato intro short by playing the pickup notes in place of the corresponding part of the last measure of the 8 potato intro, so that you end up with exactly 4 measures worth of music, no more and no less, before the first full measure of your opening break starts.  


Breaks
In place of the melody sheets that I usually include in the files section of the song of the week emails, I have given an assortment of breaks for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, 3 finger-style banjo, and clawhammer banjo. For those of you who find it helpful to learn from sheet music/tab, I suggest taking a look at each of the breaks provided for your instrument before you try any of them out. And, there is no need to learn/memorize any of the breaks exactly as written. You may wish to mix and match some of them with each other, and with the ways that you already play breaks for the tune, so as to create breaks that work best for you, both in terms of your level of playing ability, and personal preferences. Also, if you are able to read music written for instruments other than the one that you play at the jam, you can get additional ideas for breaks on your instrument from the breaks written for other instruments.


Double Endings 
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 played after the last measure of the final B-Part rather than during the tail-end of the final B-Part.

In the files at the bottom of this write-up, I have included examples of double-endings for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo suitable for most key of D fiddle tunes. These are called 'double endings', for they consist of two 2-measure length ending licks played back to back.  


Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam: 9 from the main list, 2 from the additional songs list, and 5 that are on neither list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - G
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
Mountain Dew - A
Faded Love - D
Jingle Bells - C
Go Tell It On The Mountain (played twice) - A & G
Good King Wenceslas - G
Silent Night - C

Have a merry Christmas!
Jason



8 Potato Intro in D
Download File

Double endings in D
Download File


Soldier's Joy - clawhammer banjo break 1
Download File

Soldier's Joy - clawhammer banjo breaks 2 & 3
Download File


Soldier's Joy - Scruggs-style banjo break 1
Download File

Soldier's Joy - Scruggs-style banjo break 2
Download File


Soldier's Joy - mandolin break 1
Download File

Soldier's Joy - mandolin break 2
Download File


Soldier's Joy - guitar break 1
Download File

Soldier's Joy - guitar break 2
Download File

Soldier's Joy - guitar break 3
Download File


Soldier's Joy - fiddle (mandolin, guitar, melodic-single string banjo) break 1
Download File

Soldier's Joy - fiddle (mandolin, guitar, melodic-single string banjo) break 2
Download File

Soldier's Joy - fiddle (mandolin, guitar, melodic-single string banjo) break 3
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' in the key of G.

​
Recordings
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - on their classic 3-record 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken' album: with Earl Scruggs on banjo, Vassar Clements on fiddle, Doc Watson on guitar, and Mother Maybelle Carter, Jimmy Martin, and Roy Acuff taking turns singing the verses: key of A
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - YouTube

Bill Monroe (live) - key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Uk42Q-51o 

Ralph Stanley - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFqL6BprLZM

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (starts at 15:24)
Jason Homey and the Snake River boys, IBA Open Mic, 10_22_19 - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Will The Circle Be Unbroken. I recommend starting with the one listed last. In that one, I am on guitar, and am playing in the key of G.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
Most often when it has been played at the beginner jam, Will The Circle Be Unbroken uses the same chord progression as I'll Fly Away (Prog. V3 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout):

1111
4411
1111
1511

In the key of G: 1 = G, 4 = C, and 5 = D.
In the key of A: 1 = A, 4 = D, and 5 = E.
In the key of Bb: 1 = Bb, 4 = Eb, and 5 = F  Etc.

Other progressions that have been used on recordings and at jams for Will The Circle Be Unbroken include:
1111
4411
1111
5511
(Prog. W3)

1111
4411
1116m
1511
(This is the most common alternative progression at bluegrass jams for Will The Circle Be Unbroken.)

1111
4411
116m6m
1511
(In the key of G: 6m=Em. In the key of A: 6m = F#m. In the key of Bb: 6m = Gm. Etc. The 6m chord is the relative minor chord of the 1 chord.)

Since the person leading the song is responsible for determining which progression will be used for the song, it is important at a jam to pay attention to the choice of chord changes being used by the person leading the song, so that you don't find yourself using a different progression than that used by the leader.


Melody
Notice that while the G Major Scale consists of the 7 notes G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#, only five of these notes are used for the melody of Will The Circle Be Unbroken; these are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the G Major Scale: G, A, B, D, and E. This 5-note subset of the G Major Scale forms what is called the G Major Pentatonic Scale.

Knowing which 5 notes of the Major Scale form the Major Pentatonic Scale can be very useful when trying to find the melody of a song on an instrument, because there are many songs like Will The Circle Be Unbroken that have melodies that use only the notes of the Major Pentatonic scale, and even in songs that use more notes, the notes of the Major Pentatonic Scale tend to show up more frequently than the two Major Scale notes that are not included in the Major Pentatonic Scale.

Some other songs that use only the notes of the Major Pentatonic Scale in their melodies are: 
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone 
Amazing Grace 
Auld Lang Syne
Camptown Races
Canaan's Land
Come Back Darling
The Crawdad Song
Down The Road
Foggy Mountain Top
Handsome Molly
Let Me Be Your Friend
Light At The River
Little Liza Jane
Long Journey Home
Mountain Dew
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains
Nine Pound Hammer
Shortnin' Bread
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Tom Dooley 
Just like in Amazing Grace, Nine Pound Hammer, Foggy Mountain Top, Long Journey Home, Mountain Dew, and My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, the lowest and highest notes of the melody for Will The Circle Be Unbroken are the 5th note of the Major Scale, with the lower 5th and the higher 5th being an octave apart from each other. (D notes when in the key of G; E notes when in the key of A, etc.)

Here is a comparison of the Major Scales and Major Pentatonic Scales for the 8 major keys we play in at the jam:

                                            1      2     3     4     5     6     7
G Major                             G    A     B     C    D     E     F#
G Major Pentatonic         G    A     B           D     E

A Major                              A    B     C#   D    E     F#   G#
A Major Pentatonic          A    B     C#          E     F#

Bb Major                           Bb   C    D     Eb   F     G     A
Bb Major Pentatonic       Bb   C    D             F     G

B Major                             B    C#   D#   E    F#   G#   A#      
B Major Pentatonic         B    C#   D#          F#   G#   

C Major                             C    D     E     F    G     A     B
C Major Pentatonic         C    D     E           G     A

D Major                             D     E     F#   G   A     B     C#
D Major Pentatonic         D     E     F#          A    B

E Major                             E     F#   G#   A    B    C#   D#
E Major Pentatonic         E     F#   G#         B    C#   

F Major                              F     G     A    Bb   C    D    E
F Major Pentatonic          F     G     A            C    D


Pickups
For Will The Circle Be Unbroken, use the same set of pickups to lead into a break, especially an intro break, that you would use to start Nine Pound Hammer, Little Birdie, or She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain. Notice that the melody of Will The Circle has two pickup notes built into it. These are the same two pickup notes that are built into the melodies of Little Birdie and She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, and they are also the same as the last two pickup notes that are built into the melody of Nine Pound Hammer. When a song has built-in pickups, it is usually best to include these in one's pickup phrase for leading into a break, rather than selecting pickup notes that don't imply the melody. A simple way to turn the pickup notes in  the melodies of Little Birdie, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, and Will The Circle Be Unbroken into a pickup phrase that consists of three quarter notes (using three quarter notes rather than just two is usually a more effective way to start an intro break at a jam) is to double up on the first pickup note in the melody:

                  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   

On banjo, another effective way to start an intro break for Little Birdie, Nine Pound Hammer, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, and Will The Circle Be Unbroken 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 note pickup notes that the melody starts with.


Lyrics
At jams, it is common for the song to be sung with either 3 or 4 verses:
1. I Was standing by my window...
2. Lord I told that undertaker... (or Well I told that undertaker... or Undertaker, undertaker...)
3. Lord I followed close behind her... (or Well I followed close behind her...)
(4. I went home Lord, my home was lonesome...) 


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam: 13 from the main list, 1 from the additional songs list, and 4 that are on neither list:

Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Little Birdie - Bb
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - Bb
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Christmas Time's A Coming - A
Good King Wenceslas - G
Joyeux Noel - A
Silent Night - C

Happy Pickin'
Jason



Will The Circle Be Unbroken - banjo tab
Download File

Will The Circle Be Unbroken - guitar tab
Download File

Will The Circle Be Unbroken  - mandolin tab
Download File

Will The Circle Be Unbroken  - melody in G
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Silent Night' in the key of C.
Silent Night is played in 3/4 (waltz) time: 3 beats per measure; guitar rhythm = boom-chuck-chuck, i.e., bass note, strum, strum.

​
Recordings 
Luke Lenhart Family and Friends - key of G. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7oUEpZHcaQ 

Reno & Smiley - key of Db (a half-step higher than C) - song starts at 5:13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML4vFbTMPoo

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of C - starts at 11:25
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 12_16_19 - YouTube


Jam Video
Here is a youtube jam video that I have made for Silent Night.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
The chord progression I use for Silent Night is:
1111
5511
4411
4411
5511
1511

In the key of C:
1=C
4=F
5=G


Melody
From lowest to highest, the notes that make up the melody of Silent Night are:
                    1     2    3     4     5    6     7     8     9     10    11
key of C     C    D    E     F    G    A     B     C    D     E     F
key of D     D    E    F#  G    A    B     C#   D    E     F#  G
key of E     E     F#  G#  A   B    C#  D#   E     F#  G#  A
key of F      F    G    A     Bb C    D    Eb    F     G    A     Bb
key of G     G    A    B     C    D    E    F#    G    A     B    C
key of A      A    B    C#  D    E    F#  G#   A    B     C#  D
key of Bb    Bb C    D    Eb   F    G    A     Bb   C    D     Eb
key of B      B   C#  D#  E    F#  G#  A#  B     C#  D#  E

but, it is only in the 5th line of the song that the melody goes up to its two highest notes, and it is only at the end of the 6th (last) line of the song that the melody goes down to its two lowest notes. 


Banjo: to capo or not to capo 
For banjo players, I recommend playing the song without a capo.  This way all your melody notes can be found within the first five frets of the instrument.  The highest note of the melody is the F note on the 3rd fret of the 1st string.  The lowest melody note is the C note that results from tuning your 4th string down to a C.  But, since this note occurs in the melody only once (at the very end of the form), and since it would make it inconvenient to get other parts of the melody if one were to tune the 4th string down to a C (C tuning), I recommend staying in G tuning and simply playing the last 2 notes of the melody (D note followed by a C note) an octave higher (i.e., open 1st string followed by 1st fret of 2nd string).  The reason why I suggest playing the last 2 notes an octave higher, instead of just the very last note, is for no other reason than that it makes it less noticeable that one has jumped up an octave higher than where one would ordinarily expect the melody to be.  If a banjo player were to capo on the 5th fret and play as if in G, then the highest melody note would be on the 15th fret of the 1st string!  And there would be no melody notes on the 4th string. For banjo players who are unaccustomed to playing in the key of C without a capo, or are not quite sure what rolls, filler notes, or other Scruggs-style frills to put around the melody for playing a break for this song, I suggest just playing the melody as is for a break. (See the banjo tab melody sheet in the files at the bottom of this write-up.)


Guitar: to capo or not to capo
For guitar players who wish to work out a Carter-style break (i.e., strums added between some of the melody notes) for Silent Night, I suggest capoing to the 5th fret and playing as if in G. This way one can get all the melody notes on the 6th through 2nd strings - which tends to work better for most Carter-style breaks - instead of the 5th through 1st strings.  But some may find it easier to play this type of break in the key of C without a capo, since all the melody notes can then be found within the first 3 frets instead of the first 4 frets. For this reason, in the files, I have included two guitar tabs of the melody, one in C and one in G.


Mandolin
In the mandolin tab of the melody in the files here, the three lines written above certain (longer) melody notes indicate where one may wish to use tremolo as a way to embellish the melody.
                                                                                      
Happy Pickin',
Jason


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 1 from the additional songs list, and 6 that are on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - C
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - A
A Memory Of You - A
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Angeline The Baker - D
I Saw The Light - A
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - D
Away In A Manger - A
Joy To The World - D
Little Elf Joe - A
Silent Night - C



Silent Night - melody in C
Download File

Silent Night - banjo tab
Download File

Silent Night - mandolin tab
Download File

Silent Night - guitar tab 1
Download File

Silent Night - guitar tab 2
Download File

Hi everyone,
Just a quick reminder that for the whole month of December, the beginner jam has been moved to the Ironwood Bar & Grill, and is being held on Thursdays rather than Tuesdays.

Bluegrass Christmas
At the beginner jams held for the remainder of December, you are welcome  to call Christmas/seasonal songs at the jam that you would like to play that you believe would be a good 'fit' for the beginner jam group. And you need not wait until the second half of the evening to call these. 

Of the many Christmas/seasonal songs that have been played in past years at the December through early January beginner jams, the ones that I think have worked the best in the context of the beginner jam are:

Auld Lang Syne
Away In A Manger 
Good King Wenceslas
Jingle Bells
Shepherds In The Field 
Silent Night
Go Tell It On The Mountain
Joy To The World
Silver Bells

In a file at the bottom of this write-up, I have included the chord progressions I usually use for each of these 9 songs.

Song of the week write-ups, complete with recordings and melody sheets, for Auld Lang Syne, Away In A Manger, Good King Wenceslas, and Silent Night can be found here: 
All of Jason's Songs - Idaho Bluegrass Association

In addition to the jam videos available here Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com) for Away In A Manger, Good King Wenceslas, and Silent Night, I have also made a jam video that includes Jingle Bells, Shepherds In The Field, and Auld Lang Syne (Beginner Bluegrass Jam 12/12/2020 | Jam Along | Idaho Bluegrass Association | Jason Homey - YouTube), and a jam video that starts with Joy To The World Intermediate Bluegrass Jam 12/12/2020 | Jam Along | Idaho Bluegrass Association | Jason Homey - YouTube

Finally, here is a live performance from the December 2019 IBA open mic of 6 Christmas/Seasonal songs (O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Away In A Manger, Good King Wenceslas, Silent Night, Shepherds In The Field, and Auld Lang Syne) Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 12_16_19 - YouTube

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​
Christmas Seasonal Songs.pdf
Download File

Hi everyone,
Song of the Week
The song of the week is 'Nine Pound Hammer' in the key of B.

​
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

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of B. (The song starts at the 8:27 mark in the video):
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 2/26/19 - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Nine Pound Hammer. In the one listed second, I am on guitar in the key of B.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
The chord progression for Nine Pound Hammer is:
1144
1511

In the key of B: 1=B; 4=E; 5=F#.
The B chord consists of: BD#F#; the E chord: EG#B; the F# chord: F#A#C#


Banjo, Guitar, & Dobro: Practicing with a Capo
For guitar, dobro, and especially banjo players who have much less experience playing in B than in G and A: I suggest making it a point to spend some practice time playing with the capo on the 4th fret (with the 5th string, on banjo, spiked/capoed at the 9th fret), for although the fingerings for playing in B will be the same as those for playing in G, the instrument will feel different to play: the frets will be closer together, and the strings will feel a bit tighter; and on banjo, it can get a bit confusing to see the 5th (short) string being located directly above one's left hand when one is playing in first position if one is not used to this.


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'.


Pickup Notes
In the melody sheets in the attachments to this write-up, 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   


Breaks, Improvisation, and Scales
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, Nine Pound Hammer lends itself quite well to lick-oriented improvised breaks that may deviate considerably from the melody. 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.  

On mandolin and fiddle, a good place to get started with finding suitable notes on your instrument to make use of in licks for improvising over Nine Pound Hammer in the key of B is to run through the B Major, B Major Pentatonic, and B Dorian Scales:
B Major Scale                      = B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
B Major Pentatonic Scale = B,  C#, D#,     F#, G#,        B
B Dorian Scale                    = B, C#,  D,   E, F#, G#, A,    B

On guitar, banjo, and dobro, run through the equivalent G Scales with the capo on the 4th fret to raise your key of G playing up to the key of B:
G Major Scale                      = G, A, B,    C, D, E. F#, G
G Major Pentatonic Scale = G, A, B,         D, E
G Dorian Scale                    = G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F, G


Fiddle & Mandolin: Double Stops
For fiddlers and mandolin players who do not have much experience playing in B, I have included as an attachment to this write-up a chart of double stops that will work well in breaks for many songs in the key of B. For best results when using these in a melody-based break, be sure that the melody note is the lower, not the higher, of the two notes in the double stop, and if lingering on a particular double stop, instead of using it merely in passing, be sure that it matches the chord that is being played at the time in the song. For this reason, I have written chord names above each double stop.  


Blue Notes
When playing without a capo in keys that have a lot of sharps in their key signature, I tend to try to find more spots than usual in my breaks for where I can make good use of 'blue notes': flatted 3rds and flatted 7ths (observe that these are the two notes in the dorian scale that differ from the notes in the major scale) but only to the extent these suit the song. The reason for this is that in these keys, flatted 3rds and flatted 7ths end up being notes that frequently occur in the more 'user-friendly' keys of C, G, D, and A. In the key of B, the flatted 3rd is a D note, and the flatted 7th is an A note. Unlike the 3rd and 7th scale degrees of the B major scale (i.e., D# and A#), both of these 'blue notes' (D and A when in the key of B) are part of the major scale for all the keys that I feel most comfortable playing in without a capo.

Nine Pound Hammer lends itself especially well to the use of blue notes in breaks, so even when playing it in keys that don't have a lot of sharps, I still tend to use about just as many blue notes in improvised breaks for the song. In the key of G, the flatted 3rd and flatted 7th notes are Bb and F respectively.


7th Chords
Closely related to the use of blue notes is the use of 7th chords. One can make good use of 7th chords in improvised breaks during a measure of the 1 chord that is followed by the 4 chord, and also during a measure of the 4 chord that is followed by the 1 chord.  7th chords are created by flatting the 7th major scale degree of the chord being played and adding that note to the chord.  E.g., the 7th scale degree of the B major scale is an A# note.  Flatting this note (i.e., lowering it by a half step) gives the A note.  Adding the A note to a B chord results in an B7 chord.  The 7th scale degree of the E major scale is a D# note.  Lower this note by a half step and you have a D note. Add the D note to an E chord and this creates an E7 chord. Adding an F note to a G chord makes it a G7, adding a Bb note to a C chord makes it a C7, etc. 


Song List
21 songs were played at last night's jam: 15 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither 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
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
I'll Fly Away - A
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - A
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - Bb
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Down The Road - G
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Are You Missing Me - G
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
Wildwood Flower - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Sheet Music:
Nine Pound Hammer - banjo tab in B
Download File

Nine Pound Hammer - guitar tab in B
Download File

Nine Pound Hammer - mandolin tab in B
Download File

Nine Pound Hammer - melody in B
Download File

A Chord Fill-in Licks
Download File

B Chord Fill-in Licks
Download File

Hi everyone,
There will be no jam at the Powderhaus this coming Tuesday (Nov. 29th). For the next 5 weeks, the beginner bluegrass jams will be held at the Ironwood Bar & Grill (5467 N Glenwood St.) on Thursday evenings. (Dec. 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29: same start and end time as usual: 6:30 - 9). At the beginning of January, we should be able to resume holding the jams on Tuesday evenings at the Powderhaus.

The song of the week is 'Buffalo Gals' in the key of A, played as an instrumental.


Recordings
Aubrey Haynie (mandolin break - key of A, fiddle break - key of D, banjo break - key of A, dobro break - key of D, fiddle break - key of A, guitar break - key of D, mandolin break - key of A)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8qYQf0ABFk

Mike Scott - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIZs3Rs8B2U

Alan Munde - key of A
Buffalo Gals - YouTube

Eric Weissberg - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Itq8p6lRTg

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A 
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 4/23/19 - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Buffalo Gals. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar, and am playing the tune in the key of A.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Form 
Buffalo Gals is a two-part fiddle tune. Each part is 8 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 8 measures long, it takes 32 measures (8x4) to get through a single complete break for Buffalo Gals. (The same is true also for 'Boil The Cabbage Down', 'Soldier's Joy', 'Angeline The Baker', 'Liberty', and 'Old Joe Clark'.) This is twice the length of a single AABB form break for 'Cripple Creek', 'Shortnin' Bread', and 'Cluck Old Hen'. For, in those tunes each part is only 4, instead of 8, measures long.


Progression
Both parts of Buffalo Gals use the same chord progression:
1151
1151

This is Prog. Z5 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. 
It takes 8 repetitions of the 4-measure line 1151 to get through a complete AABB form break for Buffalo Gals.

In the key of G: 1 = G, 5 = D
In the key of A: 1 = A, 5 = E
In the key of B: 1 = B, 5 = F# 
In the key of C: 1 = C, 5 = G 
In the key of D: 1 = D, 5 = A
Etc.


Starting the Tune
Buffalo Gals is one of the relatively few AABB form fiddle tunes that I prefer not to start with an 8 potato intro at a jam, because the way I usually play the first half measure of my breaks for Buffalo Gals (except for when playing it on the banjo in the keys of C, D,  E, or F) is essentially the same as the way I play the first half of each of the 4 measures of an 8 potato intro, thus making it sound unclear where the intro to the break ends and where the opening break begins. So, like on the Mike Scott and Eric Weissberg recordings of Buffalo Gals, I usually start instead with three quarter-note pickups that ascend up to the note that the melody begins with. 

These notes are:
                   5     6     7      leading to   1   
                  sol   la     ti                        do
key of G:   D    E      F#                       G  
key of A:    E    F#   G#                        A  
key of Bb:  F    G      A                        Bb 
key of B:    F#  G#   A#                        B 
key of C:    G    A      B                         C 
key of D:    A    B     C#                        D  
key of E;    B    C#   D#                        E  
key of F:     C    D     E                         F   

This same set of pickup notes will work well for starting intro breaks for , 'Mama Don't Allow', 'Amazing Grace', 'Down The Road', and 'Light At The River'.
On the Mike Scott recording, an eighth note pinch/double stop is played before the first of the three quarter-note pickups. I often do this on banjo, but on the other instruments, I change this to a single eighth note. Weissberg also uses on banjo a single eighth note - the first note of the Major Scale, the root note of the 1 chord - before his three quarter-note pickups.  

However, if the way you play the first half measure of your intro break for Buffalo Gals differs enough from the way you play your 8 potato intro to make using an 8 potato intro an effective way to start the tune, then you may prefer to kick off Buffalo Gals with an 8 potato intro instead of with a pickup phrase. For examples of 8 potato intros in the keys of G, A, and D for fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar, refer back to the files included in the song of the week write-up for Boil The Cabbage Down.
Beginner Bluegrass Jam Songs - Idaho Bluegrass Association


Breaks
Buffalo Gals has a fast enough moving melody that one can play a satisfactory beginning-level bluegrass break for it without adding much around the melody. But, because the tune is so repetitive, I can't help but want to vary it up as I go through the phrases that constantly recur in the tune.

In addition to the melody sheets, I have included in the files at the end of this write-up an example of a pattern I make use of on the instruments I play for adding notes around the melody. I call this the checkmark pattern, because if one were to represent the pattern on a graph, the dots would connect to form checkmarks. (See also the additional file at the bottom of this write-up labeled as 'Buffalo Gals - graph for the first one-and-a-half measures'.) This pattern is made use of sparingly in various spots in some of the breaks played on recordings of the tune included here. 

I use this pattern very often on guitar and mandolin (check out the first and especially the third of the Buffalo Gals jam videos Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com ), and to a somewhat lesser extent when playing clawhammer (old-time) style banjo, but to an even lesser extent when playing 3 finger style banjo. Scruggs-style banjo lends itself well to other types of note choices that are determined by a repertoire of various right hand picking patterns (rolls), and clawhammer banjo has its own set of patterns that are characteristic of the clawhammer style, but for banjo players who are curious about how the notes given for the other instruments might fall on the banjo when played in 3 finger style and in clawhammer style, I have included banjo examples of the checkmark pattern applied to the first four measures of Buffalo Gals in the file . On banjo, this involves some pretty advanced-level playing relative to the much lower level of difficulty in getting the same combinations of notes on fiddle, mandolin and guitar. 
To grasp the system whereby notes are added around the melody using the checkmark pattern, compare the first four measures of the A Part melody for Buffalo Gals with the 'Buffalo Gals - checkmark patterns example' file, breaking both of them down into half-measure chunks. (Note: there are more examples of the pattern on this sheet than what would tend to occur in my playing within any four consecutive measures: I use all these moves in my playing, but I don't usually string them all together back to back.) Within each half-measure unit, observe whether the melody is ascending from a lower to a higher note, descending from a higher to a lower note, or remaining on the same note, and observe whether or not the same thing is happening between the note that ends one of the half-measure units and the note that begins the next half-measure unit.

In the first half of measure 1, the melody remains on the same note, but then ascends to a higher note at the beginning of the second half of that measure. In this case, I start with the first melody note, then dip down to a slightly lower note, then return to the note I started with, and then ascend to a note that connects smoothly into the even higher melody note that the second half of the measure starts with. 

The same idea applies to the second half of measure 1, though, in that case the melody ascends within that unit, rather than just when moving into the next unit: so the fourth/final note of the checkmark pattern that connects into the first note of measure 2 ends up being the same note as the second/final melody note in the second half of measure 1; the melody note in question is displaced in the process, coming an 8th of a measure later in the checkmark pattern example than where it occurs within the unembellished melody.

In the first half of measure 2, going into the second half of that measure, the melody moves in the opposite direction: descending instead of ascending. In that case, after the starting melody note, I first ascend to a higher note, then return to the starting note, then descend to a note that connects to the even lower next melody note that starts the second half of measure 2: thus, we end up with an upside down checkmark in this case.


Double Endings
On the Alan Munde, Eric Weissberg, and Snake River Boys recordings of Buffalo Gals given here, there are an extra 4 measures played at the end of the tune after the final B-Part. This is called a 'double ending', for it consists of two 2-measure length ending licks played back to back. (Weissberg shortens the last measure of the final B-Part to half of a complete measure, so his four measure double ending starts half a measure earlier than what one would ordinarily expect.)

At bluegrass jams, it is common for a double ending to be played after the final break on AABB form tunes like Buffalo Gals. In the attachments, I have included examples of double-endings for fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo suitable for most key of A, G, and D fiddle tunes. 


Song List
21 songs were played at last night's jam: 14 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - A
Nine Pound Hammer - D
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Amazing Grace - G
Before I Met You - C
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road - G
Don't This Road Look Rough And Rocky - G
Wildwood Flower - G

Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Jason

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'A Memory Of You' in the key of A.

Recordings
Jim & Jesse - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebC9IQNkj7E

Bobby Hicks and Friends - key of B 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLppdfvyW1c

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A
A memory of you - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are 4 youtube jam videos I have made for A Memory Of You. In the one listed first, I am on guitar, playing the song in the key of A.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
'A Memory Of You' uses the same chord progression as 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow', 'I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling', 'Wreck Of The Old '97', and hundreds of other Bluegrass and Country songs.

1144
1155
1144
1511
(Prog. V7 on the basic chord progressions handout)


Melody
Singers should observe that the melody for the chorus differs from the melody of the verses in measures 2 through 5. In these 4 measures, where the verse melody descends, the chorus melody ascends, and vice versa. 

In the attachments, I have given the melody for the chorus rather than for the verses, because it feels to me more instinctive to use the chorus melody of 'A Memory Of You' as the point of reference for creating melody-based breaks, even though with most songs, one would typically use the melody for the verses rather than the melody for the chorus as the point of reference for creating melody based breaks when the chorus and verse melodies differ from each other. 


Pickup Notes for Breaks
When played in the key of A, the first (full) measure of the melody begins with a C# note. On the Jim & Jesse recording, Jesse uses the following three pickup notes to lead into the C# note to start his intro break on the mandolin: E, F#, A, played as quarter notes. (Compare this with the similar - key of B equivalent - but more elaborate pickup measure, used at the beginning of the banjo intro break on the Bobby Hicks and Friends live performance of A Memory Of You.)

Other songs on the current song lists for the jam that, when played in the key of A, also have a C# as the first melody note in their first (full) measure, and for which this same pickup phrase will work well are: 

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone 
Beautiful Brown Eyes 
Before I Met You
Blue Ridge Cabin Home
I'll Fly Away
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand
Little Cabin Home On The Hill 
Red River Valley
Will You Be Loving Another Man 
You Are My Sunshine
Transposed to each of the 7 other Major keys that songs may be played in at the jam, the pickup phrase and the note it leads to become:

key of G: 
D, E, G, leading to a B note
key of Bb: 
F, G, Bb, leading to a D note
key of B:
F#, G#, B, leading to a D# note
key of C:
G, A. C, leading to an E note
key of D
A. B. D, leading to an F# note
key of E:
B, C#, E, leading to a G# note
key of F:
C, D, F, leading to an A note 


Fill-in Licks
Just like in our previous song of the week 'Foggy Mountain Top', the third measure of lines 2 and 4 of each verse and chorus of A Memory Of You 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 A chord (the 1 chord when in the key of A) and E chord (the 5 chord when in the key of A) fill-in licks for fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar, (For banjo and guitar, these are written as G and D fill-ins rather than as A and E fill-ins, since the most common way for bluegrass banjo and guitar players to play in the key of A is to capo the second fret and then play as if in the key of G.)
The E (or 5 chord) fill-ins are intended for measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of line 2 of the progression, and the A (or 1 chord) fill-ins are intended for measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of line 4 of the progression. The 'A'  licks are also good to use in measures 3 to 4 of line 4 of your breaks. The E licks given for fiddle and mandolin will work in measures 3 to 4 of line 2 in fiddle and mandolin breaks, but the 'E' (written as D) licks given for banjo and guitar are not well suited for use in banjo and guitar breaks.

On the 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 fiddle or mandolin break in measure 2 of line 2 may lead you more naturally to play a B note at the beginning of the next measure rather than an E note, for the B note is the melody note. When this happens, just substitute the B note in place of the E note in the E fill-in lick shown in parentheses on the chart. 


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 12 from the main list, 6 from the additional songs list, and 2 that are on neither list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
A Memory Of You - A
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Way Down Town - E
Angeline The Baker - D
Before I Met You - A
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong - E
This Land Is Your Land - G
Cryin' Holy - G
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - E

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Sheet Music:

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Foggy Mountain Top' in the key of G.

Recordings 
Earl Taylor & Jim McCall - key of G
Foggy Mountain Top - YouTube

Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, & Ricky Skaggs - key of G 
3 Pickers - Foggy Mountain Top - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (starts at 15:36)
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 6_25_19 - YouTube

Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Foggy Mountain Top. I recommend starting with the one listed first. (Go to the 7:29 mark in the video.) In that one, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression for Foggy Mountain Top is:
1141
1155
1141
1511
This is Prog. V6 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.
In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D.

This is the same progression that is used to play 'All The Good Times Are Past And Gone', 'Amazing Grace', 'Light At The River', and the verses and breaks for 'Before I Met You' and 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill'. Notice that it differs from Prog. V7 in only two places: 

V6:              V7:
1141            1144
1155            1155
1141            1144
1511            1511

V7 is the progression that is used to play 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow', 'Faded Love', 'I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling', 'A Memory Of You', and 'Wreck Of The Old '97'.


Pickup Notes
On the Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, and Ricky Skaggs recording of Foggy Mountain Top, notice Doc's choice of pickup notes to lead into the first complete measure of his intro break on guitar: G, B, C, which ascend to a D note. This is the same series of notes that the melody of 'When The Saints Go Marching In' begins with, and is much more effective for starting a break than if one were to use the D half-note as a pickup that is written on the Foggy Mountain Top melody sheets at the bottom of this write-up.

                   Pickup Notes
                     1    3    4    leading to  5
                    do  mi  fa   leading to sol              
Key of G:      G    B   C                    D
Key of A:       A    C#  D                   E
Key of Bb:    Bb   D   Eb                  F
Key of B:       B   D#  E                    F#
Key of C:       C   E    F                    G
Key of D:       D   F#  G                    A
Key of E:       E   G#  A                     B
Key of F:        F    A    Bb                 C

This is a good case in point illustrating how it is often not desirable to slavishly follow the sung melody when playing a melody-based break. An alternative choice of pickup notes to use to ascend into the D note that the first complete measure begins with is: B, C, C#, and this is the choice of notes that you will often hear played on banjo and fiddle on bluegrass records as pickups to lead into a melody line that starts with a D note on a G chord. These are the very first notes played on the banjo on the other two recordings provided here for Foggy Mountain Top (a D note is played along with each of the chromatically ascending pickup notes, which is typical on banjo). These are the same pickup notes I recommended for starting breaks for Bury Me Beneath The Willow in the song of the week write up for that song. Refer back to the section on 'Pickups into Breaks' in that write up:
Beginner Bluegrass Jam Songs - Idaho Bluegrass Association


Fill-in Licks
The third measure of lines 2 and 4 of each verse and chorus of Foggy Mountain Top 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 files at the bottom of this write-up, I have included a chart of simple G chord (the 1 chord when in the key of G) and D chord (the 5 chord when in the key of G) fill-in licks for guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. 

The D fill-ins are intended for measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of line 2 of the progression, and the G fill-ins are intended for measure 3 through to the first quarter of measure 4 of line 4 of the progression. These G licks are also good to use in measures 3 to 4 of line 4 of your breaks. The D licks given for fiddle and mandolin will work in measures 3 to 4 of line 2 in fiddle and mandolin breaks, but the D licks given for banjo and guitar are not well suited for use in banjo and guitar breaks.

On the 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 fiddle or mandolin break in measure 2 of line 2 may lead you more naturally to play an A note at the beginning of the next measure rather than a D note, for the A note is the melody note. When this happens, just substitute the A note in place of the D note in the D fill-in lick shown in parentheses on the chart.


Endings
For songs like Foggy Mountain Top 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 files, 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.)


Harmony
Since the starting note for the melody of the chorus is the fifth of the 1 chord (a D note when in the key of G), the starting note for the tenor harmony is the root note of the 1 chord (a G note when in the key of G), and the starting note for the baritone harmony is the third of the 1 chord (a B note when in the key of G). 

The last note for the tenor harmony is the third of the 1 chord (a B note when in the key of G) and the last note for the baritone harmony is the fifth of the 1 chord (a D note when in the key of G), for, as in the vast majority of songs, the melody ends with the root note of the 1 chord.


Song List
19 songs were played at last night's jam: 13 from the main list, 5 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - D
Little Birdie - Bb
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - B
New River Train - D
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Soldier's Joy - D
Amazing Grace - G
Angeline The Baker - D
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G
Old Joe Clark - A
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain - A
Red Wing - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason


G & D Chord Fill-in Licks
Download File

Endings for most songs in G
Download File

Foggy Mountain Top - Melody in G
Download File

Foggy Mountain Top - Banjo tab
Download File

Foggy Mountain Top - Guitar tab
Download File

Foggy Mountain Top - Mandolin tab
Download File

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

Recordings
Red Smiley - key of A
Little Birdie - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of Bb (song starts at 15:55)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJAtP8irWYs  

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


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Little Birdie. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar, and am playing the song in the key of Bb.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


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 (or 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. 

On the Stanley Brothers recording, 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, lines 1 and 3 of the progression are five measures long: 11155 (instead of 1155).


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.


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 files at the bottom of this write-up, 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 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. 


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 16 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - C
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
I'll Fly Away - G
Little Birdie - Bb
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - A
New River Train - D
Shortnin' Bread - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Angeline The Baker - D
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
Old Joe Clark - A
John Henry - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Sheet Music:
Little Birdie - Melody in Bb
Download File

Little Birdie - Mandolin tab in Bb
Download File

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

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

Bb chord fill-in licks
Download File

Hi everyone,
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
Country Club - Jimmy Martin - Beautiful Brown Eyes - YouTube

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

Bailey Brothers, key of F - 3/4 time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYnzyeM1orQ

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (first break, verse, and chorus in 3/4; remainder of the song in 2/2); starts at 5:16.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1NKw99Anlo  


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Beautiful Brown Eyes. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar, and am playing the song in 3/4 time.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


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 in the New Year, 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.


3/4 Time
In 3/4 time (a.k.a. Waltz time), there are 3 beats per measure. On guitar, when playing rhythm, one measure will consist of 'boom-chuck-chuck', i.e., 'bassnote-strum-strum', rather than the more common rhythm for bluegrass songs of 'boom-chuck-boom-chuck'. Notice that this means that in 3/4 time it takes two measures, instead of one, to get through a cycle of root-5 (alternating bass) on guitar (and on bass, if you are playing only one note per measure). 


3/4 Vamp/Chop: Mandolin, Fiddle, Banjo, and Dobro
When playing a 'vamp' or 'chop' rhythm on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, or dobro, a measure of 3/4 time will consist of 'rest-chuck-chuck', which is the same as the guitar rhythm, just without the bass note at the beginning of the measure.


3/4 Rolls (Banjo)
When playing a roll in 3/4 time on banjo, you will have time for a maximum of 6 plucked notes per measure (counted as '1 & 2 & 3 &'), rather than the usual maximum of 8 notes per measure ('1 e & a 2 e & a'), Considered in relation to a roll pattern consisting of 8 notes, this usually involves omitting either the last two notes of the roll, or in some cases, the 5th and 6th notes of the roll, or the 3rd and 4th notes of the roll. If approaching playing in 3/4 time from his angle, make sure that the 3/4 time rolls you create by dropping notes from the standard 8 note rolls don't result in the need to play two 8th notes back to back with the same finger of your picking hand.


Ending the Song
In addition to the melody sheet files at the bottom of this write-up I have included as an attachment a chart of 'Waltz Time Endings in the Key of G' which shows simple, but effective, ways on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo to end 'All The Good Times Are Past And Gone', and almost any other song in 3/4 time when played in the key of G. These endings are played for the last 2 measures of the final chorus. They are not 'tack-on' endings to be played after the last 2 measures of the final chorus. The first beat of the first measure shown for each of the endings coincides with the last sung syllable in the song. 


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', 'I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling', 'I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand', 'A Memory Of You', 'Wreck Of The Old '97', 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).   


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 ascending pickup notes (namely, D, G, A when in the key of G) 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.) 


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). 


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 15 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
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Boil The Cabbage Down (played twice) - A
Buffalo Gals - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - A
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - Bb
I'll Fly Away - C
Little Birdie - Bb
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - C
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - E
Soldier's Joy (played twice) - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Angeline The Baker - D
Cluck Old Hen - A
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
Mountain Dew - A
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - E

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


Recordings
Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys (starts at 13:09)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1NKw99Anlo  

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

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


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Boil The Cabbage Down. In the one listed first, I am on guitar, playing the tune in the key of A.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


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, like on the first recording of the tune given here, and in the jam videos, 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.


8 Potato Intros
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'. 

On the Grascals' recording of Boil The Cabbage Down, the fiddle starts the tune with an 8 Potato Intro. (In the jam videos, you can hear examples of 8 Potato intros on guitar, banjo, and mandolin.) On the other two recordings, a shorter two measure version of this manner of starting a tune is used, which is called a '4 Potato Intro'.

In the files at the bottom of this write-up, I have included sheets that show good ways to play on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo, 8 Potato Intros for the keys of G, A, and D, the three most common fiddle tune keys. 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.


Melody & Breaks: Fiddle, Mandolin, and Guitar
In the files at the end of this write-up, 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 breaks 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 files, 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 file 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 file: '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.

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Double Endings
On the Snake River Boys and Tommy Jackson recordings of Boil The Cabbage Down, and also in the jam videos, 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 played after the last measure of the final B-Part rather than during the tail-end of the final B-Part.

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

It is typical for the double ending to be played only by, or at least led by, the person who played the final break for the tune. However, 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 


Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam: 10 from the main list, 5 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Beautiful Brown Eyes - G
Boil The Cabbage Down - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - D
Cripple Creek - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
I'll Fly Away - G
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains (played twice) - C & G
New River Train - F
Shortnin' Bread - G
Way Down Town (played twice) - E
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
Old Joe Clark - A
She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain - G
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
You Are My Sunshine - A
I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling - E

Happy Pickin',
Jason