Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Wreck Of The Old '97' in the key of D.

​
Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs: key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=732g2a7pmpM

The Osborne Brothers: mandolin intro break and verses in the key of E; fiddle break in the key of A; banjo break in the key of B 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XSTYrVV4Pc

Mac Wiseman: key of D 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_vt-s3aYl8&list=RDD_vt-s3aYl8

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of D 
Wreck Of The Old ’97 - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Wreck Of The Old '97. In the one listed second, I am on guitar, playing the song in the key of D.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression & Melody 
Wreck Of The Old '97 uses the most commonly recurring chord progression in bluegrass, the 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow' progression.

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

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

Together, these notes make up the D major scale: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, and the melody of Wreck Of The Old '97 uses all the notes of the scale, with the lowest note in the melody being a D (the root note of the key), and the highest note in the melody being the E that is one octave plus one whole step higher than the lowest note in the melody.

Wreck Of The Old '97 has no chorus. There are 6 verses for the song, but it is common for only 5 verses to be used for the song.

While Wreck Of The Old '97 uses a very common chord progression - the most common of all progressions in bluegrass, there are some things about its melody that are uncommon in bluegrass. For instance, in the second line, at the point where the change to the '5' chord occurs ('A' in the key of D), the melody hangs on the 7th note of the scale ('C#' in the key of D), whereas it is far more common in songs for the melody to go the 2nd note of the scale ('E' in the key of D) at this point instead when the second line of the progression for a song is 1155.


Melody Sheets
In the attachments, I have included 2 guitar tabs of the melody: one written in the key of D, and one written in the key of C. The locations of the melody notes on the fretboard in the 'C' tab make the 'C' tab more conducive than the 'D' tab to working out a Carter-style break for the song. If for this reason, or some other reason, you choose to work with the C tab instead of the D tab, you will need to capo the 2nd fret in order to be playing the song in D.  I have also included 2 banjo tabs of the melody, one in D and one in C. Since the lowest note of the melody is the 1st note of the scale (a 'C' note in the key of C, a 'D' note in the key of D), you will need to tune the 4th string of the banjo down to a 'C' note if you choose to work with the key of C banjo tab of the melody given here. Capoing to the 2nd fret will then raise the pitch of the 4th string back up to a D note. (In the banjo youtube jam video, I play in C tuning, capo 2 for D. On the Snake River Boys recording, I play in G tuning, no capo, but still with the 5th string raised up to an A note. In both cases I am playing in the key of D.)


Points of Interest
If you are interested in learning about the history of the song, and the event that the song is about, check this out:
The Wreck of the Old 97 - History and Music Video - YouTube

For those who are interested, here are a few non-bluegrass versions of Wreck Of The Old '97 (all referenced in the youtube video above) that I was familiar with before I got into bluegrass music. The second one is the second-oldest recording of the song, dating from 1924, and was the first million-seller 'Country' record. The B-side of the record is 'The Prisoner's Song', another old 'pre-bluegrass' classic that has been adopted into the standard bluegrass repertoire.

Johnny Cash: key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lza4Li_0o78

Vernon Dalhart: key of D 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T06xJJth0Y

Hank Snow: key of A
THE WRECK OF THE OLD 97 by HANK SNOW - YouTube


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Down The Road - B
Foggy Mountain Top - G
In The Pines - C
Long Journey Home - A
A Memory Of You - Bb
Mountain Dew - A
New River Train - F
Old Joe Clark - A
Worried Man Blues - Bb
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - G
Cripple Creek - A
Gold Watch And Chain - D
Soldier's Joy - D
Lonesome Feeling - G
Fireball Mail - G
A Girl From West Virginia - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Wreck Of The Old '97 - banjo tab D
Download File

Wreck Of The Old '97 - banjo tab C
Download File

Wreck Of The Old '97 - guitar tab D
Download File

Wreck Of The Old '97 - guitar tab C
Download File

Wreck Of The Old '97 - mandolin tab
Download File

Wreck Of The Old '97 - melody in D
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'New River Train' in the key of F.

Recordings
The Monroe Brothers - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyWMFjly24o

Tony Rice and Norman Blake -  key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y36HCn4Ivws

The White Brothers - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLjdbN1xdg

Roland White - key of E (New River Train ends at 2:28) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZCsTzPb2k 

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of F (starts at 4:02)
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 New River Train. I recommend starting with the one listed second. In that one, I am on guitar, and am playing the song in the key of F.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)

(Note: On a laptop, you can slow down youtube videos to 75% or 50% speed by going to settings and then clicking on 'playback speed'. Doing this does not change the pitch of the recording.)


Progression
The chord progression for New River Train is:
1111
1155
1144
5511
This is Prog. W2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.

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

This chord progression differs by only one measure from the progression that is used to play 'Mama Don't Allow', 'She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain', 'When The Saints Go Marching In', 'Will You Be Loving Another Man', etc.:
1144
1155
1144
1511
(Prog. V2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)

In order to avoid accidentally playing Progression V2 in place of Progression W2 for New River Train at the jam, some may find it helpful to remind themselves before the song starts that in the last half of the progression for New River Train the 4 chord is followed immediately by the 5 chord (instead of returning to the 1 chord first before going to the 5 chord).   


Capo Chart for Guitar and Banjo
                            Guitar & Banjo             Banjo 5th string tuned to

Key of G         No capo, play in G                  G
Key of A          Capo 2, play as if in G             A  
Key of Bb        Capo 3, play as if in G            Bb (=A#)
Key of B          Capo 4, play as if in G             B
Key of C           No capo, play in C                  G
                          or Capo 5, play as if in G        C
Key of D          Capo 2, play as if in C              A
                         or No capo, play in D               A
Key of E           Capo 4, play as if in C             B
                        or Capo 2, play as if in D          B
Key of F           Capo 5, play as if in C             C   
                          or Capo 3, play as if in D        C

For beginner level 3-finger style banjo players, I recommend the 'Capo 3, play as if in D' option for playing New River Train in the key of F. This is why the banjo tab melody sheet in the attachments is written in the key of D.

For guitar players who like to play Carter-style breaks (i.e., melody carried on the lower-pitched strings of the guitar, with strums placed between melody notes: e.g., Tony Rice's opening break on the Blake & Rice recording given here), I recommend the 'Capo 5, play as if in C' option for playing New River Train in F. I have included guitar tab melody sheets in the attachments written in both C and D.

(For a clearer recording of Tony's intro break, check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU5vOsAwIYU  

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.


Key of F: 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 F is to think of the key of F in relation to the keys of C and Bb. F and C are closely related keys: they share 6 of their 7 Major Scale notes in common:

F Major Scale:  F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E (6 naturals, 1 flat)
C Major Scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B (7 naturals, 0 flats)

F and Bb are also closely related keys: they also share 6 of their 7 Major Scale notes in common:

F Major Scale:     F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E  (6 naturals, 1 flat)
Bb Major Scale: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A  (5 naturals, 2 flats)

The same is true of any two keys that are separated from each other by an interval of a perfect 5th or a perfect 4th.

The keys of F and C share two of their 1,4,and 5 chords in common: 
                     1     4     5
Key of F:     F     Bb  C
Key of C:    C      F    G

The key of Bb also shares two of its 1,4, and 5 chords in common with the key of F:
                     1       4     5
Key of F:      F     Bb   C
Key of Bb:   Bb   Eb    F 

(Bb and C, on the other hand, are not closely related keys. They are separated from each other by a whole step, an interval of a major 2nd. They share only 5 of their 7 Major Scale notes, and only one of their 1,4, and 5 chords, in common with each other.)


Melody
The melody of New River Train uses the first six notes of the Major Scale. In ascending order of pitch, these notes are:
 
                    1    2     3     4     5     6    
                  do  re   mi    fa   sol   la   
Key of A:    A    B   C#   D     E    F#  
Key of Bb:  Bb  C   D     Eb   F    G   
Key of B:    B    C# D#   E     F#  G#
Key of C:    C    D     E     F     G    A   
Key of D:    D    E   F#   G     A     B   
Key of E:    E    F#  G#  A     B    C#  
Key of F:     F    G    A     Bb   C    D   
Key of G:    G    A    B     C     D    E   


Fill-in Licks in Breaks and Backup
There are three 'dead spots' in the melody of New River Train that last long enough for a fill-in lick to be played in them. These spots are in measures 3 to 4 of lines 1, 2, and 4. In lines 1 and 4, the dead spots occur while a 1 chord is called for in the progression, while in line 2, the dead spot occurs while a 5 chord is called for in the progression. 

In the files (scroll down to the very bottom of this song of the week write-up), I have included F and C chord fill-in licks for fiddle and mandolin, for F and C are the 1 and 5 chords for the key of F. Notes in parentheses are not part of the fill-in lick proper and may be omitted or replaced with another note. 

To show how one might get in and out of these fill-in licks in the context of playing a break, or playing backup, I have included in the files a sample mandolin break and a mandolin backup part. I recommend that fiddle, guitar, and banjo players, not just mandolin players, take a look at these mandolin tabs, for even if you do not read mandolin tab, so as to be able to decipher what notes are represented on the tab, you can still see the time values of the notes, and where within the measures and in the lines of the progression the fill-ins occur, so as to draw the application to the instrument that you play.

I have also included in the files, C, G, and D chord fill-in licks for guitar. For those who choose the 'Capo 3, play as if in D' option for playing New River Train in F, the D chord fill-in licks, presented in the context of 2 complete measures of backup playing, are for measures 3 and 4 of  lines 1 and 4. For those who choose the 'Capo 5, play as if in C' option for playing New River Train in F, the C chord fill-in licks, presented in the context of 2 complete measures of backup playing or a Carter-style break, are for measures 3 and 4 of lines 1 and 4, and the G chord fill-in licks, presented in the context of 2 measures of backup playing, are for measures 3 and 4 of line 2.  (If used in this same spot in the context of a Carter-style break, the first note of the 2 measures would be changed to the open 4th string, since that is the melody note in the song at this point.)

For a D chord fill-in lick on banjo that will work well in both breaks and backup for New River Train in lines 1 and 4, refer back to the files in the song of the week write-up for Bury Me Beneath The Willow: scroll down to the very bottom of the following page:
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/bury-me-beneath-the-willow 


Lyrics
The lyrics of 'New River Train' are quite repetitive and easy to memorize. For this reason, this is one of the songs I recommend learning to sing to those who wish to lead a song at the jam, but do not have much experience yet in doing so. 

For most of these songs, you need not know any more than three verses (in addition to the chorus for the songs that do have a chorus) in order to be ready to sing and play a complete arrangement of them at the jam. Notice the number of verses sung on each of the recordings of New River Train given here: two (The White Brothers), three (Roland White; Blake & Rice studio recording), four (Blake & Rice live recording), five (Snake River Boys), and six (The Monroe Brothers). 

In general, the slower that a song is played the more desirable it becomes to limit the number of verses sung. Notice, for instance, that the version with six verses is played at a faster tempo than the other versions given here. 

The set of lyrics I use for the chorus of New River Train are the same as those sung for the first, third, fifth, and sixth choruses on the Monroe Brothers recording. 


Song List
14 songs were played at last night's jam: 8 from the main list, 5 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A (played twice)
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
A Memory Of You - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Will You Be Loving Another Man - A
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Columbus Stockade Blues - A
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G
I'll Fly Away - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Wildwood Flower - G
Wabash Cannonball - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​
Sheet Music:
New River Train - banjo tab in D
Download File

New River Train - guitar tab in C
Download File

New River Train - guitar tab in D
Download File

C, G & D fill-in licks for guitar
Download File

New River Train - mandolin tab
Download File

New River Train - sample break in F (mandolin tab)
Download File

New River Train - backup in F with fill-ins (mandolin tab)
Download File

New River Train - melody in F
Download File

F & C fill-in licks for fiddle and mandolin
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Cluck Old Hen' in the key of A. 
Cluck Old Hen is an old-time tune that has made its way into Bluegrass circles. Although there are lyrics for Cluck Old Hen, it will be played as an instrumental when I call it at the jam as the song of the week.


Recordings
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxGjLIPBOLs

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

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

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


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Cluck Old Hen. In the one list listed first, I am on guitar:
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Form & Progression 
Like Shortnin' Bread and Cripple Creek, Cluck Old Hen follows the form AABB (i.e., there are two parts, each of which is repeated before the next part is played), with each A Part and each B Part being 4 measures long.

The progression we use at the jam for playing Cluck Old Hen is:
A-Part:
1  1/4  1  5/1 

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


Melody & Breaks
While the chord progression for Cluck Old Hen uses only major chords, the melody is not major, but minor. 
 
There are 7 melody notes in the version of the melody given in the attachments for Cluck Old Hen.  In ascending order of pitch, these are: G, A, C, D, E, G, A.  

A,C,D,E,G are the notes that make up the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. (By contrast, the A Major Pentatonic Scale consists of the notes: A,B,C#,E,F#). Even if one is not playing the melody per se in one's break, sticking to the notes of the A Minor Pentatonic Scale, and playing no other notes in one's break will make the break sound like it 'belongs' in the tune. 

For those with instruments usually capoed to the second fret for playing in the key of A (guitar, banjo, dobro), you will need to lower each note in the preceding explanation by a whole step in order for the information to correspond with what you see on the melody sheets in the attachments written in guitar and banjo tab.

So, for instance, in place of "A,C,D,E,G are the notes that make up the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. (By contrast. the A Major Pentatonic Scale consists of the notes: A,B,C#,E,F#)", think: "G,Bb,C,D,F are the notes that make up the G Minor Pentatonic Scale. (By contrast, the G Major Pentatonic Scale consists of the notes: G,A,B,D,E).

This does not mean that one should never include notes from the A Major Scale that are not in the A Minor Pentatonic in one's breaks for Cluck Old Hen (Ralph Stanley, for instance, includes several C# notes and a few F# notes in his breaks on the recording given here), but only that one needs to be careful about using those notes.

It is common in Bluegrass for breaks to contain notes from both the Major Scale and the Minor Pentatonic Scale, even when the melody of the song is either entirely major or entirely minor, so long as the chord progression is major (i.e., the progression uses 1 chords rather than 1m chords). 

On the other hand, if you are playing 'Cluck Old Hen' in the context of an Old-time jam you may find that you have less leeway to make use of notes outside the Minor Pentatonic Scale than what you do when playing the tune in the context of a Bluegrass jam. 

In connection with this, one may observe that, for playing Cluck Old Hen, most Old-time (clawhammer) banjo players tune their 2nd string up a half step from where it would normally be tuned when in G tuning (capo 2 for A) precisely to avoid the resonance of the distinctively major scale note that is on the open 2nd string when in G tuning, whereas Bluegrass banjo players (at least when playing in a Bluegrass context) tend not to do this. If tuned this way (G modal tuning: GDGCD capo 2 for A = AEADE), then, in reading the banjo tab melody sheet in the attachments, just simply substitute 0's in place of the 1's that are written on the line representing the 2nd string. 


Key
Although the melody of Cluck Old Hen consists only of the notes of the Am pentatonic scale, it is called at jams in A (Major) rather than A Minor because the '1' chord that is used in the chord progression for the song is an A Major Chord rather than an Am Chord ('1m'). To call Cluck Old Hen in A Minor instead of in A (Major) at a jam would imply that 1m Chords are to be played in place of 1 Chords.

In the attached standard notation melody sheet for Cluck Old Hen, I have used the key signature for Am (no sharps or flats, same as the key signature for C Major, the Relative Major of Am) instead of the key signature for A Major (3 sharps) to avoid the need to write natural signs in nearly every measure. I hope that my doing this makes the sheet music easier to read than if I had used the key signature for A Major. 


Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Long Journey Home - A
A Memory Of You - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Will You Be Loving Another Man - A
Worried Man Blues - Bb
Wreck Of The Old '97 - A
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - C
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - A
Forked Deer - D
Lonesome Feeling - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Will You Be Loving Another Man' in the key of A.

This classic bluegrass song was written by Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt during WWII, and then recorded after the war in 1946 by the original bluegrass band, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, which consisted at the time of Bill Monroe on mandolin, Lester Flatt on guitar, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass.


Recordings
Here is the original 1946 recording of Will You Be Loving Another Man, with Lester Flatt on lead vocal and Bill Monroe on harmony vocal during the choruses: key of A:
Will You Be Loving Another Man? - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A
WIll you be loving another men - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Will You Be Loving Another Man:
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression 
The chord progression for Will You Be Loving Another Man is:
1111
1155
1144
1511

(Prog. V2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)

This is the same progression that is used to play Mama Don't Allow, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, The Crawdad Song, and When The Saints Go Marching In. 


Harmony
Notice the use of the b7 (flat-seven) note in the tenor harmony in the second measure of the third line of the choruses on the recordings. (That is, the measure that consists of the syllables '-turn will you be'). In the key of A this is G note. In the key of G, it would be an F note. The singing of the b7 note in the harmony part here turns the A chord being played at the time into an A7 chord, which leads the ear to want to hear a D chord next (transposed to the key of G, it would be a G chord being turned into a G7 chord leading to a C chord), and adds interest to the harmony part.


Breaks 
Notice on the Bill Monroe recording how each of the breaks differ from each other. The short mandolin intro break (half the length of a full intro break: it uses the last half of the progression) states the melody of the song in a simple manner, making use of drony-sounding double stops in connection with the main melody notes. 

In the first fiddle break, there is a lot more going on than what there was in the mandolin intro break, yet the melody is never lost sight of at any point in the break: its influence on the break is there from beginning to end. 

The banjo break zeros in on only the most essential notes of the melody and fills up the space between them with 8th notes that, for the most part, are notes that are part of the chord being played at the time. 

Finally, the second fiddle break, after its first four measures, contains almost no trace of the melody at all. The last 3/4 of this break is made up entirely of non-melody-based licks (which have gone on to become standard - one might say 'cliche' - bluegrass fiddle licks), fitted to the chord progression of the song. 

On the Snake River Boys recording, I start the song off with a full-length intro break on banjo that follows the melody of the song closely, but not slavishly. But, in my banjo break near the end of the song, I deviate more and more from the melody as the break goes along, taking a similar approach to my break as what Chubby Wise did in his second fiddle break on the Bill Monroe recording. The fiddle break on the Snake River Boys recording that follows that banjo breaks carries on where I left off, being very lick-oriented, rather than melody-oriented, and then the mandolin break that follows that fiddle break reels the song back in with a melody-oriented approach to break playing, which ended up making for a good segway into the final sung chorus of the song. (This specific arrangement for the song was not rehearsed in advance: we all just did our part in making it up as we went along, playing off of each other.)

The first fiddle break follows a more melody-oriented approach than the second fiddle break, and the first mandolin break follows a more lick-oriented approach than the second mandolin break. But, notice that in all of this, just like in the banjo breaks I played, the melody is never entirely absent in the lick-oriented fiddle and mandolin breaks, nor is the sung melody copied slavishly in any of the melody-oriented breaks. 


Song List
15 songs were played at last night's jam: 10 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 2 that are on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
In The Pines - E
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Long Journey Home - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Will You Be Loving Another Man - B
Worried Man Blues - Bb
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Canaan's Land - Bb
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Will You Be Loving Another Man Banjo tab.pdf
Download File

Will You Be Loving Another Man Guitar tab.pdf
Download File

Will You Be Loving Another Man Mandolin tab.pdf
Download File

Will You Be Loving Another Man Melody in A.pdf
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Worried Man Blues' in the key of Bb.


Recordings
The Carter Family - key of Bb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcvWrxrNk4k
 
Flatt and Scruggs - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKTEvgJN2gk

The Stanley Brothers - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is4WK99hPcg
Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of Bb
Worried Man Blues -Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are four youtube jam videos I have made for Worried Man Blues. In the one listed second, I am on guitar, playing the song in Bb.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
On the Carter Family, Flatt and Scruggs, and Snake River Boys recordings, the chord progression is:
1111
4411
5511

On the Stanley Brothers recording, the chord progression is:
1111
4441
1111
5511

If one is paying attention only to the lyrics when comparing the different versions of the song with each other, it would seem that to arrive at the 12 measure version (Carter Family/Flatt & Scruggs/Snake River Boys), you just omit the third line of the 16 measure version (Stanley Brothers). However, if one pays attention to the melody and the chord progression, then it becomes clear that the 12 measure version omits the second half of the second line and the first half of the third line of the 16 measure version rather than the whole third line of the 16 measure version. In this regard, notice the differing number of measures of the '4' chord in the 16 measure and 12 measure versions.

When I lead the song at the jam, I almost always use the 12 measure version, but be prepared for the 16 measure version to show up sometimes when other people lead the song at the jam.  On the melody sheets provided at the bottom of this write-up, I have shown the relation between the longer and shorter versions.


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

The melody of Worried Man Blues uses only 6 of these notes: Bb, C, D, F, G, and A, which so happen to be the 6 notes that the Bb Major Scale shares in common with the F major scale (F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E).

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

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

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

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


Pick-up Notes
Like Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Foggy Mountain Top, Gathering Flowers From The Hillside, Lonesome Feeling, Lonesome Road Blues, When The Saints Go Marching In, etc., the first melody note in the first complete measure of Worried Man Blues is the 5th note of the Major Scale, but unlike in those other songs, the starting melody note of Worried Man Blues is the lowest note in the melody rather than the highest or one of the highest melody notes. When this is the case, I usually prefer to use a descending pickup phrase to lead into a break rather than an ascending pickup phrase. For songs like Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Foggy Mountain Top, Gathering Flowers..., etc., my choice of pickup notes usually is: 3, 4, #4 (e.g., B, C, C# in the key of G, or C#, D, D# in the key of A, or D, Eb, E in the key of Bb, etc.) leading up to the 5 (a D note in the key of G, an E note in the key of A, and F note in the key of Bb, etc.), but for songs like Worried Man Blues, Handsome Molly, I Saw The Light, Long Journey Home, Mountain Dew, This Little Light Of Mine, etc., my choice of pickup notes usually is 6, 6, b6 leading down to the 5 (e.g., E, E, Eb, leading down a D note in the key of G, or F#, F#, F, leading down to an E note in the key of A, or G, G, Gb, leading down to an F note in the key of Bb), for in all those songs the starting melody note in the first complete measure is the lowest note in the melody.
                     6     6    b6
Key of A:      F#  F#    F
Key of Bb:    G    G    Gb
Key of B:      G#  G#  G
Key of C:      A     A     Ab
Key of D:      B     B    Bb
Key of E:      C#   C#  C
Key of F:       D    D    Db
Key of G:      E     E    Eb


Song List
14 songs were played at last night's jam: 10 from the main list, 1 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Down The Road - B
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Mountain Dew - A
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Old Joe Clark - A
Worried Man Blues (played twice) - A & Bb
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - C
I've Lived A Lot In My Time - C
Why Don't You Tell Me So - B
Don't This Road Look Rough And Rocky - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Worried Man Blues - banjo tab
Download File

Worried Man Blues - guitar tab
Download File

Worried Man Blues - mandolin tab
Download File

Worried Man Blues - melody in Bb
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'In The Pines' in the key of E. 
'In The Pines' is in 3/4 time (a.k.a. 'waltz time': 3 beats per measure: guitar rhythm: boom-chuck-chuck), and is usually played at a slow tempo. 

​
Recordings
Bill Monroe - key of F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_UkluxB7gc

Boone Creek (Ricky Skaggs on lead vocal) - key of B. Notice that the chorus is shorter than on the previous version: this is the way (i.e., with the 'woo-woo-woos' mimicking the sound of the wind omitted) that  I sing the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kjiRfqFhUM

Peter Rowan - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKh8XjgoQfc

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of E
In the Pines - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


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

​
Progression
The chord progression for In The Pines is:

1141
1511
In the key of E: 1=E, 4=A, 5=B


Melody & Breaks
The melody of In The Pines uses only the first 5 notes of the major scale. In the key of E, these notes are, from lowest to highest: E, F#, G#, A, B. However, In The Pines lends itself well to being played with more of a lonesome or bluesy feel to it than what would seem to be implied by the notes that the melody consists of. So, in both my backup playing and in my breaks, I tend to make a lot of use of b3 and b7 notes. In the key of E, those notes are G and D respectively. 

For instance, when playing a melody-based break for the song, I will tend to substitute G notes in place of some of the G# notes, and in my fillin licks - both in my breaks and in my backup playing - I will tend to use D notes in spots where I would much more often use C# notes instead. Many of my fillin licks, and other licks that I might use in a break when I am not attempting to stick close to the melody, will consist solely of the notes that make up the minor pentatonic scale. The E minor pentatonic scale consists of the notes: E, G, A, B, and D 

To get a feel for how one might get started in doing this for a melody-based break for 'In The Pines', I have included in the files at the bottom of this write-up, in addition to the melody as I tend to sing it (which consists of just E, F#, G#, A, and B notes), a modified 'melody' that adds 3 additional notes into the mix: G, A#, and D. When I am really going for a 'bluesy' feel in a break or in a fillin lick for 'In The Pines', I will make frequent use of the A#/Bb note as a passing note between A and B notes, whether ascending: A, A#, B, or descending: B, Bb, A. If you choose to make use of this note, be careful about how long you linger on it, for it clashes severely with all three of the chords in the song.

The 'modified melody' in the files is only a basic example of how one might go about making use of the three extra notes to give a lonesome or bluesy sound to one's breaks. There are many more ways in which one might make use of these notes in one's breaks (and also in one's backup playing), so I suggest experimenting with these notes a bit. You might, for instance, take some licks you already know, and try modifying them in various ways to include one or more of these notes in them. In doing this, you might find it helpful to listen closely to the Boone Creek and Snake River Boys versions of 'In The Pines' to use as a point of reference for the kind of 'sound' or 'feel' to aim for.

Due to its slow tempo, you might find that playing 'In The Pines' at the jam affords you with a good opportunity to try to get more 8th notes - and even 8th note triplets (see the explanation below if you are not sure what 8th note triplets are) - into your breaks than what you otherwise tend to play. You might also like to use the song as an opportunity to work on improvising (i.e., making up a break on the fly), since the slow tempo allows one a bit more time to think about which note or combination of notes one might like to play next.


Swung 8ths and 8th Note Triplets
There are a couple of symbols on the melody sheets in the files here that you will not see often on the melody sheets I provide for the songs of the week.

The first one, at the top of the pages, consists of a pair of 8th notes followed by an equals sign followed by three 8th notes of which the first two are tied together and the numeral '3' occurs above the three 8th notes. This means that whenever you see a pair of 8th notes in the written music, the first of the two notes is held twice as long as the second one, but together, they take up the same amount of time in the measure as what two 'ordinary' (evenly spaced) 8th notes take up. To get the feel for this, sing (or play) the melody along with the sung choruses on one of the recordings given here, making sure that your 8th notes line up with the vocal phrasing. 

The numeral '3' which is placed below the staff under the group of three 8th notes in the second to last measure of the 'modified melody' indicates a triplet. Each note of an 8th note triplet lasts one-third the length of a quarter note; so, together, these three notes last the same amount of time as a single quarter note.


Guitar Tab Melody Sheets
For playing in the key of E, Bluegrass guitar players most often capo either to the 2nd fret and then play as if in D or capo to the 4th fret and then play as if in C. But, for In The Pines, as well as for many other songs in which it is desirable to make use of a lot of 'blue notes' (i.e., b3 and b7 notes) in one's playing, the 'capo 4  play as if in C' option can make doing this more awkward than what it needs to be, so I have not included a key of C melody sheet in the guitar tab files. (In the key of D, the b3 and b7 notes are F and C, whereas in the key of C, the b3 and b7 notes are Eb and Bb.)

However, in addition to the key of D guitar tab melody sheet, I have included a key of E melody sheet in the guitar tab files, since playing in the key of E without a capo lends itself at least just as well to the use of blue notes as what the 'capo 2 play as if in D' option does. If you have never tried playing a guitar break in the key of E without a capo, but would like to, I suggest that In the Pines is a good song to start with.

Note: When playing in the key of E without a capo, Bluegrass guitar players tend to play a B7 rather than a B for the '5' chord.


Banjo Tab Melody Sheet
Both the range of the melody for In The Pines and the desirability of using many 'blue notes' in one's breaks and backup playing for the song make the 'capo 2, play as if in D' option more practical than the 'capo 4, play as if in C' option. Therefore, I have included a key of D banjo tab melody sheet in the files, but not a key of C tab. 

For banjo players using the melody sheet as a guide for creating a break: for successive 8th notes in the melody, or in fill-in licks, there is no need to avoid picking the same string two or more times in a row with the same finger: the song is played slowly enough to allow one to be able to play smoothly even while temporarily breaking away from typical banjo picking patterns in cases where doing so ends up being a more straightforward and simpler option.


Song List
17 songs were played at last night's jam: 12 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 2 that are on neither list:
Cluck Old Hen - A
Down The Road - B
In The Pines - E
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Long Journey Home - A
Mama Don't Allow - A
Mountain Dew - A
Nine Pound Hammer - E
Old Joe Clark - A
Will You Be Loving Another Man - C
All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A
Angeline The Baker - D
Before I Met You - C
Faded Love - D
I've Lived A Lot In My Time - A

Here's a good live bluegrass recording of I've Lived A Lot In My Time that I suggest listening to:

Key of B: same chord progression as for 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill' and 'Before I Met You'.
I've Lived A Lot in My Time - Green Mountain Bluegrass Band at Bluegrass From the Forest 2016 - YouTube

Happy Pickin',
Jason



In The Pines - banjo tab
Download File

In The Pines - mandolin tab
Download File

In The Pines - guitar tab (D)
Download File

In The Pines - guitar tab (E)
Download File

In The Pines - melody in E
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Down The Road' in the key of B.

Recordings
Flatt and Scruggs - key of B (studio recording)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmBOl82qXqs

The Bluegrass Album Band - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UKiNl3e97E

Flatt and Scruggs - key of A (live recording)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc0iFZSeY6A

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of B (starts at 0:34)
Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 6_25_19 - YouTube


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


Form
The form of this song is unusual. Except for the last verse of the song (which has a common 8-measure form: 2 lines consisting of 4 measures each: this does not include the two-measure tack-on 'shave-and-a-haircut' ending that follows the last verse), the form for Down The Road consists of 2 lines of unequal length. The first line is the standard four measures that lines in most bluegrass songs consist of, but the second line is five-and-a-half measures long. This brings us to a total of nine-and-a-half measures. 

Add to this the bluegrass tendency to allow one or more extra measures of the 1 chord to go by at the end of a break that occurs right before a verse is sung, and you can end up with ten-and-a-half, or eleven-and-a-half measures, or more, for the length of a break that occurs before a verse.

Notice that on the first Flatt & Scruggs recording given here, the breaks are consistently ten-and-a-half measures long, while on the second recording, even more measures are added to the end of the breaks, but not always the same number of extra measures. However, and this is important to observe, on all the recordings, all the sung verses that are followed by a break are exactly the same length: nine-and-a-half measures. One way to think about this is that the number of beats that go by between the last sung syllable and the first full measure of the break that follows is always the same.


Progression
Not counting extra measures of the '1' that might occur at the end of some of the breaks, the chord progression for Down The Road is:

1     1/6m  1     5/1
1     1/6m  1     5 1     1

The 'half' measure in the form occurs in the spot where the 5 chord is played in the second line.

If one is counting the beats in the second line in cut common time (2/2), one would count it as: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,1,2.1,2. Notice the spot where there are two 1s back to back without a 2 intervening between them. On the sheet music provided here in the files at the bottom of this song of the week write-up (see the file labeled as 'Down The Road - melody in B'), I have written the 'half' measure (measure 8) with a time signature of 1/2. And then to indicate that the remaining two measures in the form return to 2/2, I have placed the time signature symbol that represents 2/2 at the beginning of the measure that follows the 1/2 time measure.)

The progression for the last verse is:
1     1/6m  1     5/1
1     1/6m  1     5/1   
after which a 2-measure ending lick is played on the banjo.  
In the key of B: 1=B; 6m=G#m; 5=F#

The B (major) chord consists of the notes: BD#F#
The G#m chord consists of the notes: G#BD# (it has two notes in common with the B major chord)
The F# (major) chord consists of the notes: F#A#C#

Banjo and guitar players should capo to the 4th fret, and then play as if in G. In the key of G: 1=G; 6m=Em; 5=D

For chop chords on the mandolin for the key of B: move the chop chords you use for the key of A two frets higher and you will be playing in B.


Melody
In ascending order of pitch, the notes that make up the melody of Down The Road are:
                   5     6     1     2     3
                  sol   la    do   re    mi
Key of G:    D    E     G    A     B
Key of A:    E    F#    A     B    C#
Key of Bb:   F    G    Bb   C     D
Key of B:    F#   G#   B    C#   D#
Key of C:    G     A     C    D     E
Key of D:     A     B     D    E     F#
Key of E:     B    C#   E     F#   G#
Key of F:     C     D     F    G     A

The starting note of the melody is the 1st note of the scale (do): the note that has the same name as the key that the song is being played in.


Breaks 
When you look at the sheet music files for Down The Road at the end of this write-up, observe that the first measure of the break begins two measures from the time that the last syllable of the verse is sung. Another way of looking at this is that there are two measures of the 1 chord that are played at the end of the verse before the break begins.  If enough of us make it a point to observe and practice this, this will go a long way towards minimizing the confusion that can easily result (due to the unusual form of the song) when Down The Road is played at a jam.

There are two things that one can do to help prevent confusion about when the break begins (i.e., when the form starts over again): 

1) Use three quarter-note pickup notes for leading into your break: F#, G#, A# (leads to a B note) for the key of B. The corresponding notes for the key of G are D, E, F# (leads to a G note).

Dig into your three pickup notes really hard so as to draw attention to yourself, and then dig into the note that comes next (namely, the first note of the first measure of your break) even harder so that there can be no room for doubt as to where the first measure of the form begins.  These three pickup notes should be played during the last three-quarters of the last measure of the form, and they should be spaced apart from each other evenly. 


Breaks & Backup
2) Play a fill-in lick in the measure that contains the last syllable of the verse, and end that fill-in lick on the first downbeat of the next measure. Bring your volume up as soon as after the last syllable is sung, and hit the last note of your fill-in lick really hard (make it 'pop', especially if you are playing a G run on the guitar: the fill-in licks for guitar that are given in the files at the end of this write-up represent three different versions of what is commonly called 'the G-run'). This makes it clear as to where the last measure of the form begins - which is helpful to make clear on account of the half measure that the form contains in its second line, after which some people may find the beat 'flipped around' in their head and/or in their playing.  The first of the three pickup notes into the break begin right after the last note of the fill-in lick is played. But, on banjo, and especially on guitar, it is good to play a fill-in lick at the end of the progression for every break and every verse, except for the last verse, and not just when a banjo or guitar break is going to occur next in the arrangement of the song. 
 

Ending
For the last verse, which is eight measures long, rather than nine-and-a-half, it works best if everyone plays their last note at the same time as the last syllable is sung (as on the standard recordings given here). Then the banjo players can add a two measure tack-on ending lick appropriate for the 1 chord of the song (doesn't have to be the same ones that are on the recordings) that everyone else remains silent on except for the on the very last note of the ending. 

This kind of ending is a single ending, for it consists of only one ending lick, as contrasted with the double endings consisting of two ending licks played back to back that are commonly used for AABB-form tunes like Boil The Cabbage Down, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, Liberty, Soldier's Joy, etc. For a single ending, you may use either the first or the second ending lick that your double endings consist of. Refer back to the files in the song of the week write up for Shortnin' Bread for an example of a double ending on the banjo, which can be turned into two ways of playing a single ending. 
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-beginner-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/shortnin-bread

In the files for the current song of the week write-up (scroll to the bottom of this page), I have included a simplified version of the up-the-neck single ending 'shave-and-a-haircut' licks that are played on the banjo on the recordings for Down The Road given here. This ending lick will also work well for the second half (but not for the first half) of a double ending for tunes in G (and with a capo, also for tunes in A, Bb, B, and C.)


Song List
20 songs were played at last night's jam: 14 from the main list, 5 from the additional songs list, and 1 that is on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Down The Road - B
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - A
Long Journey Home - B
Mama Don't Allow - A
A Memory Of You - A
Mountain Dew - A
New River Train - F
Nine Pound Hammer - E
Old Joe Clark - A
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - Bb
Columbus Stockade Blues - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Lonesome Feeling - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Down The Road - banjo tab
Download File

Down The Road - guitar tab
Download File

Down The Road - mandolin tab (B)
Download File

Down The Road - melody in B
Download File

Down The Road - fill-in licks (B)
Download File

Shave-And-A-Haircut Single Ending on Banjo
Download File

Hi everyone, 
The song of the week is 'Liberty' in the key of D.

Recordings 
Flatt & Scruggs with Doc Watson 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugu-QwHWaA

Midwest Banjo Camp 2013: Bill Keith, Tony Trischka, Greg Cahill, Alan Munde, Ken Perlman, Brad Leftwich, Bill Evans, Janet Beasley, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE-2NO7WbhE

Byron Berline & John Hickman 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsbIoPhwG5U

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys
Liberty - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube

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

Progression
A-Part: 1144
            1151
B-Part: 1115  (Prog. Z1 on the Basic Chord Progressions Chart.)
            1151

Notice the difference between the progression for the B-Part of Liberty (Z1) and the progression for the A-Parts of Soldier's Joy and Old Joe Clark (Y1):

1    1    1    5
1    1    1/5 1


Lilt
Despite how they look when written on paper, and what their name implies, a string of consecutive 8th notes should not all be given equal time value when playing most Bluegrass breaks. Rather, they should usually be swung, so that the first 8th note in each pair of 8th notes lasts a bit longer than one-eighth of a measure, stealing time value from the second 8th note in the pair, which in turn takes up a bit less than one-eighth of the measure. The slower that consecutive 8th notes are played, the easier it is to detect whether they are being played in this manner (long-short-long-short, etc., often called 'lilt' or 'bounce'). To hear more clearly what this sounds like, slow down the youtube links provided here to half speed. To do this, click on settings, then click on speed, then click on 0.5. In the guitar jam video that I made for Liberty, I illustrate the difference between playing with and without lilt before starting into the tune. 


Melody
As is the case with most traditional fiddle tunes, there are many versions and interpretations of the melody of Liberty, but most versions one will come across online (whether written or recorded) are compatible with the interpretation of the melody I have offered in the files at the end of this write-up.


Guitar & Banjo Tabs
With ease of left hand fingering in mind, I have written the guitar and banjo tabs for Liberty in C instead of D. (See the files at the bottom of this song of the week write-up.) So, guitar and banjo players playing breaks based upon these will need to capo the 2nd fret to raise their playing up from the key of C to the key of D, and will need to make it a point to remember that Liberty is a 'D' tune, not a 'C' tune. 


Banjo Melody Tab
The banjo melody tab in the files section at the end of this write-up is not intended to be played as written for a banjo break, but is intended to serve as a guide for creating a Scruggs-style break. For tunes with fast-moving melodies like Liberty, Scruggs-style players tend to incorporate only as much of the melody into their breaks that is needed in order for the tune to be recognizable, and replace the rest of the melody with strategically selected filler-notes.that are compatible with the chord that is called for at the time, and that allow the player to make use of the right hand picking patterns that are typical of the style. In the files, I have provided examples of how a Scruggs-style player, using the melody sheet as a guide and following the basic principles of Scruggs-style, might choose to play the first two measures of the A Part and the first two measures of the B Part.


Note to Clawhammer Banjo Players
Clawhammer banjo players usually tune their banjos to double C tuning (GCGCD) for playing Liberty, and then capo the 2nd fret to raise their playing up to D. When tuned this way, in order to make use of the banjo melody tab provided here, one will need to add 2 to the numbers shown on the tab for the 4th string, and subtract 1 from the numbers shown on the tab for the 2nd string. (In the case of the open 2nd string notes shown on the tab, the 4th fret of the 3rd string will need to be used in their place.)

By transferring some of the melody notes shown on the first string in the tab to the 2nd string (and by transferring also the open 2nd string note to the 4th fret of the 3rd string), it is feasible, with the help of drop-thumb, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, for a clawhammer player to grab almost every melody note. However, most clawhammer players take a similar approach to Scruggs-style players in being selective about which melody notes to include in their playing of the tune, substituting filler notes in place of some of the melody notes in ways that allow them to make more use of the picking patterns typical of clawhammer style than what would be the case if they were to try to grab as much of the melody as possible.


8 Potato Intros 
Since there is nothing more effective for kicking off most fiddle tunes at a bluegrass jam than 8 Potato Intros, I have included examples of these in the files for each of the 4 primary lead instruments played at the beginner jam: fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and 3-finger style banjo. 

Notice that the last (4th) measure of the 8 Potato Intro includes the two pickup notes (or in the case of the banjo tab, just one pickup note) that lead into the first complete measure of the A Part of Liberty. If there were no pickup notes into the A Part of Liberty, then all 4 measures of the 8 Potato Intro would be identical with each other. This is important to keep in mind when kicking off fiddle tunes with an 8 Potato Intro. For, if one does not start into the melody at exactly the right time, then the 8 Potato Intro fails to serve its purpose. 


Double Endings
I have also included in the files examples of double endings suitable for Liberty for the four primary lead instruments played at the jam, since it is customary at bluegrass jams to end fiddle tunes (and certain other types of instrumentals) with these kinds of endings. 

When playing these endings, it is important to make sure that they start at exactly the right time relative to the end of the final B Part. The incomplete last measure on the melody sheets (2nd ending of the B Part) needs to be completed either by a quarter note rest, or by changing the last note from a quarter note to a half note before the first note of the double ending starts. 

Since the last break played for Liberty at the jam will usually be an 'everybody' break, it makes sense for everyone who played that break to also play the double ending together. 

Those not playing the double ending should stop playing after the last note of the final B Part has been played, and then prepare themselves to do one final note, double stop, or strum that will coincide with the last note of the double ending. In order for them to be able to do this, and to do this confidently, it is important that those playing the double ending play it clearly and with the correct timing.


Song List
17 songs were played at last night's jam: 9 from the main list, and 8 from the additional songs list.

Cluck Old Hen - A
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Mountain Dew - A
Nine Pound Hammer - E
Way Down Town - E
Worried Man Blues - Bb
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Bury Me Beneath The Willow - D
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - G
Gold Watch And Chain - E
I Saw The Light - C
I'll Fly Away - Bb
Wildwood Flower - G
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Sheet Music:
Liberty - banjo tab
Download File

Liberty - Scruggs-Style Banjo ex.
Download File

Liberty - guitar tab
Download File

Liberty - mandolin tab
Download File

8 Potato Intro
Download File

Liberty - melody in D
Download File

Double Endings in D
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Mountain Dew' in the key of A.

Recordings 
The Foggy Mountain Boys - key of A
Mountain Dew - Foggy Mountain Boys - YouTube

Stringbean - key of A  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZBUDQsI6m8

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys - key of B
Mountain Dew - YouTube

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of A
Mountain Dew - Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Mountain Dew. In the one listed first, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
Mountain Dew uses the 'I'll Fly Away/Will The Circle Be Unbroken' chord progression:
1111
4411
1111
1511
(Prog. V3 on the Basic Chord Progressions Chart)


Tempo
Mountain Dew is often played at a fast tempo. The song does not lend itself well to being played as slowly as what we have often played many other songs at the jam. Mountain Dew should be one of our faster songs within the range of the tempos that we tend to play at.


Speed Building
Here are some things to try to help you to play faster:
For rhythm guitar: focus on the bass notes, think of the strums as though they were a mere afterthought. Keep the strums between the bass notes relatively quiet; between bass notes, the strums should be a single, rapidly executed, and compact downstroke with the pick aiming for no more than just the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings. The pick should not need to change the angle at which it hits the strings between strums and bass notes, and there should be no more than the bare minimum amount of motion from the hand and arm needed for playing rhythm.

For banjo: don't get locked into doing the same right hand picking pattern over and over again; repetitive motions are difficult to maintain even for a short time at fast tempos. Leave some of the less important notes out of the rolls: various mixtures of quarter notes and 8th notes are not only easier to play at fast tempos than a steady stream of 8th notes, but also tend to sound better.

For bass: when playing along with records, make sure that you are able to play on top of the beat, rather than behind it. Can you push the beat just a little bit without speeding up or falling out of time with the record? Test yourself on this with moderate tempo songs before attempting to play along with fast songs on a record.

For guitar and mandolin breaks: for fast songs, tend to play fewer notes per measure than what you would do for moderate tempo songs; the faster the song is, the less need there is for so many notes in order for your breaks to be satisfying to the ear.

For fiddle: when you wish to include measures consisting mostly of 8th notes in your breaks, you might try to find places where it is convenient to play 3 or 4 notes back to back with a single bow stroke, rather than using a separate bow stroke for each note.

For all instruments: when practicing with a metronome, set the metronome just a couple beats faster than the fastest tempo that you feel comfortable playing at, and make yourself keep up to it. Isolate and loop any spots that you find yourself tending to slow down on or stumble over (starting at a slower tempo than what you had the metronome set to, building back up to that speed), or find ways to simplify what you are playing in those spots. Once the metronome speed feels comfortable to play at, set it yet another couple of beats faster, and repeat the same process.


Lyrics
I know six verses for Mountain Dew, but usually use only four or five of them at a time when singing the song at a jam. Among the four recorded versions given here, all six of these verses are accounted for. Three verses is enough to know for the sake of leading the song at a jam. But, the advantage of knowing more verses for the song than what you would sing at any one time at a jam is that if, in the moment, you forget one of the verses, you are less likely to need to repeat a verse you already sang.

The first words of each of the six verses I know are:
1. There's a big holler tree down the road here from me...
2. Mr. Roosevelt told me just how he felt...
3. My Uncle Mort, he is sawed off and short...
4. My Aunt June bought some new perfume...
5. The preacher rode by with his head heisted high...
6. My Brother Bill's got a still on the hill...

The verses that I tend to almost always use when singing the song are the first, third, and sixth on the list, and the one that I leave out more often than any of the others is the fourth. But, the faster the song is played, the more inclined I am to sing more verses.


Song List
15 songs were played at last night's jam: 9 from the main list, 3 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

Down The Road - B
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Long Journey Home - B
A Memory Of You - A
Mountain Dew - A
Nine Pound Hammer - G
Old Joe Clark - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - G
I Saw The Light - G
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - C
Lonesome Feeling - G
When The Saints Go Marching In - F
Faded Love - D

Happy Pickin',
Jason


Melody Sheets:
Mountain Dew - banjo tab
Download File

Mountain Dew - guitar tab
Download File

Mountain Dew - mandolin tab
Download File

Mountain Dew - melody in A
Download File

Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Lonesome Road Blues' (a.k.a. 'I'm Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad) in the key of G.

Recordings
Here is one of the first sung bluegrass versions of Lonesome Road Blues I remember hearing. It is a live recording of the Stanley Brothers, and it is played at quite a fast tempo:

The Stanley Brothers - key of G
The Stanley Brothers - Lonesome Road Blues (live) (aka Going Down The Road Feeling Bad) - 1957 - YouTube

Here is what is probably the most well-known instrumental bluegrass version of Lonesome Road Blues, played as a banjo-feature tune on the Flatt and Scruggs' album 'Foggy Mountain Banjo', and at a slower tempo than the Stanley Brothers' live version:

Flatt and Scruggs - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4dgyx9Q850

Here is a sung version by Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music
Bill Monroe - key of C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0_s2hGkBAs

Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G
Lonesome Road Blues -Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys - YouTube


Jam Videos
Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Lonesome Road Blues. In the one listed first, I am on guitar.
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression used in the versions of Lonesome Road Blues on the recordings given here is the same one that I use when leading the song:
1111
4411
4411
5511
(Prog. W4 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout)
...though, I have heard it played at some jams with the last line played as 1511 (Prog. V4 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout), and/or with the third line played as 4416m. 


Blue Notes
Notice the Bb note in measure 2 of lines 2, 3, and 4 on the melody sheets in the files section at the bottom of this write-up. Relative to the key of G, the Bb note is the b3 (flatted third scale degree). Together with the b7 (for the key of G, an F note), making good use of this note will often add a 'bluesy' characteristic to your playing.


Arrangement
Lonesome Road Blues is one of those small handful of songs that at a typical bluegrass jam it would not be out of the ordinary for it to be played either with or without singing.

Lonesome Road Blues is also one of those songs that may be sung either with or without a chorus. Other songs that have been played at the jam that are also like this include: Down The Road, Amazing Grace, This Little Light Of Mine, When The Saints Go Marching In, and Little Birdie. When sung without a chorus, the set of lyrics that make up the chorus in the versions of Lonesome Road Blues that use a chorus will usually be sung as one of the verses in the song - usually as the first or as the last verse, or as both. 

For most of the songs that may be sung either with or without a chorus, I tend to choose to sing them without a chorus when I lead them at a jam, and this is how I sing Lonesome Road Blues. This arrangement allows more time for a greater number of breaks to be played without making the song unusually long. 


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 4 from the additional songs list, and 3 that are on neither list:

Cluck Old Hen - A
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Liberty - D
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Long Journey Home - A
A Memory Of You - A
Mountain Dew - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong - C
Worried Man Blues - Bb
Cripple Creek - A
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Greenville Trestle - D
Jambalaya - D
Lonesome Feeling - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Sheet music:
Lonesome Road Blues - banjo tab
Download File

Lonesome Road Blues - guitar tab
Download File

Lonesome Road Blues - mandolin tab
Download File

Lonesome Road Blues - melody in G
Download File