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
0 Comments
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. 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
Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' in the key of G. Recordings Flatt & Scruggs - key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNapvXhcNS8 The Mashville Brigade - key of A My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - YouTube Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (starts at 2:37) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1NKw99Anlo Jam Videos Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains. Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com) Progression The chord progression for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains is: 1111 5511 1111 5511 This is Prog. W5 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout. In the key of G: 1=G; 5=D. The G chord consists of the notes G, B, and D. The D chord consists of the notes D, F#, and A. Notice that the second half of the progression is identical to the first half of the progression. Therefore, there are really only two lines (8 measures) to memorize. Be prepared, however, to add an extra measure or two of the 1 chord to the last line of the progression for a break that occurs right before the singing starts up again, and the progression starts again from the beginning. This is common in bluegrass arrangements of songs. On the Flatt and Scruggs recording of the song, all three of the breaks are played as: 1111 5511 1111 55111 On the Mashville Brigade recording; the first three breaks, the last (fifth) break, and the first chorus are played as: 1111 5511 1111 551111 Melody In listening to the Flatt & Scruggs recording and/or from looking at the melody sheets in the files included at the bottom of this write-up, notice that the melody of the song has only 5 notes in it. In ascending order of pitch, these are: E, G, A, B, and D. To make the melody slightly more interesting, the banjo, in its intro break lowers the G note in measures 3 and 11 to the D below the E note that is the lowest note in the vocal melody; the dobro break which occurs in the song after the second chorus does this same thing in measure 3, but not in measure 11. On this point, the sung melody on the Mashville Brigade recording coincides with the version of the melody played in the banjo intro break on the Flatt & Scruggs recording. Make it a point to remember this sequence of notes, and be sure that you can locate them on your instrument: D E G A B D. There are many songs that, when played in the key of G, have this same range of notes (lowest note D, highest note the D an octave higher) and have no other notes than G's, A's, B's, D's, and E's. Songs like this on the current main list and additional songs list for the beginner jam include 'Foggy Mountain Top', 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Amazing Grace', and 'Long Journey Home'. When transposed to each of the 7 other keys that these songs may be played in at the jam, these notes become: key of A: E F# A B C# E key of Bb: F G Bb C D F key of B: F# G# B C# D# F# key of C: G A C D E G key of D: A B D E F# A key of E; B C# E F# G# B key of F: C D F G A C On the Nashville Number Charts included in the handouts for the beginner jam, these notes correspond with the numbers 5 6 1 2 3 5. Melody/Progression Relationship Notice that in the melody for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, the only notes that are dwelt on for half a measure or more are notes that belong to the chord being played at the time: G, B, or D notes during G chord measures, and A notes during D chord measures. It is because of those A notes at the beginning of lines 2 and 4, that a chord change occurs at the beginning of those lines, for the A note is not part of the G chord. It is typical, in the key of G, for a D chord to be played when the melody of a song dwells on an A note, for of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of G, namely, G, C, and D, the D chord is the only one that contains an A note. Breaks In the breaks on the recordings, the measures that have only one or two melody notes in them sometimes have what sound like extra 'melody' notes added to them in addition to the many filler notes that are placed around the melody, whereas the measures that have 4 melody notes in them often have one or two of these notes deleted from them, and when not deleted, they sometimes get displaced within the measure. For a slow-moving melody, as this song has, it will not work well to play for your break only what you see written on the attached melody sheets. In order to maintain good control of the rhythm, tempo, and feel of the song during your break, so that everyone who is playing backup during your break can be following you rather than the other way around, your break needs to consist mostly of eighth notes and quarter notes, not half notes and whole notes. Simple Guitar, Mandolin, and Fiddle Breaks If you don't know what other notes would work to put around the melody, then for lack of anything else to do, keep to the melody notes, but - on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle - change half notes to a quarter note followed by two eighth notes, and for whole notes, do this twice: i.e., quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter, eighth, eighth. To see what this rhythm looks like when written out, refer to the 'guitar break' in the files at the bottom of this write-up. I have not included a fiddle break sheet or a mandolin break sheet in the files, because the guitar break tab suffices to show for the sake of all three of these instruments what the rhythm is that is being applied here to the melody. Simple Banjo Breaks The banjo is a different story than guitar, mandolin, and fiddle (repeating the same note several times in a row in the manner described above doesn't work so well when playing with finger picks), so I have also included a 'banjo break' sheet in the files. This is a very basic break (a lot more is going on in the banjo breaks on the recordings than in the banjo break given in the attachments) which is given here to demonstrate how one can take one roll pattern (in this case, the alternating thumb roll) and place it around the melody, turning quarter notes into a pair of eighth notes, half notes into a series of four eighth notes, etc. To avoid the monotony that results from playing nothing but eighth notes in one's break, I have substituted for the roll in a few places a single quarter note followed by a quarter note double stop (called a 'pinch' on the banjo). Pickup Notes On the break sheets, I have also included a pickup measure for each of the 4 instruments. You will need to use these, or something like them, in order to kick off the song effectively on your instrument without having to count into the song. Remember these three notes: D, G, A. These will work well as pickups for nearly any song in the key of G in which the first complete measure of the melody starts with a B note while a G chord is being played. The corresponding notes for the 7 other keys used at the jam are: key of A: E, A, B leading to a C# note on an A chord. key of Bb: F, Bb, C leading to a D note on a Bb chord. key of B: F#, B, C# leading to a D# note on a B chord. key of C: G, C, D leading to an E note on a C chord. key of D: A, D, E leading to an F# note on a D chord. key of E: B, E, F# leading to a G# note on an E chord. key of F: C, F, G leading to an A note on an F chord. 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 Beautiful Brown Eyes - G Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A Boil The Cabbage Down - A Buffalo Gals - A Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G Foggy Mountain Top - G I'll Fly Away - G My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G Shortnin' Bread - A Soldier's Joy - D Way Down Town - E Will The Circle Be Unbroken - A Angeline The Baker - D Gold Watch And Chain - D Little Cabin Home On The Hill - C Lonesome Road Blues - A This Land Is Your Land - G Worried Man Blues - A Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms - G Happy Pickin', Jason My Home's Across... - melody in G Download File My Home's Across... - mandolin tab Download File My Home's Across... - guitar tab Download File My Home's Across... - banjo tab Download File My Home's Across... - guitar break Download File My Home's Across... - banjo break Download File Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Way Down Town' in the key of E. Recordings The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Doc Watson - key of D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4boKwvWNZc Tony Rice - key of D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u326dPx_5U Doc and Merle Watson - key of E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACAFvj42xY4 Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of E (starts at 3:31) 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 Way Down Town. In the one listed second, I am on guitar, and play the song in the key of E. Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com) Progression The chord progression for Way Down Town is: 4411 5511 4411 5511 This is Progression W10 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. Notice that: 1) the progression starts with the 4 chord rather than the 1 chord; 2) the two halves of the progression are identical; 3) the chord changes occur consistently once every two measures; and 4) each line of the progression ends with 2 measures of the 1 chord. 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. The notes that make up the E chord are: EG#B The notes that make up the A chord are: AC#E The notes that make up the B chord are: BD#F# Together, these 7 notes make up the E major scale: (four sharps:) EF#G#ABC#D#. Pickup Notes An effective way to lead into a melody-based break for Way Down Town in the key of E is to play the following set of pickup notes: E F# G# leading to A (the first melody note). Transposed to the key of D, the pickups become: D E F# leading to G (the first melody note). Transposed to the key of C, the pickups become: C D E leading to F (the first melody note). Fiddle & Mandolin: Easy Double Stops Notice that, in first position, in the key of E, the melody (see the files at the bottom of this write-up) is carried on only the 2nd and 3rd strings. It is convenient that the 1st string on the fiddle and on the mandolin is tuned to an E note, for both the E and the A chords contain that note. Therefore, the open first string can be played along with the melody notes that occur on the 2nd string during the E and A chord measures to create double stops. Fill-in Licks Way Down Town has dead spaces in its melody on the 1 chord measures that occur at the ends of lines 2 and 4. These are the same spots where the dead spaces occur in I'll Fly Away, Mountain Dew, Nine Pound Hammer, Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Blue Ridge Cabin Home, Foggy Mountain Top, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, All The Good Times Are Past And Gone, and too many other songs on the song lists to name here. To fill up some of these dead spaces, try to make use of the simple E chord fill-in licks provided in the PDF file at the bottom of this write-up when playing your breaks and when playing backup if you do not already have fill-in licks in your repertoire of licks that work for playing over an E chord. Banjo: Capo 2, Spike 9 I recommend that banjo players try to play this song with the capo on the 2nd fret and with the fifth string capoed, or spiked to a B note, i.e., 9th fret, playing as if in the key of D. This way the melody can be located on the 3rd and 4th strings at the very same locations as is most common for melody notes for songs played in the key of G (or with a capo, A, Bb, etc.) See the banjo tab melody sheet at the bottom of this write-up. Guitar: Capo 2 or 4 Guitar players will probably want to capo either to the second fret to play as if in D (1=D; 4=G; 5=A) or to the fourth fret to play as if in C (1=C; 4=F; 5=G). The latter option will work better for those who wish to play a Carter-style break for Way Down Town, but the first option lends itself more easily to the use of 'blue notes' (b3 and b7 notes: in the key of D, these notes are F's and C's: called b3 and b7 respectively because they are each a half step lower than the 3rd and 7th notes of the D Major Scale, namely F# and C# notes) which can also sound good when used in appropriate spots in breaks for this song. Therefore, I have included two melody sheets in guitar tab at the bottom of this write-up. Song List 18 songs were played at last night's jam: 11 from the main list, 5 from the additional songs list, and 2 that are on neither list: All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G Cripple Creek - A Foggy Mountain Top - A I'll Fly Away - G Little Birdie - Bb My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G Soldier's Joy - D Way Down Town - E Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G Angeline The Baker - D Before I Met You - C Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - A Little Cabin Home On The Hill - C Old Joe Clark - A Faded Love - D Wildwood Flower - G Happy Pickin', Jason Sheet Music: Way Downtown - melody in E Download File Way Downtown - mandolin tab Download File Way Downtown - banjo tab Download File Way Downtown - guitar tab 1 Download File Way Downtown - guitar tab 2 Download File E Chord Fill-in Licks Download File Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'I'll Fly Away' in the key of G. Recordings Del McCoury Band - key of Bb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOAmHrzE8v4 Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch - key of D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz-0C2dhKlg Bill Evans, Jason Homey, Janet Beasley, & Gary Eller - key of A (starts at 0:51) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5FlspZlKE Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - key of G (starts at 12:37) Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 4/23/19 - YouTube The first, third, and fourth recordings come closer than what the second does to how I'll Fly Away has usually been played and sung at the jam, both in terms of where the breaks occur in the song, and the vocal harmony arrangement. Jam Videos Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for I'll Fly Away. 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 I'll Fly Away is: 1111 4411 1111 1511 This is Progression V3 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout, and is the same progression that is used for 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Mountain Dew', 'Cryin' Holy' 'When My Time Comes To Go', the chorus of 'It's Mighty Dark To Travel', some versions of 'Sitting On Top Of The World', and many other songs. Since 13 out of the 16 measures of this progression consist of 1s, memorizing the progression need not involve anything more than just remembering the location of the 4s and the location of the 5 within the progression. In the key of G: 1 = G, 4 = C, 5 = D. For the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the other 7 keys that the song may be played in at the jam, refer to the beginner jam Nashville Number Charts handout included in the files. (Scroll down to the very bottom of this email message for the files.) Melody While the chord progression is the same for both the verse and the chorus of I'll Fly Away, the melody of the chorus differs from the melody of the verse. The spots that differ are the whole first line, and on the Del McCoury Band recording, and in the way that I have sung the chorus at the jams (and on the Snake River Boys recording and on the jam videos), also in the first two measures of the 3rd line. ('When I die': the ascending sequence of D, E, and G notes when in the key of G, instead of the descending sequence of B, G, and D notes that the 3rd line of the verse melody begins with.) In ascending order of pitch, when played and sung in G, the notes that make up the melody for the verses are: D, E, G, A, B, C, and the notes that make up the melody for the chorus are: D, E, G, A, B, C, D, with the high D note being the note that the chorus starts on. To see what these notes would be for the 7 other keys that I'll Fly Away may be played in at the jam, refer to the Nashville Number System Charts handout in the files at the bottom of this email, notes 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4 on the larger of the two charts. Breaks In the files at the bottom of this write-up, I have provided the verse melody as a guide for creating melody-based breaks for each of the instruments; but since the progression is the same for both the verse and the chorus, if you know the chorus melody and would like to play a break that is based upon the chorus melody instead of the verse melody, feel free to do so, just not at the beginning of the song for the intro break. This can make the song a bit more interesting, especially when two breaks are played back to back, or after several breaks have been already been played in the song that have been based upon the verse melody, and it will work in the context of the collective breaks that we play at the beginner jam, since the chorus melody is for the most part harmonious with the verse melody. An example of a chorus melody-based banjo break sandwiched between two verse melody-based occurs on the Snake River Boys recording. The chorus melody-based banjo break happens right after the guitar break. Here is an instrumental recording of I'll Fly Away that contains both verse and chorus breaks on each instrument: banjo (key of G), guitar (key of C), fiddle (key of F), mandolin (key of Bb), dobro (key of Eb), banjo (key of G): Bluegrass '96 - Scott Vestal, Aubrey Haynie, Wayne Benson, Jeff Autry, Rob Ickes, & Mark Schatz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5joNSHVKzg Harmony I welcome harmony singers to sing not only on the choruses, but also on the second and fourth lines of the verses (the 'I'll Fly Aways'), like on the first and third recordings given here. Please remember though that when singing harmony, it is important to be focused on the lead singer as much as possible for the sake of timing, tuning, and phrasing. In the files (see the bottom of this email), I have included a simple three part harmony arrangement for the choruses (the notes for the 'I'll Fly Aways' in the verses are identical with the notes for the 'I'll Fly Aways' in the choruses, so I have not included a harmony arrangement for those parts of the verses in the attachments.) There are more interesting note choices that one could use for the harmony parts than what I have written here, but for the sake of those who are just beginning to learn to sing harmony, I have tried to keep the parts as simple and straightforward as possible. On the harmony sheet, the notes for the tenor harmony are the highest of the groups of three notes on the staff, the notes for the baritone harmony are the lowest, and the melody is the middle set of notes. If it suits your vocal range better, you may drop the tenor harmony part an octave to create the harmony part that is known in bluegrass as the 'low tenor', or you may raise the baritone harmony an octave higher to create the harmony part that is known in bluegrass as the 'high baritone'. On the third recording provided here, Bill, Janet, Gary, and I took turns singing the lead on the solo parts (the first and third lines) of the verses, but we each stuck to a given part when singing together on the chorus and on the second and fourth lines of the verses: Bill sang the melody, Janet sang the tenor harmony, I sang the baritone harmony, and Gary sang bass. Endings For songs like I'll Fly Away that use a progression that ends with two measures of the 1 chord, and in which the last syllable is sung at the beginning of the first of these two measures (which includes the overwhelming majority of the non-instrumental songs on the current main list and additional songs list), it is common for a two-measure ending lick to be played on the instruments during the last two measures of the progression when the song is going to end. In most cases, this means the last two measures of the final chorus (or, for songs that don't have a chorus, the final verse) of the song. In the 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.) Song List 19 songs were played at last night's jam: 13 from the main list, and 6 from the additional songs list: Blue Ridge Cabin Home - A Buffalo Gals - A Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G Cripple Creek - A Foggy Mountain Top - G I'll Fly Away - G Little Birdie - Bb Mama Don't Allow - A A Memory Of You - Bb My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G Shortnin' Bread - G Soldier's Joy - D Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G Down The Road - E Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G Little Cabin Home On The Hill - Bb Lonesome Road Blues - G Mountain Dew - G Wreck Of The Old '97 - D Happy Pickin', Jason Sheet Music: I'll Fly Away - melody in G Download File I'll Fly Away - banjo tab Download File I'll Fly Away - guitar tab Download File I'll Fly Away - mandolin tab Download File I'll Fly Away - harmony in G Download File Endings for most songs in G Download File Nashville Number System Charts Download File Hi everyone,
The song of the week is 'Cripple Creek' in the key of A. Recordings Flatt and Scruggs, key of A (the instruments are tuned a little bit sharp): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4sqishGuYw Butch Robins with Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys: key of A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLZuYpXXgAs Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys: key of A (starts at 8:31) 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 Cripple Creek. 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 & Arrangement Cripple Creek is a two part fiddle tune (AABB form) that is traditionally played in the key of A. Each part of Cripple Creek is 4 measures long. Each part is repeated before going on to the next part. Although Cripple Creek has lyrics, it is usually played as an instrumental in bluegrass circles, and is often thought of as being more of a banjo tune than a fiddle tune. Progression The chord progression for the A-Part of Cripple Creek is: 1 4/1 1 5/1 The progression for the B-Part is the same as the progression for both parts of Shortnin' Bread: 1 1 1 5/1 (In the key of A: 1=A, 4=D, 5=E. In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D.) Notice that: a) the only chord that is played for more than half a measure at a time is the 1 chord; b) the A-Part uses three chords (the 1,the 4, and the 5), whereas the B-Part uses only two chords (the 1 and the 5); and c) the only difference between the progression for the A-Part and the progression for the B-Part is whether or not a change to the 4 chord occurs in the first half of measure two of the part. The progression for the B Part of Cripple is typical for fiddle tunes in which each part is 4 measures long (instead of 8 measures long) before it is repeated. Other fiddle tunes that use the same progression as the progression for the B Part of Cripple Creek include: Shortnin' Bread (both parts), Cotton-Eyed Joe (both parts), Sally Goodin (both parts), Cumberland Gap (both parts), Black Mountain Rag (A and B Parts), The Eighth Of January (B Part), Sourwood Mountain (both parts in some versions; other versions use for the A-Part the same progression that is used for the A-Part of Cripple Creek), Ida Red (both parts), Lee Highway Blues (A Part), Fire On The Mountain (both parts, minus the two-measure tag that the last B-Part in the form usually ends with), Four Cent Cotton (both parts), and Hell Broke Loose In Georgia (A, B, and D parts). 8 Potato Intros and Double Endings Like most AABB form fiddle tunes, Cripple Creek is most effectively started at a jam with an 8 potato intro, and it is customary to end it with a double ending tacked on to the tune after the final B Part has been completed. For written examples of simple 8 potato intros and double endings in the key of A for fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar, scroll down to the files at the bottom of this write-up. On the Snake River Boys recording and in the jam videos, I start Cripple Creek with an 8 potato intro. On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, Earl starts the tune with a single B-Part before the band comes in to join him, and this serves the same function as an 8 potato intro. On all the recordings, Cripple Creek ends with a double ending. It is important to remember that any pickup notes that you play for your intro break for Cripple Creek (that is, notes that occur before the first full measure of the A Part) must be included within the last measure of the four measures that the 8 potato intro consists of. It does not work to play 4 full measures of 8 potato intro and then the pickup notes. For instance, if you are using two 8th notes as pickups into the A Part for your intro break for Cripple Creek, you must substitute those two 8th notes in place of the last quarter of the measure of the 8 potato intro, so that your first full measure of the A Part starts exactly four complete measures after the start of the 8 potato intro. Melody & Breaks In the version of the melody given in the files at the bottom of this write-up, the notes that make up the melody for the A-Part of Cripple Creek are, in ascending order of pitch: 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 Key of A: E F# A B C# D E F# A Key of G: D E G A B C D E G The melody for the B-Part uses only the first five (the five lowest) of these nine notes. Notice that the melody for the last half of the B-Part of Cripple Creek is the same as the melody for the last half of the A-Part. So, there are only six, rather than eight, measures to learn and memorize. Concerning the melody sheets provided here: Each sheet has two versions of Cripple Creek on it. The version at the top of the page is the melody as I would hum or sing it. (This is only one of many possible interpretations of the basic melody of Cripple Creek.) With the exception of the banjo tab sheet, the version at the bottom of each page is a more elaborate interpretation of the melody of Cripple Creek, and makes for more interesting breaks on fiddle, mandolin and guitar. When playing guitar or mandolin breaks for Cripple Creek at the jam, I often play something very similar to this. But, just as often I will play a break that is somewhere about halfway between the basic version of the melody and the more elaborate version of the melody. So, if you find that the version at the bottom of the page is too difficult for you to play at the faster speeds that Cripple Creek is sometimes played at the jam, you might wish to take this approach. By doing this, you can come up with many different ways to play a break for Cripple Creek, and this also makes the tune more interesting when all your breaks on a song don't sound exactly the same as each other. (Note: Instead of writing first and second endings for the A and B Parts of the second version of Cripple Creek on each page, I wrote the last measure of each part as an incomplete measure. This measure is completed by the short pickup measure found at the beginning of whichever part one is going to play next.) For those who find it helpful to listen to a sung version of a tune to get a better sense of the melody, here is a sung version of Cripple Creek that I remember from my early childhood: Buffy Sainte-Marie - key of Ab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXkM11kp_tg Guitar & Mandolin: Alternate Picking When playing successive eighth notes on the guitar and mandolin with a flatpick, be sure to make use of alternate picking: for each pair of eighth notes, play the first note in the pair with a downstroke, and the second note in the pair with an upstroke. Dividing the measures into eight equal sections: 1e&a2e&a, the downstrokes belong on the 1's, the 2's and the &'s, and the upstrokes belong on the e's and the a's. This system is important to use (for the sake of speed, ease of playing, volume, timing, and feel) not only for passages consisting solely of eighth notes, but also for most passages that contain a variety of different time values within them. For instance, the first measure of the A-Part of Cripple Creek as given in the files consists of a quarter note followed by a pair of eighth notes, followed by a quarter note, followed by another pair of eighth notes. These six notes should be played as: down-down-up-down-down-up: the four downstrokes coincide with the 1&2& spots within the measure, and the two upstrokes coincide with the two 'a' spots within the measure. Since no pick strokes coincide with the 'e' spots within the measure, no upstroke occurs between the first two downstrokes or between the third and fourth downstrokes. Banjo: Melody & Breaks On the banjo tab sheet, the version of Cripple Creek at the bottom of the page is not a more elaborate version of the melody, but is rather a Scruggs-style break that is based upon the basic version of the melody. Bluegrass fiddle, mandolin, and guitar players, when surrounding a melody with additional notes, will tend to choose notes that closely neighbor the melody notes on the scale. This tends to make many of the extra notes sound like additional melody notes. Bluegrass banjo players have less of a tendency to take this type of approach when adding extra notes. Bluegrass banjo players from the Scruggs-style tradition do very little of this, but instead usually use in their breaks not much more than only the most essential melody notes of a tune, and then surround these notes with 'chord' notes (notes that belong to the chord being played at the time in the song), and/or 'drone' notes (usually notes that belong to the 1 chord - e.g., G chord when playing in the key of G, regardless of what chord is called for at the time in the song). These notes are chosen in accord with certain set picking patterns (called 'rolls'), and with little regard to the width of the interval between any two successive eighth notes. The overall effect that this has is to make the notes added around the melody not sound at all like additional melody notes. Song List 18 songs were played at last night's jam: 12 from the main list, and 6 from the additional songs list: All The Good Times Are Past And Gone - A Beautiful Brown Eyes - C Boil The Cabbage Down - A Bury Me Beneath The Willow - G Cripple Creek - A Foggy Mountain Top - G A Memory Of You - A My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G Nine Pound Hammer - B Soldier's Joy - D Way Down Town - F Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A Light At The River - A Little Cabin Home On The Hill - A Mountain Dew - A Old Joe Clark - A Red River Valley - G Happy Pickin', Jason Sheet Music: Cripple Creek - melody in A Download File Cripple Creek - mandolin tab Download File Cripple Creek - guitar tab Download File Cripple Creek - banjo tab Download File 8 Potato Intro in A Download File Double Endings in A Download File Hi everyone,
I hope you have had a good Summer. I will resume leading the beginner jams at the Powderhaus on Tuesday, Sept. 20th (6:30-9pm). Attached here are the song lists and other handouts that will be used for the jams until the end of the year. The song of the week for the Sept. 20th jam will be 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow' in the key of G. Recorded by the Carter Family in 1927 (under the title 'Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow Tree'), and then by the Monroe Brothers (Bill Monroe and his older brother Charlie) in 1937 as 'Weeping Willow Tree', 'Bury Me Beneath The Willow' has gone on to become one of the most common of Bluegrass standards. Recordings Alison Krauss - key of E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzA68Ohwke4 The Stanley Brothers - sharper than the key of F#, but flatter than the key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohRY7WNqGJY Ricky Skaggs & Tony Rice - key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHUSKENZsHA The Carter Family - key of B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCniFuHlPG0 The Monroe Brothers - key of F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRxz4OQ4yzc Jason Homey & The Snake River Boys - G (starts at 8:28) Jason Homey and the Snake River Boys, IBA Open Mic, 4/23/19 - YouTube Jam Videos Here are three youtube jam videos I have made for Bury Me Beneath The Willow. I recommend starting with the one listed first. In that one, I am on guitar. Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com) Arrangement Of the recorded versions of Bury Me Beneath The Willow given here, the Alison Krauss and Snake River Boys recordings are the only ones that start with a full-length intro break. The half-length intro breaks played on the Stanley Brothers and Monroe Brothers recordings consist of the second half of a full-length break. When I have kicked the song off at the beginner jam, I have always played a full-length intro break (16 measures, plus often 1 or 2 additional measures added on to the end of the break before starting to sing the first verse), and I have usually expected others who kick the song off to do the same, as this tends to work better at the jams than any of the other options for starting the song. Progression The chord progression for Bury Me Beneath The Willow (on all the recordings given here except for the Monroe Brothers' version) is the most common of all progressions in Bluegrass: 1144 1155 1144 1511 (Prog. V7 on the Basic Progressions handout.) Here's a short list of standard bluegrass songs that use this same progression: Wreck Of The Old '97 I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home Your Love Is Like A Flower Y'all Come A Memory Of You Down Where The River Bends Lost And I'll Never Find A Way Come Back Darlin' Why Did You Wander If I Should Wander Back Tonight I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone Road To Columbus Hold Whatcha Got True Life Blues Blue Moon Of Kentucky (verse) Black Mountain Rag (C-Part) Flint Hill Special (A & B Parts) Rose Of Old Kentucky (verse) Tiny Broken Heart (verse) Little Annie (verse) White Dove (verse) In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, and 5=D The G chord is made up of the notes: G, B, and D. The C chord is made up of the notes: C, E, and G. The D chord is made up of the notes: D, F#, and A. Together, these 7 notes make up the G major scale, and the melody of Bury Me Beneath The Willow makes use of all of them. (See the melody sheets at the bottom of this write-up.) Pickups into Breaks When played in the key of G, the first melody note of the first full measure of the verses and chorus is the D note above the G note that the melody ends on. When this is the case, the most effective pick up notes to use to kick off the song are usually the B, C, and C# notes immediately below that D note. Use of this series of notes is equally effective on all the bluegrass lead instruments. Give it a try. Start by finding the B note on your instrument, and then ascend in half steps (on a fretted instrument, this means you will not skip over any frets) until you reach the D note, playing the B, C, and C# notes as quarter notes, and be sure to place a heavy accent on that D note, since it is the first note of the first full measure of the song. I have included this pickup phrase on the melody sheet files at the bottom of this email. Transposed to each of the 7 other keys that we play in at the jam, the notes become: Key Pickup Notes Leading to: A C# D D# E note Bb D Eb E F note B D# E E# F# note C E F F# G note D F# G G# A note E G# A A# B note F A Bb B C note The note named as E# in the context of the key of B pickups is the same note as the note that is in most other contexts is named as F. Other songs on the current main list and additional songs list for the jam for which this same 3-note pick-up measure will work effectively, for the same reasons that it works so well for Bury Me Beneath The Willow include: 'Foggy Mountain Top', 'Gathering Flowers From The Hillside', 'Lonesome Road Blues', and 'Wreck Of The Old '97'. In all these songs, the first melody note in the first full measure of the song is a perfect 5th higher than the root note. (The D above G when in the key of G, the E above A when in the key of A, the F above Bb when in the key of Bb, etc.) Lyrics The lyrics I use for the chorus are the same as those on the Stanley Brothers recording. Bury me beneath the willow, Under the weeping willow tree; So he may know where I am sleeping, And perhaps he'll weep for me. The words written in bold are those that differ from one or more of the other recorded versions given here. On the Alison Krauss and Stanley Brothers recordings, there are two verses, on the Skaggs & Rice and Monroe Brothers recordings, there are three verses, and on The Carter Family recording there are four verses: At the jam, I usually sing three verses: 1. My heart is sad and I'm in sorrow.... 2. He told me that he dearly loved me.... 3. Tomorrow was to be our wedding.... Occasionally I have added a fourth verse that is similar to the Carter Family's fourth verse, but begins instead with: 'Place on my grave a snow white lily'. Happy Pickin', Jason Bury Me Beneath The Willow - melody in G Download File Bury Me Beneath The Willow - banjo tab Download File Bury Me Beneath The Willow - guitar tab Download File Bury Me Beneath The Willow - mandolin tab Download File I will resume leading the beginner jams at the Powderhaus on Tuesday, Sept. 20th (6:30-9pm). Attached here are the song lists and other handouts that will be used for the jams until the end of the year.
Jason will be back in the middle of September and the beginner jam will resume.
Hi all,
we will continue to jam during the summer on Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 9pm at Powderhouse! If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Sunday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we will continue to jam during the summer on Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 9pm at Powderhouse! If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Sunday. Have fun jamming :) Sorry about last weeks missing post....
Hi all, we will continue to jam during the summer on Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 9pm at Powderhouse! If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Sunday. Have fun jamming :) Hi all,
we will continue to jam during the summer on Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 9pm at Powderhouse! If you know you'll come, write your first name and instrument in the required name field in the blog comment below - e.g. Petra (Fiddle). There is no need to fill out anything else (unless you want to tell us, what you are going to call). And a bonus feature - if you click the box under the comment area, you'll get notified when others comment (rsvp). This way all can see, if we have enough people for a jam ... or if you are the only one.... The system will work best, if you only comment when you know you will come! (Do not post maybes or no shows). A new blog post (with the jam date as title) will show up every Sunday. Have fun jamming :) |
Jason's Beginner
|