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Clinch Mountain Backstep

10/9/2023

0 Comments

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


Recordings 
Ralph Stanley - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDtNcbcJ2Q

Blue Highway - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTEF5keaPhk


Jam Videos
Jason’s YouTube Links – Alphabetical Listing – Parisology (cyberplasm.com)


Progression
The chord progression for the A-Part is:
1115
1151
 
The chord progression for the B-Part is the same, except that there is an extra 'half-measure' of the '1' before the first '5'.  If one is counting the beats in the first line of the B-Part in cut common time (2/2), one would count it as: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,1,2.
(On the sheet music attached here, I have written the first line of the B-Part as 3 measures in 2/2, followed by a measure in which the time signature changes to 1/2, followed by a measure that returns to 2/2.)


Melody & Key
Although the melody of Clinch Mountain Backstep consists only of the notes of the Am pentatonic scale, it is called at jams in A (Major) rather than Am 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 Clinch Mountain Backstep 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 melody sheet for Clinch Mountain Backstep, 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.

The notes that make up the Minor Pentatonic Scale, or as I like to call it sometimes 'The Clinch Mountain Scale', are: 

                    1, b3, 4, 5, b7
Key of A:    A  C   D  E  G

Key of G:   G  Bb C  D  F
Key of D:    D  F   G  A  C
etc.


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

Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Forked Deer - D
Gathering Flowers From The Hillside - G
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - A
Lonesome Road Blues - G
A Memory Of You - A
Mountain Dew - A
My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains - G
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Way Down Town - E
Will You Be Loving Another Man - B
Worried Man Blues - G
Red Wing - G
Turkey In The Straw - G
Head Over Heels - B
Foggy Mountain Breakdown - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​
Sheet music for Clinch Mountain Backstep:
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Banjo tab
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Guitar tab
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Mandolin tab
Clinch Mountain Backstep - Melody in A

0 Comments

    High Beginner - Low Intermediate Bluegrass Jam (BIBJ)

    started in Sept 2021
    and is led by Jason Homey


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  • Home
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Donate
    • IBA Newsletter
    • Our Logo
  • Articles & Podcasts
    • Podcasts >
      • Jason Homey Interview
      • Donna and Mike Bond Interview
      • ​Jeremy Garrett Interview
      • Keith Reed Interview
      • Becky Smith Interview
      • Marv Quinton Interview
      • Rue Frisbee Interview
      • Honi Deaton Interview
      • Dennis Stokes Interview
      • Gary Eller Interview
    • Articles >
      • Glen Garrett - The Golden Years
      • Sammie Bush - came to Weiser
      • Mark O’Connor - My History at Weiser
      • Barbara Lamb - Fiddler Extraordinaire
      • Charlie Simmons -The Idaho Bluegrass Association from 1975 to 1985
      • Idaho's 19th century Fiddlers
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions ​ 1950s & 1960s
      • ​Byron Berline
      • Dave Frisbee
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions from 1970s and 80s
      • Megan Lynch Chowning
      • Fiddle Champion ​in 1990s and 2000s
      • Tashina and Tristan Clarridge
    • Snap Shot - Videos from IBA members
  • Events
    • Calendar (BCBB)
    • Open Mic
    • SpringFest 2025
    • Winterfest
    • Bluegrass in the Park
    • Virtualgrass
    • Other Bluegrass Events
  • Jam
    • Idaho Jams
    • Beginner Jam
    • Jason's BIBJ
    • All of Jason's Songs
    • Old Blogs from Jason >
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2021 - 2023
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2021 - 2023
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Songs in 2016
  • Camps & Contests
    • Idaho Bluegrass and Banjo Camp
    • Banjo Contest
    • National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
  • Idaho Bands
  • Teachers
  • Classified
  • Links
    • General
    • Learning
    • Specific Instruments