Sorry, but we were not confident, we could keep a weekly advanced Bluegrass Jam going...
           ...so we decided to  let it go.
But, come to the intermediate group (on Wednesdays) and if we have enough people we could break off into a second group (in the basement).

Also, if you are interested in an advanced jam, you could create one yourself or feel free to contact Joe at [email protected]

Hope to see you at one of the jams or Open Mics...
Petra

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Auld Lang Syne' in the key of G. We will play this mostly as an instrumental, but perhaps sing a verse and chorus near the end of it.

Progression
The chord progression I use for Auld Lang Syne is:
1155
1144
1155
4411
Each break will run through the progression twice (32 measures in total) so that each instrument gets to play a break based upon the melody for both the verse and the chorus.

Recordings
Bill Keith: key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HZZGeXp0mE

David Grisman: key of G:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-HjnZ8PqhA

These arrangements of Auld Lang Syne (once you get past the intro in the first version) make for good examples of what can be done with any number of non-bluegrass songs in 4/4 time to convert them to a bluegrass rhythm and feel. I suggest listening to these back to back with any non-bluegrass versions of the song that you might have in your music collection or that you might bring up on youtube and study closely how they differ in rhythm and feel from the bluegrass versions. In this connection, you might find it interesting to compare the melody sheets attached here for 'Auld Lang Syne' with the melody sheets you will find on the internet if you google "Auld Lang Syne sheet music".

Th chord progression used for Sweet Georgia Brown was:
6      6      6      6
2      2      2      2
5      5      5      5
1      1      1      3
6      6      6      6
2      2      2      2
6m   3      6m   3
1/7   b7/6 2/5   1

In the key of F: 1 = F, 2 = G, 3 = A, 5 = C, 6 = D, b7 = Eb, 7 = E:
D     D     D     D
G     G     G     G
C     C     C     C 
F      F      F     A
D     D     D     D
G     G     G     G
Dm  A     Dm   A
F/E Eb/D G/C  F

Have a merry Christmas!
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week will be 'O Little Town Of Bethlehem', played as an instrumental in cut common time (2/2) in the key of G.

Recordings
Mandolin - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAy-O9P7DCw

Banjo - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDdwlj42qF4

Progression
The first half and the last quarter of the chord progression I use for O Little Town Of Bethlehem is the same as the progression used for playing Nine Pound Hammer.

1   1   4   4
1   5   1   1
1   1   4   4
1   5   1   1
6m6m3   3
6m6m3   3
1   1   4   4
1   5   1   1

In the key of G, 6m = Em, and 3 = B. On guitar, it is common to substitute a B7 chord in place of the B chord. This works because the B chord functions here as the 5 of the 6m, just as it does in the B-Part of Blackberry Blossom:

6m 6m 6m 3
6m 6m 4/1 5/1

Em Em Em B(7)
Em Em C/G D/G

Melody
A distinctive part of the melody of O Little Town Of Bethlehem is found in the first two measures of lines 1 and 7, where the melody starts on the 3rd of the 1 chord (a B note in the key of G) then dips down a half step to (an A# note in the key of G), and then returns to 3rd. Notice that in the second of the three mandolin breaks on the recording (an improvised break that is only loosely informed by the melody), I preserve this part of the melody intact, while freely toying with or deviating from the melody in most other spots.

The similarities and differences among lines 1, 3, and 7 of the melody are such that in order to avoid confusing them with each other, you may find it helpful to think of lines 3 and 7 in terms of where the high E note occurs in place of a lower melody note found in line 1.

Christmas Carol Progressions
In case some of the following songs are called at the jam next week in my absence, here are the chord progressions that have been used in past years at the jam for these songs, together with the keys that I recommend if the song is played as an instrumental, plus a Nashville Number System chart for the most common chords that tend to show up in minor key songs

Silent Night (C)
1111
5511
4411
4411
5511
1511

Away In A Manger (G or A)
1141
5511
1141 
41511  
(Another way to play the last line is: 51511)

Jingle Bells (G or C)
1114
4551
1114
4551

1111
4125
1111
4151

Good King Wenceslas (G)
1       1     4/5     1      
1       1     4/5     1  
1/5    1     4/5     1                        
5       1/5  1/5     1/4   1    

Auld Lang Syne (G)
1155
1144
1155
4411

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem (G)
1111
4411
1122
5555
1111
4411
1125
1411

1511
1411
1122
5555
1111
4411
1125
1411

O Come All Ye Faithful (G)
1      1      5      5
1      1      1      5
6m   5/2   5/1   5/1
5      2      5      5
1      1      5      1
5/1  6m/2 5      5
1      1      1      1
1      1      1      5/1
4      5/2   5      1/4
1      5      1      1  

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Em)
1m 1m b6 5
1m 1m b6 5
4m b3  1m b7
b3   5   1m b7
b3   5   1m 1m  

What Child Is This (Am)
1m 1m b7 b7
b6  b6  5   5
1m 1m  b7 b7
b6  5    1m 1m

b3  b3  b7 b7
b6  b6  5   5
b3  b3  b7 b7
b6  5   1m 1m  

or:
1m b3 b7 5m
1m b6 5   5
1m b3 b7 5m
b6  5  1m 1m

b3  b3  b7 5m
1m b6  5   5
b3  b3  b7 5m
b6   5  1m 1m   

We Three Kings (Em & G) 
Verse:
1m 1m 5 1m
1m 1m 5 1m
1m b7 b3 b3
5    5   1m b7 b7

The chorus is played in the relative major key of whatever minor key the verse was played in:
1    1   4    1
1    1   4    1
6m 5   4    5
1    1    4   1

Key     1m    b3   4m    5m    5     b6   b7
Am     Am    C     Dm    Em   E     F    G
Bm     Bm    D     Em    F#m F#   G    A
Cm     Cm    Eb    Fm   Gm   G    Ab   Bb
C#m   C#m  E      F#m G#m G#  A     B 
Dm     Dm    F      Gm   Am    A    Bb   C
Em      Em   G      Am   Bm    B    C     D   
F#m    F#m  A      Bm   C#m C#   D    E
Gm     Gm    Bb    Cm   Dm   D    Eb   F

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is Steel Rails in the key of G.

Recording
Alison Krauss - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX_YZD-r-Qc
~ STEEL RAILS ~ Alison Krauss, full version
~ ~ ~ Lyrics ~ ~ ~ Steel rails, chasing sunshine round the bend Winding through the trees, like a ribbon in the wind I don't mind not knowing what lies down the track Cause I'm Looking out ahead, to keep my mind from turning back It's not the first time I've found myself alone and known If I really had you once, then I'd have you when I'm gone ...
www.youtube.com

Progression
1   1   2m 2m
4   5   4    1    1
1   1   2m 2m
4   5   4    1    1

On the recording, the progression for the verses is slightly different: line 2 is played as 45111. For the past 25 years, I have failed to notice this on the recording. I have jammed this song many times over the years with many different people, and not once do I ever recall a different progression being used for the verses than for the choruses and the breaks. So, to keep it simple, when I lead the song at the jam, I will use the same progression for the verses as for the choruses and the breaks, with line 2 consistently being played as 45411.

Even if the progression were 16 or 17 measures long instead of 18 measures long, and even if it did not contain 2m chords, it would still be an unusual progression for a bluegrass song, in that a 5 chord measure is sandwiched between two 4 chord measures. Of the 6 possible chord change sequences involving the 1, 4, and 5 (14, 41, 15, 51, 45, 54) 54 (a 5 followed by a 4) is the least common, and when this order does occasionally show up, the 5 is usually preceded by a 1 rather than by a 4.

Ending
Steel Rails ends with a vocal tag that follows the final chorus. The progression for the tag is:
2m 5 5 5 5
4 1 1
and there is a stop at the beginning of the fifth measure.

The 2m Chord
When 1=G, 2m=Am; when 1=A, 2m=Bm; when 1=Bb, 2m=Cm, when 1=B, 2m=C#m, etc. Just as the root note of the 2 (major) chord is always a whole step higher than the root note of the 1 chord, so by the same token, the root note of the 2m chord is always a whole step higher than root note of the 1 chord. 

Minor Chords in Major Key Songs
The 2m (two minor) chord is the second most frequently used minor chord in songs played in a major key. The most common minor chord used in major key songs is the 6m, and the third most common (which only very rarely shows up in bluegrass songs) is the 3m. 

The 6m is the relative minor of the 1.
The 2m is the relative minor of the 4.
The 3m is the relative minor of the 5.

6m, 2m, and 3m are the only three minor chords that contain no notes in them other than the notes that make up the major scale that has the same letter name as the 1.

For example, the C major scale has no sharps or flats in it, but consists of the 7 natural notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

Just as the 1,4, and 5, when 1=C, are the only major chords that contain no sharps or flats in them: C = CEG; F = FAC; G = GBD, so also their relative minors: 6m, 2m, and 3m respectively, when 1=C, are the only minor chords that contain no sharps or flats in them: Am = ACE; Dm = DFA; Em = EGB.

History of Minor Chords in Bluegrass
The use of minor chords in major key songs shows up less frequently on bluegrass recordings from the 40s and the 50s than on recordings from the 60s onward. In the spots in where a minor chord would have been suitable to play, the older recordings more often than not have the major chord that is either the relative major or the parallel major of that minor chord. 

For instance, in the spots where it is now standard practice to play a 6m in Down The Road, the original Flatt & Scruggs recording used a 1 instead (1 is the relative major of 6m), and in the spots where it is now standard practice to play a 6m chord in Foggy Mountain Breakdown, a 6 chord was played on the guitar by Lester Flatt on the original recording, even though the 6m chord is so clearly outlined in the banjo breaks (6 is the parallel major of 6m). 

2m & 6m vs. 2 & 6
In contrast to the 2 (major) chord, which is almost always immediately followed by a 5 chord, the 2m chord may often be followed just as easily and naturally by a 1, a 4, a 6m, etc., as by a 5 chord. A similar observation may also be made about the 6m chord relative to the 6 (major) chord. The 6 (major) is almost always followed by a 2 (the most notable exception to this being the obsolete practice of sandwiching 6's  between 1's in playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown and certain other songs) but the 6m is often followed by a 1, a 4 or a 5. 

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week will be 'East Virginia Blues' in the key of F.

Recordings
The Country Gentlemen - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLaW4vPtxaw

Ralph Stanley - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59c6HgDvvjI

Progression
1111
4411
4411
5511
(Prog. W4 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.)

Vocals
East Virginia Blues may be sung either solo, or, as on the recordings, with harmony all the way through. The song does not have a chorus. The five verses that I sing when leading the song are:

I was born in East Virginia,
North Carolina I did go,
There I met a fair young maiden,
But her name I did not know.

Oh her hair was dark and curly,
And her cheeks were rosy red,
On her breast she wore white linen,
Where I longed to lay my head.

I don't want your greenback dollar,
I don't want your watch and chain,
All I want is your heart darling,
Won't you take me back again.

The ocean's deep and I can't wade it,
And I have no wings to fly,
I'll just get me a blue-eyed boatman,
For to row me over the tide.

I'll go back to East Virginia,
North Carolina ain't my home,
I'll go back to East Virginia,
And leave those North Carolinians alone.

Melody Sheets for Guitar and Banjo
For playing in the key of F, bluegrass guitarists usually either capo the 5th fret and play as if in C, or capo the 3rd fret and play as if in D. In the attachments I have included two melody sheets in guitar tab, one written in C, and one written in D.

For playing in the key of F, 3-finger-style banjo players are faced with many options, some of which are: 1) play in G tuning without a capo; 2) keep the four long strings in G tuning without a capo, but raise the 5th string to an A note; 3) in G tuning, capo the 5th fret, and raise the 5th string to a C note, and play as if in C; 4) in G tuning, capo the 3rd fret and raise the 5th string to a C note, and play as if D; and 5) in D tuning (F#DF#AD or ADF#AD), capo the 3rd fret, and raise the 5th string either to an A note or to a C note, and play as if in D. For playing East Virginia Blues, I favor the first, fourth, and fifth options. Accordingly, I have included in the attachments melody sheets in banjo tab written in F (in G tuning), and D (in D tuning and in G tuning). For the key of D in G tuning, I have given two melody sheets, the second of which is written an octave higher than the first.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Roving Gambler' in the key of A.

Recording
Here is my favorite version of Roving Gambler:

Peter Rowan - key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe1hlelnwg8

Progression
The progression I use for Roving Gambler is:

1111
1141
11511

If it helps, you may wish to think of this progression as consisting of the first half of the progression for Long Journey Home (or Gotta Travel On) followed by the last line of the progression for Wildwood Flower (or Leaning On The Everlasting Arms. or Molly And Tenbrooks). 

Other songs that have been played at the jam in which a three-line (as opposed to the much more common four-line) progression is used include Rocky Road Blues, Shuckin' The Corn, Molly And Tenbrooks, and the short form (12 measure) version of Worried Man Blues.

The progression given here is the same as that used for the breaks on the recording (minus extra measures of the 1 that go by between the ending of a break and the beginning of the next verse), but not for the verses. On the recording, there are extra measures of the 1 chord at the ends of both lines 2 and 3 in the verses. I keep the progression the same for both the verses and the breaks (once again, not counting any extra measures of the 1 that I might allow to go by between the ending of a break and the beginning of the next verse).

Form & Arrangement
The arrangement I use for Roving Gambler when leading it at the jam is based upon the recording: seven verses, no chorus, with two verses being sung back to back between breaks, with one verse left over to end the song.  

Both the form and the arrangement I use for Roving Gambler are nearly identical with the form and arrangement used on the original Bill Monroe recording of Molly And Tenbrooks, a song that has occasionally been played at the jam, except that Molly And Tenbrooks is sung with 9 verses instead of 7, and makes use of a tack-on ending. See to what extent you can detect the similarities in form and arrangement between the two songs. 

Molly And Tenbrooks - Bill Monroe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pK3kfq4y6Q

A third song with a similar form and arrangement to Roving Gambler and Molly And Tenbrooks is the version of McKinley's Gone (a.k.a., White House Blues) found on Flatt & Scruggs' Folk Songs Of Our Land album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxD1g2I4FN8

The practical advantage of learning to group songs together based upon similarity of form and/or arrangement is the same as the practical advantage of associating songs with each other that have similar progressions or the same progression as each other. It reduces the number of distinct pieces of information to keep track of when learning new songs, or when trying to follow along on new songs that come up at a jam, and this enables one to more quickly and easily expand one's repertoire.

Melody
The melody of Roving Gambler consists of the notes of the Major Pentatonic scale which are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the Major Scale (A, B, C#, E, and F# in the key of A;  G, A, B, D, and E in the key of G, etc.) The first two lines (first 8 measures) of the melody of Roving Gambler are similar to the first two lines of the melody of Long Journey Home, except that the melody goes higher in Roving Gambler in measures 3 and 4 of line 1 than what it does in measures 3 and 4 of line 1 of Long Journey Home. The second lines of the two songs are similar enough that I often use exactly the same notes/licks in a melody-based intro break for the second line of Roving Gambler as the ones that I typically use for the second line of an intro break for Long Journey Home. Keep in mind that good melody-based breaks often do not follow the melody slavishly, but take some liberties with it.

Harmony
Although Roving Gambler does not have a chorus, it does have repetitions in its lyrics. In these spots, namely, the third (last) line of each verse, it is common for harmony to be sung. The third line of any given verse repeats twice the lyrics that make up the second half of the second line of that verse. (Note: Molly And Tenbrooks has a similar type of repetition at the ends of its verses, but in that song it is not customary for harmony to be sung on the last line of the verses.)

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Roving Gambler - banjo tab
Download File

Roving Gambler - guitar tab
Download File
​
Roving Gambler - mandolin tab
Download File

Roving Gambler - melody in A
Download File

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms' in the key of B.

Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UvSJcqJeyc

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9eIctniT0U

Progression
The chord progression on the recordings is:
1111
1155
1144
5511
(W2 on the basic chord progressions handout)

This progression is often mistaken for the closely related progression:
1111
1155
1144
1511
(V2 on the basic chord progressions handout)

Tempo
The tempo is 166 beats per minute on the Flatt & Scruggs recording. The song is played even faster than that on the recording of the Kentucky Thunder live performance.

While we may not get the song up to the mid-160s as it goes through its song of the week cycle at the jam, I recommend practicing playing along with the recordings at full speed: for the faster we can play the song at the jam, the better. Last night, we attempted to play it at 150. The speed that I will kick it off at the next three intermediate jams will be determined by the size of the jam group and the combination of people and instruments that we have at each of those jams. 

My intention is for us to play the song as fast as we can without getting the beat flipped around. For this purpose, it is important that the bass notes on the bass and the guitars be clearly heard above any chop/vamp rhythms on the off-beats played by the other instruments, and that those who are playing the chop/vamp rhythm make sure that they are playing on the off-beats rather than on the down-beats. If the song is being played too fast for someone to play their chop/vamp rhythm correctly, then that person should find something else to do on their instrument rather than play the chop/vamp rhythm out of time. Besides, the fewer people doing the chop/vamp rhythm at the same time as each other, the less danger there will be for the beat to get flipped around.

Key of B Review

In the key of B: 1=B, 4=E, 5=F#

The notes that make up the B chord are B, D#, and F#.
The notes that make up the E chord are E, G#, and B
The notes that make up the F# chord are F#, A#, and C#.

Together, these notes form the B Major Scale: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, and A#.

The key of B is closely related to the key of E. The B Major Scale shares all but one of its notes in common with the E Major Scale. (The E Major Scale consist of the notes E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, and D#.) For this reason, of their 1, 4, and 5 chords, the keys of B and E share two chords in common. The 1 chord in the key of B is the same chord as the 5 chord in the key of E, and the 4 chord in the key of B is the same chord as the 1 chord in the key of E.

                  1   4   5
Key of B:  B  E   F#
Key of E:  E   A  B

For playing in the key of B, bluegrass banjo and guitar players almost always capo to the 4th 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.)

Here are the corresponding notes of the G and B Major Scales:
1    2    3     4    5    6    7
G,  A,   B,   C,  D,   E,  F#
B,  C#,D#, E,  F#,G#,A#

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week will be 'Down In A Willow Garden' (a.k.a. 'Rose Connelly') in the key of F.

Down In A Willow Garden was recorded by most of the first and second generation big names in bluegrass, and has been recorded many times since then both by bluegrass and non-bluegrass artists. Well-known non-bluegrass singers who have recorded the song include The Everly Brothers, Art Garfunkel, and more recently, Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer of the pop-punk band 'Green Day') with Norah Jones.

For those interested in the history of the song, check out 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_in_the_Willow_Garden

Recordings
The following recordings are representative of the range of ways that first and second generation bluegrass artists played and sang Down In A Willow Garden.

Flatt & Scruggs - key of F 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxtjPCELO9A

Reno & Harrell - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbnQofztEtw

Charlie Monroe - key of Ab (very sharp, almost A)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZGj7m2bcJ4

The Osborne Brothers with Red Allen - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-0ko2Mdoc

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

Progression
The chord progression I use for Down In A Willow Garden is the same as the one on the Flatt & Scruggs and Osborne Brothers recordings: 

Verse
1    1    1    6m
1    1    6m 6m
1    1    1    6m
1    5    1    1

Chorus
6m 6m 1    6m
1    1    6m 6m
1    1    1    6m
1    5    1    1

In the key of F, 6m = Dm.

On the Reno & Harrell recording, as well as on the Ralph Stanley recording, the 6 (Major) chord is used in place of the 6m, and on the Charlie Monroe recording, there are some spots where a chord change away from the 1 chord is implied by the melody, yet no clear chord change occurs on the guitar. 

Sandwiching 6 Major chords between 1 chords was common in the early days of bluegrass (the original 1949 Flatt & Scruggs recording of Foggy Mountain Breakdown is likely the most well-known example of this), but is hardly ever done in bluegrass nowadays. The nearly universal current practice is to use 6m chords (or in some cases where it will work, 4 chords) in such spots.

Nearly all chord progressions one is likely to encounter for 'Down In A Willow Garden' at bluegrass jams that differ from the one I have written out here involve the use of the 4 chord in place of one or more of the 6m measures. The most common spots for the 4 to be used are in the last measure of the 3rd line of the verse and the chorus, and in the first two measures of the chorus.

Here is an example of the 4 being used in all of these spots, and also in the 4th measure of the 1st line of the chorus:

The Lonesome River Band - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZaKcBHWxPM


The reason why the 6m, 6(M), and 4 chords all work for the measures that I use the 6m in is because the main melody note (in most cases, the only melody note) in those measures is the 6th note of the Major Scale, and all three of those chords contain that note. In the key of F, that note is a D note, and the D note is part of the Dm, D, and Bb chords. Furthermore, the D note forms a dissonance with only one of the notes of the F chord (the C note), and only a mild dissonance at that. This helps to account for the fewer number of changes away from the 1 chord in the Charlie Monroe version.


6m or 4?
If one sticks mostly to playing D and F notes in one's breaks (or backup on instruments that allow for this) on the 'Dm' measures, and makes it a point to avoid A notes, then one need not be too concerned whether a Bb chord is being played in place of an Dm in some of those measures.  

Vocals
Down In A Willow Garden is most often sung solo, but some of the recorded versions included or mentioned here are sung with harmony either on all the vocal parts of the song (e.g., Osborne Brothers), or only on the choruses (e.g., Reno & Harrell). 

Breaks
Although on most of the recordings provided here, breaks are played only over the verse progression and melody, I find it tends to work better when I lead the song at a jam to have the breaks alternate between the verse and chorus progressions when two or more breaks are played back to back. In this respect, the arrangement we will use for the song as it goes through its song of the week cycle is similar to how we almost always play Columbus Stockade Blues at the jam, except that I will usually end the song, not with a vocal chorus, but with two 'everybody' breaks played back to back: the first over the verse progression, and the second over the chorus progression.

The only essential differences between the melodies for the two parts occur in the first two measures of the parts, and once one gets past the first two measures of the chorus, the progression for the chorus is identical with the progression for the verse. So, for a chorus break, all one needs to do is to alter the first two measures of one's verse break to make it fit the chorus progression and melody.

Melody
The melody of the Down In A Willow Garden is Major Pentatonic, which means that it uses only the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the Major Scale. In the key of F, those notes are F, G, A, C, and D. The melody has an unusually wide range for bluegrass: wider even than (though only by a half-step)  the range for the melody of Wildwood Flower. The melody for Down In A Willow Garden spans the same range as the melody for Fireball Mail. In order, from lowest to highest, the notes for both tunes when played in the key of F are: C, D, F, G, A, C, D, F. 

Notes to Guitar and Banjo Players
The attached melody sheets in guitar tab, and one set of the melody sheets in banjo tab are written in the key of C (capo 5 for F). To interpret the preceding explanations for the key of C instead of for the key of F, make the following substitutions of letter names for the notes and chords:

Key of F: F,  G, A, Bb, C, D, E
Key of C: C, D, E, F,   G, A, B

The set of banjo tab melody sheets written in F contain a few spots where the melody has been altered (the first note of line 1 of the verse, the first note of measure 2 of line 4 of the verse, and the last note of line 2 of the chorus), for the reason that the low C note is not accessible when the banjo is tuned to G tuning. When the low C note occurs in the melody in an F or Dm chord measure, I have raised it to a D note. When the low C note occurs in the melody on a C chord measure, I have raised it to an E note. 

When playing Down In A Willow Garden on banjo in the key of F without a capo, I usually raise the pitch of my 5th string to an A note, since this note is part of the two main chords used in the song, the F chord and the Dm chord, whereas the G note is not. But, if I know in advance that the song will be played with a lot of Bb chords in it, I might choose not to raise the pitch of the 5th string, for the A note forms a severely dissonant interval with the root note of the Bb chord, whereas the G note, while not being part of the F, Dm, and Bb chords, does not form a severely dissonant interval with any of the notes in them.  

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'How Mountain Girls Can Love' in the key of A.

Recording
The Stanley Brothers - key of A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrqhZxvsxTs  

Arrangement
How Mountain Girls Can Love has only two verses, yet on the recording, the Stanley Brothers manage to squeeze in three breaks in addition to the intro break, without two breaks being played back to back at any point in the song. This is done by going straight into the chorus after the intro break, which is then followed by another break before the first verse is sung, and by going into another break and chorus after the second verse and chorus have been sung.
 
The arrangement on the record is:
Break
Chorus
Break
Verse 1 
Chorus
Break
Verse 2
Chorus
Break
Chorus
 
This type of arrangement is worthwhile keeping in mind for almost any fast two-verse song that one may call at a jam. Of course, extra breaks can also be added into a song by doing two or more breaks back to back in certain spots of the song (and we will quite likely also do this when I lead How Mountain Girls Can Love at the jam next week); but, when arranging a song for bluegrass jamming purposes, the more places one can find in the song where it will work to put breaks the better. 

Progression
The chord progression for the breaks and verses of How Mountain Girls Can Love is:
1111
5511
1111
5511

This is the same as the progression that is used for 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains', the verses of 'Columbus Stockade Blues', and the chorus of 'Are You Missing Me'.  
 
The chord progression for the chorus is:
4411
5511
4411
5511

This is the same as the progression that is used for 'Way Down Town', 'Gold Watch And Chain', and the B-Part of 'Red Wing'. 

Anticipating the Chorus
Because the chorus starts with a different chord than the chord that the breaks and verses start with, it is important to be able to anticipate which part of the song is coming next when playing it with others. Notice that the chorus occurs only four times in the song: after the first and last breaks, and after each of the two verses. 

When I lead How Mountain Girls Can Love at the jam, I will indicate that the chorus is coming up next by playing either a 7th chord during the last measure of the verse progression, or a slow-moving descending or ascending run during the last two measures of the verse progression that leads from the 1 to the 4 chord. 

A (dominant) 7th chord is created by adding to a major chord the note that is a whole step lower than the root note of the chord.  Adding an F note to a G chord results in a G7; adding a G note to an A chord results in an A7; adding a Bb note to a C chord creates a C7; adding a C note to a D chord creates a D7, etc.  

The (dominant) 7th chord most naturally leads to the chord whose root note is a perfect 4th higher than the root note of the 7th chord. Thus, A7 leads to D, D7 leads to G, G7 leads to C, C7 leads to F, F7 leads to Bb, etc.

In the key of A, the notes I use for a descending run that takes up the space of two measures to lead from the 1 chord to the 4 chord are A, G, F#, E. This series of notes leads down to a D note, the root note of the 4 chord. (In the key of G, the corresponding notes are G, F, E, D, leading down to a C note.) In the key of A, the notes I use for an ascending run that takes up the space of two measures to lead from the 1 chord to the 4 chord are: A, B, C, C#. This series of notes leads up to a D note. (In the key of G, the corresponding notes are G, A, Bb, B, leading up to a C note.)

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'John Henry' in the key of D.

'John Henry' is a traditional American folk song/ballad that has been played as a bluegrass song, either with or without lyrics, by a wide range of top-notch bluegrass artists. When arranged as a bluegrass instrumental, it is most commonly played as a banjo-feature tune.  The three most common keys that bluegrass instrumental versions of John Henry are played in are G, C, and D, and those just happen to be the three keys that are the most convenient for the banjo to play in when a capo is not being used.

Lyrics
John Henry has no chorus, only verses. If one were to try to collect all the versions of the lyrics for John Henry together that one can find in books, on records, and on the internet, it would not take long before one had way too many verses to sing for a single performance of the song. Most Bluegrass versions of the song that I have heard use at most 5 or 6 of the many different verses that the song has accumulated over the years, though I have tended to include recorded versions of the song here that use more verses than this in order to give more examples of verses used for John Henry. For playing the song at a jam in which sufficient time needs to be given for everyone to get their breaks in, 5 or 6 verses is more than enough to sing, and is, of course, more manageable for memorization purposes.

For your own arrangement of the song, I suggest choosing 5 or 6 verses that you like best and string them together in an order that makes sense to you. You may find some of the verses easier to commit to memory than others, and you may also find that putting the verses in one order instead of another makes them easier to memorize.

Recordings
Here is a variety of bluegrass versions of John Henry to take a listen to, some with vocals, others without vocals:

Flatt & Scruggs - key of D instrumental (banjo breaks are based on the melody an octave higher than as written on the attached banjo tab melody sheet)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzxP9h_A_-E

Doc & Merle Watson - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SrceTnQyk8

Tony Furtado - key of G instrumental (This is my all time favorite banjo-feature instrumental version of John Henry.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybCMHdBKiok

Bill Monroe - key of G (very sharp, almost G#)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9TUaHPRsq0

Hylo Brown (with Earl Scruggs on banjo) - key of B (sung in two different octaves!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPT0pQxfwzQ

Bluegrass Youth All Stars - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeHWEDANRG4

The Bluegrass Album Band - key of G instrumental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Mhg3QRAF4

The Foggy Hogtown Boys - key of E (Unlike the previous versions, this one has 6m chords in it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUS1hAgYWnU

Form & Progression
The form for the verses (and breaks based on the verses) is 5 lines (instead of the much more common 4 lines) consisting of 4 measures each, making a total of 20 measures. 

The chord progression I use for John Henry is the most common one (and is the progression that has always been used for the song up to this point at the jam):

1111
1155
1111
1111
1511

Notice that this progression is closely related to V1 on the basic chord progressions chart (i.e., the progression used to play Canaan's Land, Gathering Flowers From The Hillside, and Fireball Mail). In relating the two progressions to each other, one might think of the progression for John Henry as being V1 with an extra 1111 line added between lines 3 and 4 of V1.

Alternative progressions for John Henry include:
1111                        
116m6m       
1111              
1116m           
1511     

1111
1155
1144
1111
1511           and.

1111
1155
1144
1116m
1511          

In versions that use the first of these three alternative progressions, the melody for line 2 necessarily differs from the version of the melody given in the attached melody sheets.

When the second or third of these progressions are used, the melody in the second part of line 3 need not differ all that much from the version of the melody given in the attachments.

Melody
The version of the melody given in the attachments would be entirely major pentatonic (major scale notes 1,2,3,5, and 6: do-re-mi-sol-la) were it not for the b7 note in measure 2 of line 2 (a C natural note in the key of D; a Bb note in the key of C). Because of the exact spot where this note occurs in the melody, one should avoid playing the typical descending 2 note run C#, B (key of D) or B, A (key of C) in backup for leading from the 1 chord to the 5 chord. If one desires to play a two-note descending run here, just copy the melody at that point: C, B (key of D), or Bb, A (key of C), which just so happen to be the very two notes that one would typically play for the last two notes of the three notes that make up a typical chromatic three-note descending run leading from the 1 chord down to the 5 chord.

The melody of John Henry has the same range as the melody for Little Liza Jane and Buffalo Gals: the lowest and the highest notes in the melody are both the root note of the key (e.g., D notes when in the key of D, or C notes when in the key of C) and almost the same range as the melodies for Wreck Of The Old '97 and Y'all Come. These are all melodies that I feel most comfortable singing in the key of D. 

You might notice that almost all of the songs that I sing at the jam in the key of G also have D notes as their lowest and highest (or second to highest) notes. In these cases, the range of the melody is such that the root note of the key is right in the middle of the range of the melody, rather than at the very bottom or top of the range of the melody. This is a much more typical range for Bluegrass songs; hence, there are many more songs that I sing in G than in D. 

Sometimes I will purposely overshoot the melody of John Henry on the last half of measure 1 of line 3 by reaching for either an F natural or a F# note (when singing in the key of D), and when this is done, and I manage to reach the F#, then the melody has the same range as that for Wildwood Flower. 

Banjo: D Tuning
When John Henry is played in the key of D, Scruggs-style banjo players commonly tune their banjo to an open D chord for playing it (F#DF#AD or ADF#AD). D tuning is used on the first two recordings provided here. Notice how much more frequently one can use open strings for grabbing the melody for John Henry in D when tuned this way (see the attached banjo tab melody sheet) than what one could if one were tuned to the bluegrass banjo default tuning (G tuning).

Guitar: C capo 2 = D
Due to both the range of the melody and the specific notes that the melody most frequently lingers on, I find that John Henry in the key of C (no capo) lends itself to a wider range of types of bluegrass guitar breaks than what the key of D (no capo) does. For this reason, I have given a key of C guitar tab melody sheet (capo 2 for D), rather than a key of D guitar tab melody sheet.

Happy Pickin',
Jason