Learning Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem

Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem

12/16/2017

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem' in the key of G. This song has been performed and/or recorded by many Bluegrass and Country artists, including Ralph Stanley, Larry Sparks, John Starling, Jerry Douglas, Rhonda Vincent, The Lewis Family, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, The Judds, and The Oak Ridge Boys.

Recordings
I recommend listening to the 3 following versions of Beautiful Star of Bethlehem in the order presented here.

Dailey & Vincent - key of F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDgTI4Vrm3E

The Stanley Brothers - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9roIoDQHQxk

Rhonda Vincent - key of D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RGLS5BnLZc

Time Signature
The melody sheets in the attachments are written in 3/4 time, although 6/8 or 12/8 would make more musical sense. For instance, when written in 3/4, one ends up with more than one measure's worth of pickup notes, which is awkward. But I chose to write the melody sheets in 3/4 time so that people unfamiliar with reading music written in the less common time signatures of 6/8 and 12/8 would not need to first learn to do that before they could make full use of the melody sheets.

Progression
For Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem, I use the chord progression on the Dailey & Vincent version:

When presented in 3/4 time, the progression for the verse is 32 measures long:
1111
4411
1122
5555
1111
4411
1125
1411

The progression for the chorus differs from the verse progression only in its first two lines:
1511
1411
1122
5555
1111
4411
1125
1411

In some versions of the song, line 3 of each part is played as 1111 instead of as 1122, for while the 2 chord fits well in those lines, there is nothing in the melody that implies a change to the 2 chord.

In other versions, line 4 of each part is played as 5255 instead of as 5555.
Finally, in some versions, line 1 and/or line 2 of the chorus is played as 1111.
When presented in 6/8 time, each part is 16 measures long. Since some may find the progression easier to read this way, here it is:

Verse:
1 1 4 1
1 2 5 5
1 1 4 1
1 2/5 1/4 1

Chorus:
1/5 1 1/4 1
1 2 5 5
1 1 4 1
1 2/5 1/4 1

Melody
Like many other songs played at the jam, the melody of Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem consists of only the notes of the Major Pentatonic Scale. In the key of G, those notes are: G, A, B, D, and E. (1,2,3,5,6).

When trying to find on your instrument the melody notes that occur during the '2-chord' measures, it may be helpful to keep in mind that not all versions of the song make use of the 2 chord in the middle of the progression. Both of the melody notes in question are notes belonging to the 1 chord. (G and B notes when in the key of G.) Neither of them are part of the 2 chord. [When played in combination with the 2 chord, they form, in order, a dominant 7th, and an add 9 chord. (A7 and Aadd9 when playing in the key of G.)] As pointed out earlier, there is nothing in the melody that implies a change the '2' chord. The same is also true of the one 2-chord measure near the end of the progression.

Harmony
I have no preference when it comes to the harmony arrangement for the song. If you can remember the set of lyrics that I use for the song (see below), feel free to sing harmony all the way through the song, like on the Dailey and Vincent version. If you wish to only sing on the chorus, that is perfectly fine by me also. Feel free to pick and choose, based upon the versions given here, or other versions of the song you may already be familiar with, which lines, if any, to make use of 'call and response' on.

Fill-in Licks
If no one chooses to make use of 'call and response' in singing the 4th line of the verses and/or choruses (the line that has four consecutive measures of the '5' chord), then the second measure of this line will sound empty if a fill-in lick is not played in the second measure of that line. So, be prepared to play a fill-in lick on your instruments here. If I play a fill-in lick here, do not mistake this for a chord change. The left hand fingering for the lick I would usually use here on guitar forces me to abandon the D-chord shape for one measure. When played with the Dailey & Vincent chord progression, there are no other good spots in the song for the typical kinds of fill-ins that fit into most other Bluegrass songs.

Lyrics
In addition to the four melody sheets included here for the verse melody (which has the lyrics for the first verse on it), I have also included a melody sheet for the chorus with lyrics.
The set of lyrics I use for the second and third verses are:

O beautiful Star the hope of light
Guiding the pilgrims through the night
Over the mountains till the break of dawn
Into the light of perfect day
It will give out a lovely ray
O beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on

O beautiful Star the hope of rest
For the redeemed the good and blessed
Yonder in glory when the crown is won
For Jesus is now that Star divine
Brighter and brighter He will shine
O beautiful Star of Bethlehem shine on

Intro & Breaks
For the intro break, I will play only the last quarter of the progression: 11251411, perhaps with an extra measure or two of the 1 tacked on to the end before I start singing the first verse. All other breaks will be played over the entirety of the verse progression. Even though the verse progression is a whopping 32 measures long (when presented in 3/4 time), it goes by quickly enough: so, unlike what I would usually do at the jam with a 32 measure progression for the breaks in a song with vocals (e.g., Homestead On The Farm), breaks will not be split between two instruments.

Ending
On the final chorus, the last note I play on my instrument will coincide with the first beat of the third measure of the last line: 141. (Last night, I extended this by one measure, since I didn't give a heads-up on this before the song began, and it didn't seem to me that everyone would end the song with me at the same time if I ended it the way I usually do.) Thus, the song will end at the beginning of the measure that contains the first of the 4 pickup notes into a break that would be played if the song were to continue on.

Teaching Segment - Minor keys:
Note: In minor key progressions, b3, b6 (number names that rarely ever show up in major key progressions), and b7 are the same chords that would be called 1, 4, and 5 if one were playing the major key that is the relative major of a given minor key. Thus, since G is the relative major of Em (the two keys share the same key signature: one sharp), and 1, 4, and 5 are G, C, and D when playing in the key of G, And b3, b6, and b7 are G, C, and D when playing in the key of Em: Here are three more examples:
Key b3 b6 b7
Am C F G (C is the relative major of Am. In C: 1=C, 4=F, 5=G)
Dm F Bb C (F is the relative major of Dm. In F, 1 = F, etc.)
Gm Bb Eb F (Bb is the relative major of Gm, etc.)

Happy Pickin',
Jason