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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 Down In A Willow Garden - banjo tab (chorus)
Download File Down In A Willow Garden - banjo tab (verse) Download File Down In A Willow Garden - guitar tab (chorus) Download File Down In A Willow Garden - guitar tab (verse) Download File Down In A Willow Garden - mandolin tab Download File Down In A Willow Garden - melody in G Download File
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Hi, The song of the week is 'Down In A Willow Garden' (a.k.a. 'Rose Connelly') in the key of G. 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 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 Here is a version with even more 4 chord measures in it (and one that begins in 3/4 time, switches to cut common time for most of the song. but then ends in 3/4 time): Monroe Crossing - key of B 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 G, that note is an E note, and the E note is part of the Em, E, and C chords. Furthermore, the E note forms a dissonance with only one of the notes of the G chord (the D 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 E and G notes in one's breaks (or backup on instruments that allow for this) on the 'Em' measures, and makes it a point to avoid B notes, then one need not be too concerned whether a C chord is being played in place of an Em 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. By dropping the melody an octave lower than written in the melody sheets, guitar players can confine the melody to the 4 lowest strings of the guitar, which is ideal for creating Carter-style breaks for the song like the ones played by Charlie Monroe on the recording. The very lowest note of the melody as written (a D note: open 4th string on the guitar) cannot be dropped an octave lower when the guitar is in standard tuning. In place of the low D note in the pickup measure for the verse, and in the 8th measure of the chorus, substituting an E note (open 6th string) will work, and in place of the low D note in the 2nd measure of the last line of the verse and of the chorus, playing an A note (open 5th string) is one easy option. 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 G, those notes are G, A, B, D, and E. 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 G are: D, E, G, A, B, D, E, G. Happy Pickin', Jason
Because there are a few songs that have been played at the last 2 jams that are not on any of the beginner or intermediate jam song lists and have chord progressions which can be difficult to relate to any of the progressions on the basic progressions chart, and these songs will likely be played again in the near future at the jam, I am including here the chord progressions that were used for those songs at the jam. Down In A Willow Garden - sheet music in E - sheet music in G Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys - Willow Garden - www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xgwiFg-kzw The Osborne Brothers(with Red Allen) - Down In The Willow Garden -www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW-0ko2Mdoc 1 1 1 6m 6m 6m 1 6m 1 1 6m 6m 1 1 6m 6m 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 1 5 1 1 1 5 1 1 Over The Waterfall - D (AABB form) - sheet music - web The Mandolin Casefiles: Over The Waterfall - www.youtube.com/watch?v=akRSsTsTdDA Over The Waterfall · Grandpa Jones & Family - www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRuDFS2cgGA 1/5 1 1/5 1 1/4 1 1/5 1 1/5 1 b7 4 1/4 1 5 1 Poor Wayfaring Stranger - sheet music - web Bill Monroe - "Wayfaring Stranger" - www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrBCJObQOk Alison Krauss - Wayfaring Stranger - www.youtube.com/watch?v=brAXHYv-JYc 1m 1m 1m 1m b6 b6 b3 b3 4m 4m 1m 1m b6 b6 5 5 1m 1m 1m 1m 1m 1m 1m 1m 4m 5 1m 1m 4m 5 1m 1m Shady Grove (the 'hippie version') - sheet music (pdf) David Holt and Doc Watson: Shady Grove - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7MwW3JuEOY Jerry Garcia and David Grisman - Shady Grove - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayk_qQw0XZg 1m b7 1m 1m b3 b7 b7 1m Cheyenne - (Melody sheet - pdf) The Bluegrass Album Band - Cheyenne - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLQF1k17FP4 - A Part in Gm, B Part in Bb 1m 1m 1m 1m 1 3 4 1 5 5 1m 1m 1 5 1 1 1m 1m 1m 1m 1 3 4 1 5 5 1m b7 1 5 1 1 Note: In Cheyenne, '5' in the A Part and '3' in the B Part are the same chord. Likewise, 'b7' at the end of the A Part is the same chord as '5' in the B Part. See the attached Nashville Number Chart to translate the number names of the chords into letter names for whatever keys you wish to practice these progressions in. (E.g., banjo players may find it easier to work up a Scruggs-style break for Over The Waterfall in C rather than in D, and then just capo 2 to end up in the key of D. On guitar, It is far more convenient to learn Cheyenne in Em and G, rather than in Gm and Bb, and then just capo 3 to end up in Gm and Bb.) Happy Pickin', Jason 
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Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018started as Beginner Jam in Jan 2015 
Songs regularly called at Bluegrass Jams and links from Jason's "Song of the Week" emails. (from Renee)
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