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Hi, The song of the week is the old Carter Family classic 'Gold Watch And Chain'. For the next 3 intermediate jams, Gold Watch And Chain will be played in the following keys, and probably with a different person singing lead each time: Apr. 27: Bb May 4: C May 11: D The chord progression is the same as for 'This Land Is Your Land', 'Way Down Town', 'Back Up And Push', 'Rubber Dolly', the B-Part of 'Red Wing', and the chorus of 'How Mountain Girls Can Love': 4411 5511 4411 5511 Here are a few versions of the song to take a listen to: Key of B: Ralph Stanley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2DcpQOgGKk Key of D: Mother Maybelle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8szdi1D7OE Key of G: Doug Dillard Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvVqsdrjYQ Bluegrass Open Mic In preparation for the first Bluegrass open mic at Liquid, scheduled for the evening of May 23rd, the opportunity will be given at the intermediate jam two Thursdays from now (May 4th) for you to perform one or two songs with your act (minimum 2 people per act) with the rest of the jam group being your audience. Even if you don't intend on participating in the open mic on May 23rd, I still encourage you, if you are a regular at the jam, to put together an act that can perform one or two songs at the jam on May 4th. Especially if you have never performed for an audience before, doing so can be a valuable learning experience. Please let me know as soon as you are able to, whether you wish to perform a song or two at the jam, so it can be determined how much of the evening will be taken up by performances, and what the maximum time length needs to be that each act is allotted. Transposing in Whole Steps The notes of the Bb, C, and D Major Scales correspond with each other as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bb C D Eb F G A C D E F G A B D E F# G A B C# The melody of Gold Watch And Chain uses only 6 of the 7 notes of the Major Scale. The 4th note of the scale (i.e., Eb note when in the key of Bb, F note when in the key of C, and G note when in the key of D) does not occur in the melody. The preceding chart also shows the relation of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the three keys, but here they are in isolation from the rest of the information: 1 4 5 Bb Eb F C F G D G A The 1 chord consists of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the Major Scale. The 4 chord consists of the 4th, 6th, and 8th (=1st) notes of the Major Scale The 5 chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 9th (=2nd) notes of the Major Scale Here is a chart showing these relationships: 1 3 5 4 6 1 5 7 2 Key of Bb Bb D F Eb G Bb F A C Key of C C E G F A C G B D Key of D D F# A G B D A C# E D has the same relation to C that C has to Bb. C is a whole step higher than Bb; and D, in turn, is a whole step higher than C. In terms of the number of sharps or flats in their Major Scales, C (0 sharps/flats) is exactly half way between Bb (2 flats) and D (2 sharps). 'To capo or not to capo' For playing in the key of Bb, bluegrass guitar and banjo players almost always capo to the 3rd fret so that they can play with the same fingerings they would use for playing in the key of G without a capo. (With the 5th string on banjo spiked/capoed/tuned up to a Bb note.) The two most common options for bluegrass guitar and banjo players for playing in C are either to play in C without a capo, or put the capo on the 5th fret so that they can play with the same fingerings they would use for playing in the key of G without a capo. When the 2nd option is chosen by a banjo player, the 5th string is spiked/capoed/tuned up to a C note. For the key of D, one may sometimes wish to play without a capo, and at other times one may wish to capo the 2nd fret so that one can play with the same fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of C without a capo. These two options both sound and feel different from each other, and more so on certain songs than on others. For playing Scruggs-style banjo in the key of D, whether capoed to the 2nd fret or not capoed, the 5th string is most commonly spiked/capoed/tuned up to an A note. A third option, capo 7 and play as if in G, rarely ever produces satisfactory results for playing in the key of D within a bluegrass context, and therefore is best avoided, except perhaps occasionally when playing a hard-driving song at a break-neck speed. For most songs, including Gold Watch And Chain, it tends to work better for a Carter-style guitar break to play with the fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of C without a capo, rather than with the fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of G or the key of D without a capo. This is the reason for the low octave key of C guitar melody tab that is included in the attachments. (Note: this is not an invitation to put the capo on the 10th fret of the guitar for playing Gold Watch And Chain in the key of Bb!) The capo 5 option for playing in the key of C will produce a brighter, crisper sound than the no capo option - especially on banjo. You may find this quite desirable for some songs you play (especially up-tempo hard-driving breakdown type songs), but less desirable for other songs in your repertoire (e.g., slow songs that have a relaxed feel to them). Gold Watch And Chain - at least as it is commonly played by bluegrassers - falls somewhere in the middle between these two types of songs, with some versions leaning more towards one end of the spectrum, and others leaning more towards the other end of the spectrum. Transposing in Fourths The notes of the D, G, and C Major Scales correspond with each other as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 D E F# G A B C# G A B C D E F# C D E F G A B The melody of Gold Watch And Chain uses only 6 of the 7 notes of the Major Scale. The 4th note of the scale (i.e., G note when in the key of D, C note when in the key of G, and F note when in the key of C) does not occur in the melody. The preceding chart also shows the relation of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the three keys, but here they are in isolation from the rest of the information: 1 4 5 D G A G C D C F G The 1 chord consists of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the Major Scale. The 4 chord consists of the 4th, 6th, and 8th (=1st) notes of the Major Scale The 5 chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 9th (=2nd) notes of the Major Scale Here is a chart showing those relationships: 1 3 5 4 6 1 5 7 2 Key of D D F# A G B D A C# E Key of G G B D C E G D F# A Key of C C E G F A C G B D G has the same relation to D that C has to G. G is 5 half steps higher than D; and C, in turn, is 5 half steps higher than G. In terms of the number of sharps or flats in their Major Scales, G (1 sharp) is exactly half way between D (2 sharps) and C (0 sharps/flats). Note for Guitar and Banjo Players For guitar and banjo players who are not yet able to transpose from one key to another quickly without a capo, I recommend getting more experience with transposing up and down in 4ths (G up to C, C down to G, G down to D, D up to G) before trying other transpositions. For the octave in which the melody is written on the key of G banjo tab attached here, transposition down a 4th (i.e., down to D) is not possible, so I have not included a D banjo melody sheet here. On guitar, transposition down to D of the G melody tab involves nothing more than shifting all the fingerings down one string lower in pitch, so I felt no need to include a D melody sheet for guitar in the attachments.
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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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