I Saw The Light

Hi,
I will not be at the next intermediate jam (5/18/2018). 
The song of the week will be 'I Saw The Light' in the key of Bb. 

Though not originally a bluegrass song, 'I Saw The Light' has by now become a bluegrass jam standard. Everything about the song - its melody, its chord progression, its subject matter, etc., makes it perfect for bluegrass. 'I Saw The Light' was written and originally recorded by Hank Williams.

Recordings
The Stanley Brothers - key of Bb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmr8NpP6chE

Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhApr777YWY

For the sake of comparison and contrast, here is the original Hank Williams recording of I Saw The Light (key of G):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYkOQXUMBhE

Progression & Melody
The chord progression for I Saw The Light is:

1111
4441
1111
11511
Notice that the last line of the progression consists of five measures, instead of only four.

In the key of Bb: 1=Bb. 4=Eb, and 5=F. 
The Bb chord consists of the notes: Bb,D, and F
The Eb chord consists of the notes: Eb, G, and Bb
The F chord consists of the notes F,A,C.

Together, these notes make up the Bb Major Scale: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, but the melody of 'I Saw The Light', like many other songs, makes use of only 5 of these: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes of the scale  (In Bb, these notes are Bb, C, D, F, and G: these 5 notes form what is called the Bb Major Pentatonic Scale.)

Capo 3
For playing in the key of Bb, banjo and guitar players almost always capo the 3rd fret so they can play as if they were playing in the key of G. (Bb is 3 half-steps higher than G.) For this reason the melody sheets attached here for guitar and banjo are written in the key of G.

[In the key of G: 1=G. 4=C, and 5=D. The G chord consists of the notes: G. B, and D. The C chord consists of the notes: C, E, and G, The D chord consists of the notes: D, F#,, and A. Together, these notes make up the G Major Scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#. The 5 notes: G, A, B, D, and E form the G Major Pentatonic Scale.]

Harmony
I welcome harmony singers to sing not only the choruses with me, but also on the last line of each of the verses: "Praise the Lord, I saw the light" (the last line of the verses uses the same words and melody as the last line of the chorus.)

Man Of Constant Sorrow - E 
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBVnKYOvWcs

Black Mountain Rag - A 
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Aljv0KpzQ
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-oTuPADMMg

Rawhide - C 
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB26S7cj3n0
          Progression for the B Part is: 3333666622225555

Happy Pickin',
Jason

I Saw The Light - banjo tab
Download File

I Saw The Light - guitar tab
Download File

I Saw The Light - mandolin tab
Download File

I Saw The Light - melody in Bb
Download File