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Little Maggie

9/3/2018

0 Comments

 
Hi,
I hope that you have had a good Summer.
I will resume leading the Intermediate Bluegrass Jam at the Pioneer Building this coming Thursday (Sept. 6).

The song of the week is 'Little Maggie' in the key of B.

Recordings
Ralph Stanley - key of C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXl5YJrVeII

Ricky Skaggs - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fSMNDvxRw

Flatt & Scruggs - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkaW2yyO4xQ

The Stanley Brothers - key of C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWABnWMOzVE

Progression
On the Ralph Stanley recording, the breaks use the progression:
1 1 b7b7
1 5 1 1
(x2)

but, the verses use
1 1 1 b7b7
1 5 1 1
(x2)

This is how I usually play the song when I lead it at a jam. The melody sheets included in the attachments follow the progression for the verses, rather than for the breaks. To read them for the breaks (or for the verses for versions of the song that use the same progression for the verses as for the breaks), skip over the second half of measure 2 and the first half of measure 3 in lines 1 and 3. 

On the Ricky Skaggs and Stanley Brothers recordings, a 5 is put in place of the second b7, so that the first and third lines of the breaks are: 1 1 b7 5, and the first and third lines of the verses are: 1 1 1 b7 5.

On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, both the breaks and the verses use the same progression as the one that is used for the breaks on the Ralph Stanley recording: 
1 1 b7b7
1 5 1 1

Arrangement 
On all four recordings, the arrangement is: break, verse, break, verse, break, verse, etc., with the banjo being the specially featured lead instrument. The banjo takes both the first break (the intro break) and the last break in the song, and gets one more break than any other lead instrument playing on the recording.

The song has no chorus, and no harmony vocals on the verses. On the Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, and Stanley Brothers recordings, there are 5 breaks and 5 verses, and the banjo plays a break after the verse that ends with 'listen to this old banjo ring'. On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, there are 4 verses and 4 breaks. 

Lyrics
On the Ralph Stanley recording, Ralph sings a different second verse than the one that he sang on the earlier Stanley Brothers recording. Ricky Skaggs uses the same 5 verses that are on the Stanley Brothers recording, but inverts the order of the second and third verses. On the Flatt & Scruggs recording, Lester uses the same first and third verses that Ricky uses, but his second and fourth verses are different than any of the verses sung on the other three recordings. 

To accommodate more breaks at a jam, I have sometimes sung 7 or 8 verses for Little Maggie, and in no particular order, except for the first verse ('Over yonder stands...), and the last verse (either 'Go away, go away...', or 'March me down to the station'), and being sure to time the banjo verse ('Lay down your last gold dollar...') for when I want to hear a banjo break next. But, more often than not, I sing 5 or 6 verses, and have two or more breaks played back to back between some of the verses. Sometimes I will also end the song with a break instead of with a verse.

Melody 
Most versions of the melody of Little Maggie that I have heard contain only 4 or 5 different notes, two of which are 'blue notes': b3 and b7 (D and A notes when in the key of B; Bb and F notes when in the key of G). The version of the melody given in the attached melody sheets is based upon the sung melody on the Ricky Skaggs and Stanley Brothers recordings.

Note to Banjo Players
Although all the banjo breaks on the recordings are melody-based breaks, the implied melodic content of most of them does not correspond all that closely to the version of the sung melody given in the attachments or to the versions of the sung melody heard on the recordings. In addition to the timing of the melody being altered in several spots (often by way of using the foggy mountain roll in measures that in the sung melody are not made up of a quarter note followed by a dotted half note, or a quarter note followed a half note and then another quarter note), in most of the breaks, for instance, the order of the melody notes in the first two measures of lines 2 and 4 is altered, with (when thinking in the key of G) G notes being put in place of D notes, and vice versa.

Happy Pickin',
Jason
Little Maggie - banjo tab
File Size: 436 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Little Maggie - guitar tab
File Size: 455 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Little Maggie - mandolin tab
File Size: 368 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Little Maggie - melody in B
File Size: 441 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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    Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018

    started as Beginner Jam in Jan 2015
    with
    ​Jason Homey

    Picture
    Songs regularly called at Bluegrass Jams and links from Jason's "Song of the Week" emails.  (from Renee)
    ​
    ​

    Songs

    All
    Are You Missing Me
    Auld Lang Syne
    Banks Of The Ohio
    Beautiful Brown Eyes
    Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem
    Big Spike Hammer
    Bill Cheatham
    Blue Ridge Cabin Home
    Canaan's Land
    Cherokee Shuffle
    Cheyenne
    Christmas Carol Progressions
    Christmas Songs
    Clinch Mountain Backstep
    Cry Cry Darlin
    Cryin' Holy
    Devil's Dream
    Dooley
    Down In A Willow Garden
    Down The Road
    East Virginia Blues
    Fireball Mail
    Foggy Mountain Breakdown
    Gathering Flowers From The Hillside
    Gold Rush
    Gold Watch And Chain
    Hand Me Down My Walking Cane
    Head Over Heels
    Homestead On The Farm
    How Mountain Girls Can Love
    I Can't Feel At Home
    I Know You Rider
    In The Pines
    In The Sweet By And By
    I Saw The Light
    John Henry
    Keep On The Sunny Side
    Left Over Biscuits
    Little Cabin Home On The Hill
    Little Darling Pal Of Mine
    Little Maggie
    Little Willie
    Love Of The Mountains
    Love Please Come Home
    Nine Pound Hammer
    Old Home Place
    Old Joe Clark
    O Little Town Of Bethlehem
    On And On
    Over The Waterfall
    Poor Wayfaring Stranger
    Red Haired Boy
    Red Wing
    Reuben
    Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms
    Roving Gambler
    Sally Goodin
    Salty Dog Blues
    Shuckin' The Corn
    Steel Rails
    Turkey In The Straw
    We'll Meet Again Sweetheart
    Whiskey Before Breakfast
    Why Don't You Tell Me So
    Wildwood Flower
    Wreck Of The Old '97
    X-Hits And B-List Songs Of 2016
    X Music Theory
    X New Song List 2018
    X- Song List 2018
    X-Songs Of The Week Of 2017
    X- The Mercury Sessions
    X-The Original And Great Carter Family

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  • Home
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Donate
    • IBA Newsletter
    • Our Logo
  • Articles & Podcasts
    • Podcasts >
      • ​Jeremy Garrett Interview
      • Keith Reed Interview
      • Jason Homey Interview
      • Becky Smith Interview
      • Marv Quinton Interview
      • Rue Frisbee Interview
      • Donna and Mike Bond Interview
      • Honi Deaton Interview
      • Dennis Stokes Interview
      • Gary Eller Interview
    • Articles >
      • Glen Garrett - The Golden Years
      • Sammie Bush - came to Weiser
      • Mark O’Connor - My History at Weiser
      • Barbara Lamb - Fiddler Extraordinaire
      • Charlie Simmons -The Idaho Bluegrass Association from 1975 to 1985
      • Idaho's 19th century Fiddlers
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions ​ 1950s & 1960s
      • ​Byron Berline
      • Dave Frisbee
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions from 1970s and 80s
      • Megan Lynch Chowning
      • Fiddle Champion ​in 1990s and 2000s
      • Tashina and Tristan Clarridge
    • Snap Shot - Videos from IBA members
  • Events
    • Calendar (BCBB)
    • Open Mic
    • SpringGrass 2023 >
      • Springfest 2022
    • Winterfest
    • IBA Concert Series
    • Virtualgrass
    • Other Bluegrass Events
  • Jam
    • Idaho Jams
    • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2021 - 2022
    • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2021 - 2022
    • All of Jason's Songs
    • Old Blogs from Jason >
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Songs in 2016
  • Camps & Contests
    • Idaho Bluegrass and Banjo Camp
    • Banjo Contest
    • National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
  • Idaho Bands
  • Teachers
  • Classified
  • Links
    • General
    • Learning
    • Specific Instruments