Idaho Bluegrass Association
  • Home
  • About IBA
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Monthly Newsletter
    • Snap Shot
    • Our Logo
    • IBA History >
      • The Golden Years
      • When Sammie Bush came to ​Weiser
      • My History at Weiser by Mark O’Connor
      • Barbara Lamb - Fiddler Extraordinaire
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Idaho Bluegrass Winterfest
    • Open Mic
    • Acoustic Band Showcase >
      • Videos from Band Showcase
    • Bluegrass in the Park
    • Outside Idaho
  • Jam
    • Idaho Jams
    • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2019 - 2020
    • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2020
    • All of Jason's Songs
  • Camps & Contests
    • John Lowell guitar workshop
    • Music Camp
    • Banjo Camp
    • Banjo Contest
    • National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
  • Idaho Bands
  • Teachers
  • Classified
  • Links
    • General
    • Learning
    • Specific Instruments

I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore

10/1/2019

0 Comments

 
Hi,
The song of the week is 'I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore' (a.k.a. 'This World Is Not My Home') in the key of G. This song was recorded by the Carter Family in 1931, and since that time has been recorded by numerous old-time, bluegrass, and country artists: some of the bigger names including Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Jim Reeves, Merle Haggard, and Ricky Skaggs.


Progression & Recordings
The chord progression I use for I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore is:
1141
1125
1141
11511

In the key of G: 1=G, 2=A, 4=C, and 5=D.

Jim & Jesse - key of F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_6R-m000eM

(In the key of F: 1=F, 2=G, 4=Bb, and 5=C.)

Martina McBride (with Ricky Skaggs) - key of D: not exactly a bluegrass version of the song, but it has good mandolin breaks in it, and is played at a tempo that I prefer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6ORipNOOI

(In the key of D: 1=D, 2=E, 4=G, 5=A.)

...but, alternatives for the 2nd line of the progression that I have heard on records and at jams include 

11155
Blue Highway - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7GjNFQgpLw

1115
11255
and 1155.

And, in some versions, line 2 is played one of these ways for the verses of the song, and in a different way for the choruses, with breaks in some versions following the verse progression and in other versions following the chorus progression.

Compare these progressions with Prog. V6 on the Basic Chord Progressions Chart:
1141
1155
1141
1511

...and with the 3 most common chord progressions used for playing 'Leaning On The Everlasting Arms':

1144       1144       1144
1115       11155      1115
1144       1144       1144
11511      11511     1151


The 2 Chord
Notice in the versions of 'I Can't Feel At Home...' provided here how the harmony parts are affected by the presence or absence of the '2' chord in line 2 of the progression. For, unlike the 1,4, and 5 chords, the 2 chord has one note in it that is not part of the major scale. In the key of G, this note is a C#. (The notes of the G major scale are: G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.) Relative to the G major scale, the number name for the C# note is #4.

If you find it doesn't come naturally to you to go to the C# note on the 2 chord measure when singing a tenor harmony part for this song in the key of G, try playing the following scale on your instrument: G, A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G until your ear becomes accustomed to hearing the 4th note of this scale in the context of the whole scale. (This is known as the 'G Lydian Scale': in place of the '4' in the major scale, it has a '#4'. The G Lydian Scale has the same notes as the D Major Scale, i.e., it has one more sharp in it than what the G Major Scale has.) The notes of the G Lydian Scale are the safest notes to play on your instrument during '2' chord measures that come up in a song that is in the key of G. 


Off-Chords
An informal name for chords other than the 1,4,and 5 that you will sometimes hear in bluegrass circles is 'off-chords'. The '2' chord is one of the two most commonly used major 'off-chords' in traditional bluegrass. The other one is the 'b7' (flat-seven) chord. I suggest making it a point to memorize the '2' and 'b7' chords for each of the keys that come up at the jam. Observe that '2' is a whole-step higher than '1', and that 'b7' is a whole-step lower than '1':

                   b7      1        2
Key of G:     F        G       A   (A = A,C#,E.)
Key of A      G        A       B   (B = B,D#,F#.)
Key of Bb    Ab       Bb     C   (C = C,E,G.)
Key of B      A         B      C#  (C# = C#,E#,G#)
Key of C      Bb       C       D   (D = D,F#,A)
Key of D      C         D       E   (E = E,G#,B)
Key of E      D         E       F#  (F# = F#,A#,C#)
Key of F       Eb       F       G   (G = G,B,D)

In each case, the middle note of the three notes that make up the '2' chord is the #4 note, which when substituted in place of the 4th note of the Major Scale results in the Lydian Scale.


'2' & 'b7' Contrasted
Just as through experience with playing songs that have 1,4,and 5 chords in them, one learns to readily distinguish the sound of the progression 1-4-1 from the sound of the progression 1-5-1, and to detect when a chord is being played that is other than the 1, the 4, or the 5, so also, through experience with playing songs that have various 'off-chords' in them, one learns to be able to just as readily distinguish which 'off-chord' is being played. For starters, I suggest observing that songs that have only the '2' as an 'off-chord' in them tend to have a very different sounding type of melody than songs that have only the 'b7' as an off-chord in them.

Two other songs that regularly played at the jam that use a '2' chord are:
"Homestead On The Farm'  (a.k.a. 'I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home')                   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82_0ui4taWI (Mac Wiseman - key of A), and
'Cry Cry Darlin' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P0aM1Y7Tk0 (Bill Monroe - key of A.)

Compare and contrast the overall sound of the three songs provided here that have '2' chords in them with the overall sound of the following songs that have 'b7' chords in them instead: 

Old Joe Clark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1fOgvQSzOM

Little Willie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpvwPOp4nSQ

Love, Please Come Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wmeUHRDptk

A final point worthwhile taking notice of is that while the 'b7' chord is more often than not sandwiched between '1' chords, just like the '4' and '5' chords most often are, the '2' chord is almost always followed immediately by the '5' chord. 

​
Song List
17 songs were played at last night's jam:
Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - G
Canaan's Land - A
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (x2) - G
Little Liza Jane - D
Reuben - D
Temperance Reel - G
Why Don't You Tell Me So - G
Fireball Mail - G
Lonesome Feeling - C
99 Years And One Dark Day - G
I've Endured - C
Bill Cheatham - A
I'll Still Write Your Name In The Sand - A
Cripple Creek - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

I Can't Feel At Home - banjo tab
Download File

I Can't Feel At Home - guitar tab
Download File

I Can't Feel At Home - mandolin tab
Download File

I Can't Feel At Home - melody in G
Download File
0 Comments

    ​Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2020

    Weekly on Thursdays
             7pm
    at Pioneer Building in downtown Boise
    ​

    started Jan 2017
    ​as  Beginner jam 
    (click to see Beginner blog 2017-18)

    ​with Jason Homey

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

    ​

    All of Jason's Songs
    in alphabetical order

    ​

    Archives

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018

    Categories

    All
    Angel Band
    Are You Missing Me
    Beautiful Brown Eyes
    Blue Ridge Cabin Home
    Canaan's Land
    Cherokee Shuffle
    Clinch Mountain Backstep
    Columbus Stockade Blues
    Cry Cry Darlin
    Down In A Willow Garden
    Down The Road
    Gold Watch And Chain
    Homestead On The Farm
    I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore
    In The Pines
    Liberty
    Little Cabin Home On The Hill
    Little Liza Jane
    Little Willie
    Love
    Love Of The Mountains
    Mountain Dew
    Nine Pound Hammer
    Old Joe Clark
    Please Come Home
    Reuben
    Steel Rails
    Turkey In The Straw
    We'll Meet Again Sweetheart
    Why Don't You Tell Me So
    Wildwood Flower
    Will You Be Loving Another Man
    Wreck Of The Old '97
    X- Basic Chord Progressions
    X- Nashville Number System Charts
    X Song List
    X Song List 4-2019
    X- Song List Jan. To March 2019

    RSS Feed

ConTACT US!


Telephone

208-869-0952
ADDRESS:
​Idaho Bluegrass Association
P O box 6074
Boise, ID 83707​

Email

idahobluegrassassociation@gmail.com
Copyright © 2020 IBA.
  • Home
  • About IBA
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Monthly Newsletter
    • Snap Shot
    • Our Logo
    • IBA History >
      • The Golden Years
      • When Sammie Bush came to ​Weiser
      • My History at Weiser by Mark O’Connor
      • Barbara Lamb - Fiddler Extraordinaire
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Idaho Bluegrass Winterfest
    • Open Mic
    • Acoustic Band Showcase >
      • Videos from Band Showcase
    • Bluegrass in the Park
    • Outside Idaho
  • Jam
    • Idaho Jams
    • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2019 - 2020
    • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2020
    • All of Jason's Songs
  • Camps & Contests
    • John Lowell guitar workshop
    • Music Camp
    • Banjo Camp
    • Banjo Contest
    • National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
  • Idaho Bands
  • Teachers
  • Classified
  • Links
    • General
    • Learning
    • Specific Instruments