Hi,
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=1xO-v2x2nH4  

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=LB-B_SpiF9Q  


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.)


Song List
22 songs were played at the jam on Wednesday:

Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - G
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Gold Watch And Chain - Bb
I Saw The Light - Bb
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - C
Little Liza Jane - D
Love, Please Come Home - G
Reuben - D
Steel Rails - G
Temperance Reel - G
Turkey In The Straw - G
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Bb
Wildwood Flower - A
Wreck Of The Old '97 - A
Long Journey Home - C
Red Wing - G
Roses In The Snow - C
Cabin In Caroline - G
Cluck Old Hen - A
Flint Hill Special - G 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5SzHd8-gY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RIawIZXdfg  

Footprints In The Snow - G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNhQKoDWbdU  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvaVnE-qhEM 
 
Have a happy Thanksgiving!,
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Little Liza Jane' in the key of D.


Recordings
Alison Krauss: key of A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bASF3KMTLtk

The Nashville Grass: key of G:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5nfXsvrGdw

Notice that in this version the order of the parts is the opposite of the Alison Krauss version. The order of the parts given in the attached melody sheets is the same as in the Alison Krauss version.  


Form
Little Liza Jane is a standard length two-part tune with an AABB form like 'Soldier's Joy', 'Liberty', 'Angeline The Baker', 'Turkey In The Straw', and 'Old Joe Clark'. That is, each part consists of 8 measures, and is repeated before going on to the next part.


Progression
The chord progression is identical for both parts of the tune:
1111
1151


Melody
The melody for Little Liza Jane uses only the notes of the Major Pentatonic Scale: i.e., the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th. and 6th notes of the Major Scale. In the key of D, this means that the melody notes are: D, E, F#, A, and B.


Transposing: Fiddle & Mandolin
Liza Jane is often played in the key of A, and sometimes in the key of G, but I prefer to play it in D. If you have a learned to play Liza Jane in A on the fiddle or the mandolin, grabbing the melody on the E and A strings, then by simply moving your same fingerings one string lower so that you are now grabbing the melody on the D and A strings, you will be playing it in the key of D. 


Transposing: Banjo
If you are a banjo player, and you have learned to play Little Liza Jane in G, grabbing the melody on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings, then by retuning your banjo to D tuning: F#DF#AD and moving your same fingerings one string lower, so that the melody is now being played on the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings instead of the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings, you will be playing in the key of D. 

As far as chords are concerned: the open strings of the banjo now make a D chord; and for the A chord measures in Little Liza Jane, you need not learn to form a full A chord in D tuning: it will suffice to simply zero in on starting your rolls with A notes for these measures (A notes are located in D tuning on the 2nd open string and on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string.) If you have never played in D tuning before, give it a try - it can be a lot of fun, and an easy way to start out with this tuning is to take songs you already play breaks for in G in which the melody does not require you to use the 4th string, for you can play these with the same fingerings you use when playing them in G, just by moving the fingerings one string lower in pitch. 


Melody Sheets: Banjo & Guitar
I have included 2 melody sheets for banjo in the attachments, one written for D tuning, and the other written for G tuning (with the 5th string spiked/capoed up to an A note to make it more compatible as a drone string for the key of D).

I have also included 2 melody sheets for guitar in the attachments, one written in D and the other written in C (capo 2 for D). If you wish to work out a Carter-style break for Liza Jane (i.e., a break in which strums are used to fill up the space between melody notes that are of a duration greater than a quarter note), working it out in C and then capoing the 2nd fret to raise you up to D is easier on the left hand than playing it in D without a capo.


Song List
22 songs were played at last night's jam:

Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - G
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cry, Cry Darlin' - A
Gold Watch And Chain - D
Homestead On The Farm - A
Little Liza Jane - D
Love, Please Come Home (played twice) - B & A
Reuben - D
Steel Rails - G
Turkey In The Straw - G
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Bb
Why Don't You Tell Me So - Bb
Wildwood Flower - A
I'm Satisfied With You - D
Red Wing - G
Little Darling Pal Of Mine - B
Over The Waterfall - D
High On A Mountain - D
East Virginia Blues - A
Old Joe Clark - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Steel Rails' in the key of G.

Recording
Alison Krauss - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX_YZD-r-Qc


Progression
1   1   2m 2m
4   5   4    1    1
1   1   2m 2m
4   5   4    1    1

On the recording, the progression for the verses is slightly different: line 2 is played as 45111. I have jammed this song many times over the years with many different people, and not once do I ever recall a different progression being used for the verses than for the choruses and the breaks. So, to keep it simple, when I lead the song at the jam, I will use the same progression for the verses as for the choruses and the breaks, with line 2 consistently being played as 45411.

Even if the progression were 16 or 17 measures long instead of 18 measures long, and even if it did not contain 2m chords, it would still be an unusual progression for a bluegrass song, in that a 5 chord measure is sandwiched between two 4 chord measures. Of the 6 possible chord change sequences involving the 1, 4, and 5 (14, 41, 15, 51, 45, 54) 54 (a 5 followed by a 4) is the least common, and when this order does occasionally show up, the 5 is usually preceded by a 1 rather than by a 4.


Ending
Steel Rails ends with a vocal tag that follows the final chorus. The progression for the tag is:

2m 5 5 5 5
4 1 1
and there is a stop at the beginning of the fifth measure.


The 2m Chord
When 1=G, 2m=Am; when 1=A, 2m=Bm; when 1=Bb, 2m=Cm, when 1=B, 2m=C#m, etc. Just as the root note of the 2 (major) chord is always a whole step higher than the root note of the 1 chord, so by the same token, the root note of the 2m chord is always a whole step higher than root note of the 1 chord.


Minor Chords in Major Key Songs
The 2m (two minor) chord is the second most frequently used minor chord in songs played in a major key. The most common minor chord used in major key songs is the 6m, and the third most common (which only very rarely shows up in bluegrass songs) is the 3m. 

The 6m is the relative minor of the 1.
The 2m is the relative minor of the 4.
The 3m is the relative minor of the 5.

6m, 2m, and 3m are the only three minor chords that contain no notes in them other than the notes that make up the major scale that has the same letter name as the 1.

For example, the C major scale has no sharps or flats in it, but consists of the 7 natural notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

Just as the 1,4, and 5, when 1=C, are the only major chords that contain no sharps or flats in them: C = CEG; F = FAC; G = GBD, so also their relative minors: 6m, 2m, and 3m respectively, when 1=C, are the only minor chords that contain no sharps or flats in them: Am = ACE; Dm = DFA; Em = EGB.


History of Minor Chords in Bluegrass
The use of minor chords in major key songs shows up less frequently on bluegrass recordings from the 40s and the 50s than on recordings from the 60s onward. In the spots in where a minor chord would have been suitable to play, the older recordings more often than not have the major chord that is either the relative major or the parallel major of that minor chord. 

For instance, in the spots where it is now standard practice to play a 6m in Down The Road, the original Flatt & Scruggs recording used a 1 instead (1 is the relative major of 6m), and in the spots where it is now standard practice to play a 6m chord in Foggy Mountain Breakdown, a 6 chord was played on the guitar by Lester Flatt on the original recording, even though the 6m chord is so clearly outlined in the banjo breaks (6 is the parallel major of 6m). 


2m & 6m vs. 2 & 6
In contrast to the 2 (major) chord, which is almost always immediately followed by a 5 chord, the 2m chord may often be followed just as easily and naturally by a 1, a 4, a 6m, etc., as by a 5 chord. A similar observation may also be made about the 6m chord relative to the 6 (major) chord. The 6 (major) is almost always followed by a 2 (the most notable exception to this being the obsolete practice of sandwiching 6's  between 1's in playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown and certain other songs) but the 6m is often followed by a 1, a 4 or a 5. 


Song List
22 songs were played at last night's jam:
 
Are You Missing Me - G
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Down In A Willow Garden - D
Gold Watch And Chain - D
Homestead On The Farm - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
I Saw The Light - B
Little Liza Jane - D
Love Of The Mountains - A
Love, Please Come Home - G
Temperance Reel - G
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Bb
Wildwood Flower - A
Cripple Creek - A
Bill Cheatham - A
Where We'll Never Grow Old - F
Cabin In Caroline - G
Are You Teasing Me - A
Red Wing - G
Midnight On The Highway - E
The Girl I Left Behind Me - G
Foggy Mountain Top - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
I will not be available to lead the jam next week. The next intermediate jam will be held on Nov. 6
The song of the week will be 'We'll Meet Again Sweetheart' in the key of Bb.


Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of B (instruments tuned up a half step higher than standard)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT7rowwR_lA  

This was the first song that Flatt and Scruggs recorded together after leaving Bill Monroe's band. (Lester Flatt on guitar and lead vocal, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Jim Shumate on fiddle, Howard Watts, a.k.a. Cedric Rainwater on upright bass, and Mac Wiseman on guitar and tenor harmony vocal.) It is one of 28 songs that Flatt & Scruggs recorded together on Mercury Records between 1948 and 1950. To listen to the complete collection of 'the Mercury Sessions' refer back to the intermediate jam song of the week write up for 'Why Don't You Tell Me So':
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/jasons-intermediate-jam-blog-2019---2020/category/why-dont-you-tell-me-so  

Parmley & McCoury - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH7lwX4Aodk

This is the first version of 'We'll Meet Again Sweetheart' I heard when I was just beginning to get into Bluegrass. This record (in the form of a cassette tape I bought at a Bluegrass Cardinals concert) has been in my collection since 1992, and was a big influence on my playing. From the same album, check out the following songs. This is really high quality Bluegrass well worth taking the time to listen to (over and over) and absorb.

Roll On Buddy - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5TelnMbjGs

I'm Going Back To Old Kentucky - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrMQODKjHsA

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8NMZIfID8

Down The Road - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtyoeRQKMC0

I'll Drink No More Wine - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrXHNk6bA2k

Smoke Along The Track - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIm5NYfEXN4

I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling - key of E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmtL2wbfOYs


Progression
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart uses the same progression that is used to play 'Blue Ridge Cabin Home' and 'Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong':

1144
5511
1144
5511
(Prog. W8 on the Basic Chord Progressions chart.)


Key of Bb Review
In the key of Bb: 1=Bb, 4=Eb, 5=F

The notes that make up the Bb chord are Bb, D, and F.
The notes that make up the Eb chord are Eb, G, and Bb
The notes that make up the F chord are F, A, and C.

Together, these notes form the Bb Major Scale: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, and A.

If you are fiddler or a mandolin player, and you already play songs or licks in the key of F, then, provided that these songs or licks do not require using the 4th string, you can take your same fingerings for F and move them all one string lower in pitch, and you will thereby be playing in Bb. 

For playing chop chords on the mandolin that use no open strings, if you move the chords shapes you use for playing in the key of A up by one fret, this will put you in the key of Bb.

For playing in the key of Bb, bluegrass banjo and guitar players almost always capo to the 3rd fret, so that they can use the same fingerings that they would use for playing in the key of G. (In the key of G: 1=G; 4= C; 5=D.)

Here are the corresponding notes of the G and Bb Major Scales:
1   2  3   4  5   6  7

G, A, B, C, D, E, F#
Bb,C,D,Eb,F,  G, A

Banjo players will need to raise the pitch of the fifth string to a Bb note (registers as A# on most tuners). This is done by capoing (with a 5th string capo, or 8th fret spike) the 5th string at the 8th fret.  For banjo players who do not have a fifth string capo or an 8th fret spike (that includes myself), spike the 5th string at the 7th fret, and then tune it up a half step to a Bb (A#) note. This is best done by ear by playing the 5th string with the thumb while playing the 3rd string with the index finger, turning the 5th string tuning peg slowly until the 5th string sounds harmonious with the 3rd string. 

When playing up the neck on banjo in the key of Bb (capo 3, playing as if in G), you may find it helpful to use your 10th and 15th fret markers as your primary points of reference.


Melody
The melody of We'll Meet Again Sweetheart uses all 7 notes of the Major Scale, with the lowest note being, in Nashville Numbers, the '5' below the '1' (F note in the key of Bb; D note in the key of G). and the highest note being the '4' above the '1' (Eb note in the key of Bb; C note in the key of G). 

One characteristic feature of the melody of this song is how often and how long the melody lingers on the 3rd of each chord (i.e., in the key of Bb: D notes during  Bb chord measures, G notes during Eb chord measures, and A notes during F chord measures. In the key of G, the corresponding notes and chords are: B notes for G chord measures, E notes for C chord measures, and F# notes for D chord measures).  

Another feature of the melody (at least the way I sing it, as reflected in the attached melody sheets) is the unusually wide intervals between some of these 3rds of each chord and the note that immediately precedes them. This occurs, for instance, at the end of measure 2 going into measure 3, where the melody abruptly descends from the 3rd of the 1 chord to the 3rd of the 4 chord, and in measure 6, where the melody abruptly ascends from the root of the 5 chord to 3rd of the 1 chord in anticipation of the upcoming chord change from the 5 back to the 1. This feature of the melody severely limits the range of keys in which I can feel comfortable singing the song in.


Song List
21 songs were played at last night's jam: 

Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - C
Canaan's Land - Bb
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Gold Watch And Chain - D
Little Liza Jane - D
Little Willie - Bb
Love Of The Mountains - A
Love Please Come Home - B
Steel Rails - G
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Bb
Why Don't You Tell Me So - B
Foggy Mountain Top - G
Sun's Gonna Shine In My Back Door Someday - Bb
The Girl I Left Behind Me - G
Salt Creek - A
Mountain Dew - A
30 Inch Coal - C
Roses In The Snow - B
Red Wing - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Love, Please Come Home' in the key of B.


Recordings
Reno & Smiley - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_ndPGjJjWI

Del McCoury - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS4sm2_6DKs

Bill Monroe - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGxn0G2E3Hw


Progression
The chord progression for 'Love Please Come Home' is:
111b7
4411
4411
1511

Compare this with the progression for 'You Are My Sunshine' (Prog. V4 on the basic chord progressions chart):
1111
4411
4411
1511


The b7 Chord
The b7 (flat seven) chord is always one whole step (= two half steps) lower than the 1 chord. It is called the b7 chord because its root note is obtained by flatting (i.e., lowering by one half step) the 7th note ('ti') of the major scale.

Therefore, 
in the key of G: b7 = F
in the key of A: b7 = G
in the key of Bb: b7 = Ab
in the key of B: b7 = A
in the key of C: b7 = Bb
in the key of D: b7 = C
in the key of E: b7 = D
in the key of F: b7 = Eb
 

Melody & Breaks (for non-capoed instruments)
Notice that the melody of 'Love Please Come Home' contains two notes that are not part of the B Major Scale (see the attachments). These two notes, the flatted 3rd and the flatted 7th (D & A respectively when in the key of B), are called 'blue notes'.  Blue notes frequently show up in licks in bluegrass breaks even in songs in which the melody does not contain any blue notes. When the melody of a song does contain blue notes, take that as an invitation to try using more blue notes than usual in your breaks. 

When playing in keys that have a lot of sharps in them (B has 5 sharps), being able to make extensive use of blue notes can often help to make playing breaks in those keys easier because the blue notes end up being notes that belong to the more user-friendly keys that have fewer sharps in them.

To acquaint yourself with making use of 'A' notes when playing in the key of B, try playing the following scale:
B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A, B.

This is known as the B Mixolydian Scale. It consists of the same notes as the E Major Scale (4 sharps instead of 5 sharps). To get the hang of making use of A notes while playing in the key of B, try playing a break for Old Joe Clark in the key of B by raising every note by a whole step that you play in your key of A break for the tune. Here is a comparison of the notes of the A and B Mixolydian Scales to help you with this:

A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G
B, C#,D#,E, F#,G#,A

To acquaint yourself with using A and D notes when playing in the key of B: try playing the following two scales:

B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A, B   (B Dorian Scale: consists of the same notes as the A Major Scale: 3 sharps)

B, D, E, F#, A, B   (B Minor Pentatonic Scale: consists of the same notes as the D Major Pentatonic Scale)

Clinch Mountain Backstep and Cluck Old Hen both use the Minor Pentatonic Scale. Try playing a break in B for one or both of these tunes by raising all the notes in your key of A breaks up a whole step.

Here is a comparison of the notes of the A Minor Pentatonic and B Minor Pentatonic Scales:
A, C, D, E, G
B, D, E, F#,A


Melody & Breaks (for capoed instruments)
Notice that the melody of 'Love Please Come Home' contains two notes that are not part of the G Major Scale (see the banjo and guitar tab melody sheets in the attachments). These two notes, the flatted 3rd and the flatted 7th (Bb & F respectively when in the key of G), are called 'blue notes'.  Blue notes frequently show up in licks in bluegrass breaks even in songs in which the melody does not contain any blue notes. When the melody of a song does contain blue notes, take that as an invitation to try using more blue notes than usual in your breaks. 


If you do not have much experience with using blue notes in your breaks, try playing your breaks for Old Joe Clark (contains F notes when played in G), and Clinch Mountain Backstep or Cluck Old Hen (both tunes contain Bb and F notes when played in G) before working up a break for Love Please Come Home. Then, as you work out a break for Love Please Come Home, try to find spots where you can make use of the some of the same moves and note combinations in it that you use when playing Old Joe Clark, Clinch Mtn., etc.


Song List
19 songs were played at last night's jam:

Angel Band - Bb
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Homestead On The Farm - D
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (played twice) - G
In The Sweet By And By - A
Little Liza Jane - D
Love Of The Mountains - A
Love Please Come Home - B
Wildwood Flower - G
A Memory Of You - Bb
Hand Me Down My Walking Cane - G
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - E
Bill Cheatham - A
The Girl I Left Behind Me - G
Red Wing - G
Old Joe Clark - A
Cripple Creek - A
Cabin In Caroline - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​

​Hi,
The song of the week is 'Clinch Mountain Backstep' in the key of A.


Recordings
Ralph Stanley - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcDtNcbcJ2Q

The Stanley Brothers - key of A (no breaks on any other instruments, all banjo).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7cXcU5Nlk

There are no mandolin, guitar, or dobro breaks in the preceding renditions of the tune. Here is one which has all three:

Blue Highway - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTEF5keaPhk


Progression
The chord progression for the A-Part is:
1115
1151
 
The chord progression for the B-Part is the same, except that there is an extra 'half-measure' of the '1' before the first '5'.  If one is counting the beats in the first line of the B-Part in cut common time (2/2), one would count it as: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,1,2.
(On the sheet music attached here, I have written the first line of the B-Part as 3 measures in 2/2, followed by a measure in which the time signature changes to 1/2, followed by a measure that returns to 2/2.)


Melody & Key
Although the melody of Clinch Mountain Backstep consists only of the notes of the Am pentatonic scale, it is called at jams in A (Major) rather than Am because the '1' chord that is used in the chord progression for the song is an A Major Chord rather than an Am Chord ('1m'). To call Clinch Mountain Backstep in A Minor instead of in A (Major) at a jam would imply that 1m Chords are to be played in place of 1 Chords.

In the attached melody sheet for Clinch Mountain Backstep, I have used the key signature for Am (no sharps or flats, same as the key signature for C Major, the Relative Major of Am) instead of the key signature for A Major (3 sharps) to avoid the need to write natural signs in nearly every measure. I hope that my doing this makes the sheet music easier to read than if I had used the key signature for A Major.

The notes that make up the Minor Pentatonic Scale, or as I like to call it sometimes 'The Clinch Mountain Scale', are: 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. Remember these notes, for these will be useful to know not only for playing 'Mountain Minor' tunes like 'Clinch Mountain Backstep' and 'Cluck Old Hen'. Any time when you wish to add a 'bluesy' element into a break or backup part for a Major key song, just remember to play your 'Clinch Mountain notes'. 

To see what these notes are for A (or for any other key for that matter: G is an especially practical place to start for this if you are a banjo or guitar player who usually plays in A by way of capoing the 2nd fret of your instrument), refer to the Nashville Number System Chart in the attachments.

For more on the Am and Gm pentatonic scales, refer back to the song of the week write-up for 'Cluck Old Hen'. The first five paragraphs under the section 'Melody & Breaks' may be read as though written about Clinch Mountain Backstep instead of Cluck Old Hen. 
https://www.idahobluegrassassociation.org/beginner-jam-blog/category/cluck-old-hen


Relative Majors & Minors
If you have ever played the melody for Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Amazing Grace, My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, Shortnin' Bread, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, or Camptown Races, or any other melody that uses only 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 notes (Major Pentatonic Scale), then you are already familiar to a certain extent with the combination of notes that make up the 'Clinch Mountain Scale', although those melodies sound very different than the melodies for Clinch Mountain Backstep and Cluck Old Hen. 

Notice, for instance, that 1, b3, 4, 5, b7 for E (E,G,A,B,D) are the very same notes as 6, 1, 2, 3, 5 for G. G is the Relative Major of Em.

Every Minor has a Relative Major. To find the Relative Major of a Minor, treat the b3 of the Minor as the 1 for the Major. (Thus, C is the Relative Major of Am - one uses the same notes for playing the melody of Will The Circle Be Unbroken in C as one does for playing the melody of Clinch Mountain Backstep in A;  Bb is the Relative Major of Gm, etc.) 

Going in the opposite direction, that is, to find the Relative Minor of a Major, treat the 6 of the Major as the 1 for the Minor. (So, Am is the Relative Minor of C, Em is the Relative Minor of G.)


Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam: 

Are You Missing Me - G
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Down In A Willow Garden - G
Gold Watch And Chain - D
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (played twice) - D & G
I Saw The Light - A
Love Of The Mountains - A
Steel Rails - G
Turkey In The Straw - G
Wildwood Flower - A
Cripple Creek - A
I've Endured - C
Gold Rush - A
Sun's Gonna Shine In My Back Door Someday - Bb
Mr. Engineer - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

​

Hi,
New Start Time for the Jams
Revitalize Juice Bar has gone back to closing at 5pm. So, starting this coming week, we will go back to starting the jams at 6:30 instead of 7.

​
Song of the Week
The song of the week is 'Love Of The Mountains' in the key of A.


Recording
Larry Sparks - key of A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOee0Ov9iyY
Larry Sparks - Love of the Mountains
From John Deere Tractor LP
www.youtube.com


Progression
The chord progression for Love Of The Mountains is simple and repetitive, but a bit unusual for a Bluegrass song in that a '4' follows a '5' without a '1' intervening between the 5 and the 4.

1411
5411
1411
5411

On the recording, an extra measure of the 1 is added to the end of the progression for the verses, resulting in a 54111 line for the last line of each verse, much like one or more extra measures of the 1 are often added to the ends of breaks before the next verse starts. When leading the song at a jam, however, it is safer to avoid adding an extra measure of the 1 to the end of the verses. In all my years of jamming experience, I don't recall ever playing the song with anyone who did add the extra measure to the end of the verses. 

The order of frequency, from most frequent to least frequent, in which chord changes involving the 1, 4, and 5 tend to show up in Bluegrass is as follows:

change from 5 to the 1 (most common)
change from the 1 to the 5
change from the 1 to the 4
change from the 4 to the 1
change from the 4 to the 5
change from the 5 to the 4 (least common)

The use of a '5411' line (sometimes modified to '5415') at the end of a progression is much more common in Blues and early Rock & Roll than what it is in Bluegrass.

The most common progression with a 5411( or 5415) ending line is the progression that is often referred to as the '12 bar blues':

1111
4411
5411

or

1111
4411
5415

Compare this with the progression that is used to play the 12 measure version of Worried Man Blues, and many other Bluegrass songs (Shuckin' The Corn, Blue Grass Stomp, the breaks for Rocky Road Blues, etc.):

1111
4411
5511


Fill-in Licks
Each line in the progression for Love Of The Mountains ends with two measures of the 1 chord, and within these two measures at the end of each line there is a long enough 'dead space' within the melody for a fill-in lick to be played.

Playing Love Of The Mountains at a jam provides one with a better opportunity than what most other songs do to practice varying one's choice of fill-in licks. For, on the one hand, if one simply uses the same one or two fill-in licks to plug up every dead space, it won't take long for this to start sounding monotonous, but, on the other hand, if not enough dead spaces are filled in, the song will sound empty.

Notice how every dead space is filled in on the recording (primarily by the banjo on the verses, and primarily by the fiddle on the choruses). Also notice the variety of fill-in licks being used to fill the dead spaces.


Melody
As I sing the song, and as it is sung on the recording, there is a bit more to the melody than what I have shown on the attached melody sheets. To give just one example, the careful listener should notice that the note sung in measure 3 of line 2 of verses 2 and 3 is a higher note than the note sung in measure 3 of line 2 of verse 1. 

The melody sheets in the song of the week emails are provided first and foremost to give people a good starting point of reference for creating melody based breaks. When it comes to learning to sing a song, it is much better to learn the melody of the song by listening to and singing along with the recordings rather than by trying to learn it from the melody sheets. The melody sheets, both in terms of the note choices and the timing of the notes, more often than not show the melody in a simpler form than how it would usually be sung.


Harmony
There are no harmony vocals on the recording. Not every song needs harmony on the choruses: especially if enough tasteful things are being done on the instruments to keep the song full and interesting. But, if you would like to, feel free to add a harmony part on the choruses when I lead the song at the jam.


Song List
17 songs were played at last night's jam:

Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - G
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - G
Little Liza Jane - D
Love Of The Mountains - A
Love, Please Come Home - B
Reuben - D
We'll Meet Again Sweetheart - Bb
Why Don't You Tell Me So - D
Wreck Of The Old '97 - A
Little Darling Pal Of Mine - E
Mountain Dew - A
Cripple Creek - A
Jambalaya - C
Bill Cheatham - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

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

Hi, 
The song of the week is 'Are You Missing Me' in the key of G.


Recording
Jim & Jesse - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Phh1fvTFb8


Progression
The progression for the verses and breaks is:
1411
5511
1411
5511

The progression for the chorus is the same as that for My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, and the verses of How Mountain Girls Can Love and Columbus Stockade Blues:
1111
5511
1111
5511

Notice that the verse and chorus progressions differ from each other only by two measures. For helping to get the song off to a strong start at the jam, the main thing to remember about the verse progression is that there is a change to the 4 chord in the second measure of lines 1 and 3.


Melody & Harmony
The melody for the chorus has little in common with the melody for the verse, and is not nearly as straightforward as the melody for the verse. Each line of the chorus starts with a different melody note (disregarding the nonessential grace notes that the first and third line begin with). The melody for lines 1 and 3, which one might expect to be similar, are significantly different from each other, and line 4 begins with a uncommon starting note for a line, the 7th note of the major scale (F# note when in the key of G). 

On the recording, the harmony part is prominent in the mix, and in certain spots, most notably the beginnings of lines 2 and 4, the harmony notes form wide intervals with the melody notes (a major 6th for the beginning of line 2 on the word 'with': the  notes are separated from each other by 9 half steps: A is the melody note, and the F# above it is the harmony note; a minor 6th for the beginning of line 4 on the word 'are': the notes are separated from each other by 8 half steps: F# is the melody note, and the D above it is the harmony note). 

For all these reasons and more, it is very easy to misidentify many of the melody notes for the chorus. So, in addition to the melody sheets for the verse which are intended to give people a good starting point for coming up with melody-based breaks on their instruments, I have also included in the attachments a chorus melody and harmony sheet for the benefit of singers which is based upon the first chorus on the recording. The lower of the two parts shown on the sheet is the melody, and the higher of the two parts is the harmony. 


Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam:

Are You Missing Me - G
Ashes Of Love - G
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cry, Cry Darlin' - Bb
Down In A Willow Garden - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
Little Cabin Home On The Hill (played twice) - A & G
Little Liza Jane - D
Love Of The Mountains - A
Reuben - D
Steel Rails - C
Why Don't You Tell Me So - G
Bill Cheatham - A
Lonesome Feeling - C
Long Journey Home - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Reuben' in the key of D.
 
Reuben is known also by many other names.  Some of the most common of these (in Bluegrass circles) are:  'Reuben's Train', 'Old Reuben', 'Lonesome Reuben' and 'Train 45'.  This was the first tune that Earl Scruggs, when he was about 10 years old, played with 3 fingers (up to that time he had been a 2 finger style picker)  Over the years, Earl recorded Reuben many times, and each time he always managed to find some new and interesting way to play it.
 
There are numerous different versions of Reuben, - and even whole other songs that are based on Reuben (e.g., 'Ruby' by Cousin Emmy  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgyUKAFyMRA ,
but more commonly associated with the Osborne Brothers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhiOaSWuFjU) - but they are all based on what is essentially the same simple repetitive melody (8 measures.  Only 4 melody notes in many interpretations of the melody. See the attached melody sheets.) 
 

Key & Banjo Tuning
In Bluegrass circles, Reuben is almost always played in the key of D, with the banjo tuned to an open D major chord ('D tuning': F#DF#AD, or ADF#AD). 


Recordings
Flatt and Scruggs (banjo, fiddle, and dobro breaks) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqci8CdgkzU
 
Earl Scruggs, Marty Stuart, Mark O'Connor (banjo, fiddle, dobro, and guitar breaks: very improv. oriented) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-TMdFzH_PA
 
The Dillards (Vocal, banjo breaks, and a simple mandolin break)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-MTmErL1Og


Progression
The chord progression is:
 
1111
1511
which is the second half of Progressions V1, V3, V5, and X1 on the basic chord progressions handout.

In the key of D: 1=D and 5=A.
 
Note: Most interpretations of the melody do not imply any chord change at all: so it can be difficult at first trying to hear where the A chord fits into the progression.  If you are uncertain about when to change to the A, then just stay on the D.  It is better to play a D over the measure of A, instead of playing an A in the wrong spot.
 

To capo or not to capo
The tune has a strong drony character to it.  To help contribute to this feel of the song, I recommend that guitar and banjo players avoid using a capo for this tune.  Some guitar players like to lower their low E string to a D, so as to further enhance the drony feel of the song. 


Lyrics or no lyrics
Although Reuben is often played as an instrumental - which is how I intend it to be played as it goes through its song of the week cycle at the jam - it does have lyrics. (Actually, there are several different sets of lyrics for Reuben.)  But even when lyrics are used, the tune often still remains mostly instrumental.  The singing can be thought of as a kind of 'vocal break'.  

 
Improvisation
Because the melody is simple and repetitive, and mostly stays on one chord, jamming Reuben makes for a good opportunity to develop one's improvisational skills.  (When improvising over Reuben, one can often get away with ignoring the A chord altogether.)  Indeed, Reuben is the kind of tune that, when played without variation, gets monotonous quite quickly.  Yet, when one adds just enough variation into the mix, Reuben is the kind of tune that can be jammed on for 10 minutes or more without it getting monotonous.  
 
One can take one's first steps towards improvisation (making up a break on the fly) by creating variations on the melody.  There are many ways to do this.  Examples include adding in extra notes between melody notes, taking out notes, altering the rhythm of the melody, and taking a measure or two of the melody and simply repeating it over and over again.  If you wish to get a little bit more adventurous, you can try creating variations that drift in and out of the melody.  For getting started with doing this, I would like to point out that one can get a lot of mileage out of including C notes in your variations.  Lingering on C notes works quite well for improvisation on this tune if you find yourself out on a limb while your hands are trying to find where to go to next on the fretboard.  And, if you are new to improvising, there will be many, many times when you will suddenly find yourself 'out on a limb'.  In order to become a good improv player (or even to do any kind of improv at all), one must be willing to take risks.


Song List
18 songs were played at last night's jam:

Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cry, Cry Darlin' - A
Down In A Willow Garden - G
Homestead On The Farm - A
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
In The Sweet By And By - C
Little Cabin Home On The Hill - A
Little Liza Jane - D
Little Willie - Bb
Reuben - D
Why Don't You Tell Me So - G
The Girl I Left Behind Me - G
Over The Waterfall - D
Cripple Creek - A
Soldier's Joy - D
Liberty - D
Your Love Is Like A Flower - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason