Hi,
The song of the week is 'Wildwood Flower' in the key of D.


Recordings
Flatt & Scruggs - key of D instrumental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7U3pD_0yX8

The Carter Family - key of Bb: original recorded version with vocals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4xjqpARrHM

Mother Maybelle Carter - key of F# with vocals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE80Ed59uCY


Progression
The chord progression for Wildwood Flower is:
11511
11511
1141
11511
Notice that the 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines of the progression are each 5 measures long.


Vocal or Instrumental?
Before moving to Boise, I was much more accustomed to playing Wildwood Flower at Bluegrass jams as an instrumental rather than as a song with vocals. But, despite the difficulties involved in singing Wildwood Flower, due to the wide range of the melody and the nature of the lyrics, there have been enough people at the beginner and intermediate jams over the past few years who like to sing Wildwood Flower that it has rarely been played as an instrumental when called at the jams. So, in making Wildwood Flower a song of the week for the intermediate jam, I have chosen to sing it rather than leading it as an instrumental.

When played as an instrumental at a bluegrass jam, Wildwood Flower is most often played either in the key of C or the key of G, with guitar players tending to prefer C and banjo players tending to prefer G.

When Wildwood Flower is sung at a jam, one can expect it to be played in any of the 8 standard bluegrass keys: G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E, or F. Because the melody of the song has an unusually wide range (it spans an interval of a major 10th: that is, one whole octave plus a third of an octave), one may find it difficult to find a key that one can comfortably sing the song in, and once one has identified a comfortable key to sing it in, one may discover that that is the only key that one feels comfortable singing the song in. 


Lyrics
Since my early childhood, I have been familiar with set of lyrics for Wildwood Flower on the classic 1928 Carter Family recording (a recording that has greatly influenced most subsequent versions of the song), but have found the lyrics difficult to memorize, as some of the lines make little sense. As far as I can tell from listening to the old record, the lyrics on it are as follows:

Oh, I'll twine with my mingles and waving black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the myrtle so bright with the emerald dew
The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue.

I will dance, I will sing and my laugh shall be gay
I will charm ev'ry heart, in his crown I will sway
When I woke from my dreaming, my idols was clay
All portion of love had all flown away.

Oh, he taught me to love him and promised to love
And to cherish me over all others above
How my heart is now wond'ring no misery can tell
He's left me no warning, no words of farewell.

Oh, he taught me to love him and called me his flow'r
That's blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
Oh, I long to see him and regret the dark hour
He's won and neglected this pale wildwood flower.

If one compares these lyrics with the original set of lyrics published in 1860, one can see the full extent to which some of the lines got butchered in the transmission process that eventually resulted in the Carter Family version. The original lyrics are:

I'll twine 'mid the ringlets of my raven black hair
The lilies so pale and the roses so fair
The myrtle so bright with an emerald hue
And the pale aronatus with eyes of bright blue.

I'll sing and I'll dance, my laugh shall be gay
I'll cease this wild weeping, drive sorrow away.
Tho' my heart is now breaking, he never shall know
That his name made me tremble and my pale cheeks to glow.

I'll think of him never, I'll be wildly gay
I'll charm ev'ry heart, and the crowd I will sway.
I'll live yet to see him regret the dark hour
When he won, then neglected, the frail wildwood flower.

He told me he loved me, and promised to love
Through ill and misfortune, all others above
Another has won him, ah! mis'ry to tell
He left me in silence, no word of farewell.

He taught me to love him, he call'd me his flower
That blossom'd for him all the brighter each hour
But I woke from my dreaming, my idol was clay
My visions of love have all faded away. 

The way I sing the song is based on the original set of lyrics, but is influenced by my familiarity with the Carter Family version. For instance, I sing only 4 verses, by combining verses 2 and 3 together into a single verse. I omit the last three lines of verse 2 and the first line of verse 3.


Guitar & Banjo Melody Tabs
Without a capo, the key of C works much better than the key of D for working up either a Carter-style or a crosspicking guitar break for Wildwood Flower, which are the two main traditional approaches to playing guitar breaks for the song. For this reason I have not included a guitar tab melody sheet written in D in the attachments. To play a break in D based upon the key of C guitar melody sheet provided here, you will need to capo the 2nd fret of the guitar.

Two banjo tabs of the melody are given in the attachments, one written in the key of C with the banjo tuned to C tuning (GCGBD): capo 2 for D, and one written in the key of D with the banjo tuned to D tuning (F#DF#AD). These are the two options that I believe work best for working up basic Scruggs-style breaks for Wildwood Flower in D. (For clawhammer players, I advise tuning to double C tuning: GCGCD, capo 2 for D. To convert the C tuning melody sheet to double C tuning, all you need to do is to change the 1s to zeros on the line that represents the 2nd string.)


Song List
15 songs were played at last night's jam:
Cry, Cry Darlin' - A
Down The Road - B
Homestead On The Farm - E
In The Pines - E
Little Willie - B
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Nine Pound Hammer - B
Turkey In The Straw - G
Wildwood Flower (played twice) - A & D
Worried Man Blues - B
Paradise - D
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms - D
Shady Grove - C
Winter's Come And Gone - Bb
Red Haired Boy - A
​
Shady Grove - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - key of C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vjSyGWSN8w

Happy Pickin'
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is 'Down The Road' in the key of B.

Recordings
Flatt and Scruggs - key of B (studio recording): all breaks are on banjo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmBOl82qXqs

The Bluegrass Album Band - key of B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UKiNl3e97E

Flatt and Scruggs - key of A (live recording): banjo, fiddle and dobro breaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc0iFZSeY6A


Form
The form of this song is unusual. Except for the last verse of the song (which has a common 8 measure form: 2 lines consisting of 4 measures each: this does not include the 2 measure tack-on 'shave-and-a-haircut' ending that follows the last verse), the form for Down The Road consists of 2 lines of unequal length. The first line is the standard 4 measures that lines in most bluegrass songs consist of, but the second line is 5 and a half measures long.  This brings us to a total of 9 and a half measures. 

Add to this the bluegrass tendency to allow 1 or more extra measures of the '1' chord to go by at the end of a break that occurs right before a verse is sung, and you can end up with 10 and a half, or 11 and a half, or 12 and a half measures or more for the length of a break that occurs before a verse.

Notice that on the first Flatt & Scruggs recording given here, the breaks are consistently 10 and a half measures long, while on the second recording, even more measures are added to the end of the breaks, but not always the same number of extra measures. However, and this is important to observe, on all the recordings, all the sung verses that are followed by a break are exactly the same length: 9 and a half measures. One way to think about this is that the number of beats that go by between the last sung syllable and the first full measure of the break that follows is always the same.

Progression
Not counting extra measures of the '1' that might occur at the end of some of the breaks, the chord progression for Down The Road is:
1     1/6m  1     5/1
1     1/6m  1     5 1     1
The 'half' measure in the form occurs in the spot where the 5 chord is played in the second line.

If one is counting the beats in the second line in cut common time (2/2), one would count it as: 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,1,2.1,2. Notice the spot where there are two 1s back to back without a 2 intervening between them. On the sheet music attached here, I have written the 'half' measure (measure 8) with a time signature of 1/2. And then to indicate that the remaining two measures in the form return to 2/2, I have placed the time signature symbol that represents 2/2 at the beginning of the measure that follows the 1/2 time measure.)

In the key of B: 1=B; 6m=G#m; 5=F#
The B (major) chord consists of the notes: BD#F#
The G#m chord consists of the notes: G#BD# (it has two notes in common with the B major chord)
The F# (major) chord consists of the notes: F#A#C#

Banjo and guitar players should capo to the 4th fret, and then play as if in G. In the key of G: 1=G; 6m=Em; 5=D


Breaks 
When you look at the sheet music attached here for Down The Road, observe that the first measure of the break begins two measures from the time that the last syllable of the verse is sung. Another way of looking at this is that there are two measures of the 1 chord that are played at the end of the verse before the break begins.  If enough of us make it a point to observe and practice this, this will go along ways towards minimizing the confusion that can easily result (due to the unusual form of the song) when Down The Road is played at a jam.

There are two things that one can do to help prevent confusion about when the break begins (i.e., when the form starts over again): 

1) Use three quarter-note pickup notes for leading into your break: F#, G#, A# (leads to a B note) for the key of B. The corresponding notes for the key of G are D, E, F# (leads to a G note).

Dig into your three pickup notes really hard so as to draw attention to yourself, and then dig into the note that comes next (namely, the first note of the first measure of your break) even harder so that there can be no room for doubt as to where the first measure of the form begins.  These three pickup notes should be played during the last three-quarters of the last measure of the form, and they should be spaced apart from each other evenly. 


Breaks & Backup
2) Play a fill-in lick in the measure that contains the last syllable of the verse, and end that fill-in lick on the first downbeat of the next measure. Bring your volume up as soon as after the last syllable is sung, and hit the last note of your fill-in lick really hard (make it 'pop', especially if you are playing a G run on the guitar: the G chord fill-in licks that are given in the attachments are three versions of what is commonly called 'the G-run'. Fill-ins for banjo, mandolin, and fiddle are also included in the attachments.). This makes it clear as to where the last measure of the form begins - which is helpful to make clear on account of the half measure that the form contains in its second line, after which some people may find the beat 'flipped around' in their head and/or in their playing.  The first of the three pickup notes into the break begin right after the last note of the fill-in lick is played. 


The 'G-Run'
It is especially helpful if the guitar players make it a point to play the G-run at the end of every break, and at the end of every verse (except for the last verse), regardless of which instrument is going to play the upcoming break.
 

Ending
For the last verse, which is 8 measures long, rather than 9 and a half, it works best if everyone plays their last note at the same time as the last syllable is sung (as on the standard recordings given here). Then the banjo players can add a two measure tack-on ending appropriate for the '1' chord of the song (doesn't have to be the same ones that are on the recordings) that everyone else remains silent on except for the on the very last note of the ending.
 

Song List
16 songs were played at last night's jam:
Down The Road - B
Homestead On The Farm - E
I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore - G
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Little Willie (played twice) - A & C
Lonesome Road Blues - G
Mountain Dew - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Turkey In The Straw - G
Worried Man Blues - G
Soldier's Joy - D
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Salt Creek - A
John Hardy - G 
Earl's Breakdown - G

John Hardy 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BWOxzv7cq0  
The progression for John Hardy was:
4411
4411
4411
5555
5511

Earl's Breakdown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDt4RvFrdmQ - key of Ab on the recording, because all the instruments were tuned up a half-step higher than standard.  
Earl's Breakdown uses the same progression as I Can't Feel At Home In This World Anymore:
1141
1125
1141
11511

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Hi,
The song of the week is the old-time fiddle tune 'Turkey In The Straw' in the key of G. The melody sheets attached here show the form (AABB) and chord progression for the tune.

Recording
Here is an excellent Bluegrass performance of Turkey In The Straw to listen to: some pretty advanced playing going on here at a relatively high speed (in excess of 140 beats per minute) for a fiddle tune played with so many melody notes per measure.

Berline, Crary & Hickman - key of G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_jOlT7RAY

Melody & Breaks
The melody sheets attached here for fiddle, mandolin, and guitar do not require anything to be added to them to make intermediate level breaks for Turkey In The Straw. They contain a good balance of quarter and 8th note, and very few of the melody notes are lingered on long enough to lend themselves well to the typical Bluegrass embellishments. The version of the melody given here, played as is as a break, is suitable for an intermediate level player to work with for getting his playing on the tune up to speed. Aim to get up to 120 beats per minute. (2 clicks, not 4 clicks, of the metronome per measure). 

While you may need to eliminate a few notes here and there at first in order to be able to play your break up to speed, be careful not to take too many notes out: otherwise, your break will start to sound more like a beginner level break rather than an intermediate level break. With enough repetitions through the break, isolating and looping the passages you find most difficult, paying attention to your right and left hand technique, seeking to eliminate any and all unnecessary motions of the fingers that could slow you down, and pushing your speed with the help of a  metronome, your ability to play at faster tempos will improve.

The first banjo tab attachment contains almost all the same notes that are given on the melody sheets for the other instruments. It is a melodic-style arrangement. Unless you already play in melodic style, I recommend referring instead to the second banjo tab attachment which contains a skeletal version of the melody that can be used as a guide for creating a Scruggs style break by putting rolls and left hand techniques (slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs) around the most essential or main melody notes of the tune.

Strong Beginnings & Endings
Also in the attachments is a chart of 8 potato intros and double endings that will work well for Turkey In The Straw, since the use of these types of beginnings and endings are the most effective ways to begin and end most fiddle tunes at a bluegrass jam.

Since it is crucial to get a tune off to a good solid start, for this affects how the whole song will be played, be sure to practice not only your 8 potato intros, but also the transition from the 8 potato intro into the beginning of your break. It is important to be aware that if you choose to begin your break with the two 8th note pickups written on the melody sheets, you will need to play these in place of the last quarter of the last measure that makes up your 8 potato intro, otherwise your timing will be off and the tune will get off to a bad start.

In practicing 'tack-on' endings (e.g., the double endings given in the attachments) that are played after the last note of the tune proper, be careful to hold the last note of the tune for exactly the right length of time before starting into the ending. And the same goes for the last note of the first half of a double ending. For otherwise, your timing will be off, and there are few things more anticlimactic at a jam than people being out of time with each other in playing their final note or chord for a song. 

For Turkey In The Straw, this means, among other things, that the last melody note played needs to be held as a half note before starting into the double endings given here. The reason why this melody note is written on the melody sheets as a quarter note instead of a half note is simply because the melody sheets show how long the last note would need to be held if one were to go into the beginning of the break again after playing the last note. They do not show what needs to happen in order to transition into a tack-on ending, for no tack on endings are given on the melody sheets. 

For figuring out the timing involved in going from an 8 potato intro into the beginning of a break, and the timing involved in going from the end of a break into a tack-on ending, just remember that, with the exception of specific spots in 'crooked' tunes (e.g., Down The Road, Clinch Mountain Backstep), all measures of a song, from the first full measure onward, need to be of equal duration. 

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

Blue Ridge Cabin Home - G
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Cry, Cry Darlin' - B
Homestead On The Farm - E
In The Pines - E
Liberty - D
Little Willie (played twice) - B & A
Lonesome Road Blues - B
Reuben - D
Turkey In The Straw - G
Wreck Of The Old '97 - D
Lonesome Feeling - C
How Mountain Girls Can Love - C
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Will The Circle Be Unbroken - G
Light At The River - A

Happy Pickin',
Jason