Gold Watch And Chain

Hi,

The song of the week is the old Carter Family classic 'Gold Watch And Chain' in the key of Bb.

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Recordings
Key of B: Ralph Stanley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2DcpQOgGKk
 
Key of D: Mother Maybelle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8szdi1D7OE
 
Key of G: Doug Dillard Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJvVqsdrjYQ


Progression
The chord progression for Gold Watch And Chain is the same as for 'This Land Is Your Land', 'Way Down Town', 'Back Up And Push', 'Rubber Dolly', the B-Part of 'Red Wing', and the choruses of 'How Mountain Girls Can Love' and 'Nellie Kane':

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Keys
Gold Watch And Chain has been played twice at the jam in the key of C during the last month and a half, and I have good reason to expect that after it runs its song of the week cycle, it will also sometimes be called in the key of D as well. The melody sheets I have included in the attachments account for all of this.


Transposing in Whole Steps
The notes of the Bb, C, and D Major Scales correspond with each other as follows:

1    2    3    4    5    6    7
Bb  C   D   Eb  F    G    A
C    D   E   F    G    A    B
D    E   F#  G   A    B    C#

The melody of Gold Watch And Chain uses only 6 of the 7 notes of the Major Scale. The 4th note of the scale (i.e., Eb note when in the key of Bb, F note when in the key of C, and G note when in the key of D) does not occur in the melody.

The preceding chart also shows the relation of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the three keys, but here they are in isolation from the rest of the information:

1    4    5
Bb  Eb  F
C    F   G
D    G   A

The 1 chord consists of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the Major Scale.
The 4 chord consists of the 4th, 6th, and 8th (=1st) notes of the Major Scale 
The 5 chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 9th (=2nd) notes of the Major Scale

Here is a chart showing these relationships:

                      1   3   5          4   6   1          5   7   2
Key of Bb    Bb D  F         Eb G  Bb       F   A   C
Key of C      C   E  G         F   A   C         G   B   D
Key of D      D   F# A       G   B   D         A  C#  E

D has the same relation to C that C has to Bb. C is a whole step higher than Bb; and D, in turn, is a whole step higher than C. 

In terms of the number of sharps or flats in their Major Scales, C (0 sharps/flats) is exactly half way between Bb (2 flats) and D (2 sharps). 

'To capo or not to capo'
For playing in the key of Bb, bluegrass guitar and banjo players almost always capo to the 3rd fret so that they can play with the same fingerings they would use for playing in the key of G without a capo. (With the 5th string on banjo spiked/capoed/tuned up to a Bb note.)

The two most common options for bluegrass guitar and banjo players for playing in C are either to play in C without a capo, or put the capo on the 5th fret so that they can play with the same fingerings they would use for playing in the key of G without a capo. When the 2nd option is chosen by a banjo player, the 5th string is spiked/capoed/tuned up to a C note.

For the key of D, one may sometimes wish to play without a capo, and at other times one may wish to capo the 2nd fret so that one can play with the same fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of C without a capo. These two options both sound and feel different from each other, and more so on certain songs than on others. For playing Scruggs-style banjo in the key of D, whether capoed to the 2nd fret or not capoed, the 5th string is most commonly spiked/capoed/tuned up to an A note. A third option, capo 7 and play as if in G, rarely ever produces satisfactory results for playing in the key of D within a bluegrass context, and therefore is best avoided, except perhaps occasionally when playing a hard-driving song at a break-neck speed. 

For most songs, including Gold Watch And Chain, it tends to work better for a Carter-style guitar break to play with the fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of C without a capo, rather than with the fingerings that one would use for playing in the key of G or the key of D without a capo. This is the reason for the low octave key of C guitar melody tab that is included in the attachments. (Note: this is not an invitation to put the capo on the 10th fret of the guitar for playing Gold Watch And Chain in the key of Bb!)

The capo 5 option for playing in the key of C will produce a brighter, crisper sound than the no capo option - especially on banjo. You may find this quite desirable for some songs you play (especially up-tempo hard-driving breakdown type songs), but less desirable for other songs in your repertoire (e.g., slow songs that have a relaxed feel to them). Gold Watch And Chain - at least as it is commonly played by bluegrassers - falls somewhere in the middle between these two types of songs, with some versions leaning more towards one end of the spectrum, and others leaning more towards the other end of the spectrum.


Transposing in Fourths 
The notes of the D, G, and C Major Scales correspond with each other as follows:

  1    2    3    4    5    6    7
 D    E   F#  G   A    B    C#
 G    A   B    C    D    E    F#
 C    D   E     F    G    A    B

The melody of Gold Watch And Chain uses only 6 of the 7 notes of the Major Scale. The 4th note of the scale (i.e., G note when in the key of D, C note when in the key of G, and F note when in the key of C) does not occur in the melody.

The preceding chart also shows the relation of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for each of the three keys, but here they are in isolation from the rest of the information:

  1    4    5
 D    G   A
 G    C   D
 C    F   G

The 1 chord consists of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the Major Scale.
The 4 chord consists of the 4th, 6th, and 8th (=1st) notes of the Major Scale 
The 5 chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 9th (=2nd) notes of the Major Scale

Here is a chart showing those relationships:

                      1   3   5          4   6   1         5   7   2
Key of D     D   F# A         G  B   D        A   C#  E
Key of G     G    B  D          C   E  G       D   F#  A
Key of C     C    E  G           F   A  C       G    B   D

G has the same relation to D that C has to G. G is 5 half steps higher than D; and C, in turn, is 5 half steps higher than G. 

In terms of the number of sharps or flats in their Major Scales, G (1 sharp) is exactly half way between D (2 sharps) and C (0 sharps/flats).


Note for Guitar and Banjo Players
For guitar and banjo players who are not yet able to transpose from one key to another quickly without a capo, I recommend getting more experience with transposing up and down in 4ths (G up to C, C down to G, G down to D, D up to G) before trying other transpositions. 

For the octave in which the melody is written on the key of G banjo tab attached here, transposition down a 4th (i.e., down to D) is not possible, so I have not included a D banjo melody sheet here. On guitar, transposition down to D of the G melody tab involves nothing more than shifting all the fingerings down one string lower in pitch, so I felt no need to include a D melody sheet for guitar in the attachments.


Song List
14 songs were played at last week's jam:

Angel Band - Bb
Ashes Of Love - G
Beautiful Brown Eyes - G (played twice: once in 3/4 time, and once in 2/2 time)
Canaan's Land - F
Cherokee Shuffle - A
Clinch Mountain Backstep - A
Columbus Stockade Blues - G
Cry, Cry Darlin' - B
Down In A Willow Garden - D
Little Willie - A
Old Joe Clark - A
Temperance Reel - G
Will You Be Loving Another Man - A
John Hardy - G

Happy Pickin',
Jason

Gold Watch And Chain - banjo tab - C
Download File

Gold Watch And Chain - banjo tab - G
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Gold Watch And Chain - guitar tab - C - low octave
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Gold Watch And Chain - guitar tab - C
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Gold Watch And Chain - guitar tab - G
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Gold Watch And Chain - mandolin tab - Bb
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Gold Watch And Chain - mandolin tab - C
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Gold Watch And Chain - mandolin tab - D
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Gold Watch And Chain - melody in Bb
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Gold Watch And Chain - melody in C
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Gold Watch And Chain - melody in D
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