The song of the week is 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' in the key of G. The chord progression is: 1111 5511 1111 5511 This is 'Prog. W5' on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout. Notice that the second half of the progression is identical to the first half of the progression. Therefore, there are really only 2 lines (8 measures) to memorize. You should not need to look at a written copy of the progression while playing the song at the jam. Take a glance at the progression before the song starts, and just remember that every second line starts with 2 measures of the 5 chord. All other measures in the progression are 1's. Be prepared, however, to add an extra measure or two of the 1 chord to the last line of the progression for a break that occurs right before the singing starts up again, and the progression starts again from the beginning. This is common in bluegrass arrangements of songs - the Flatt and Scruggs version of the song in the youtube link given below has examples of this. Each of the 3 breaks on the recording are played as: 1111 5511 1111 55111 In the key of G: 1=G; 5=D. The G chord consists of the notes G, B, and D. The D chord consists of the notes D, F#, and A. Flatt & Scruggs - key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNapvXhcNS8 From listening to the song in the version given below and/or from looking at the attached melody sheets, notice that the melody of the song has only 5 notes in it. In ascending order of pitch, these are: E, G, A, B, and D. (Note: to make the melody slightly more interesting, the banjo, in its intro break lowers the G note in measures 3 and 11 to the D below the E note that is the lowest note in the vocal melody; the dobro break which occurs in the song after the second chorus does this same thing in measure 3, but not in measure 11.) Make it a point to remember this sequence of notes, and be sure that you can locate them on your instrument: D E G A B D. There are many songs that, when played in the key of G, have this same range of notes (lowest note D, highest note the D an octave higher) and have no other notes than G's, A's, B's, D's, and E's. Songs like this on the top 20 list and additional 30 lists include 'Foggy Mountain Top', 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken', 'Amazing Grace', Long Journey Home' and 'Mountain Dew'. Notice also that in the melody for 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains', the only notes that are dwelt on for half a measure or more are notes that make up the chord being played at the time: G, B, or D notes during G chord measures, and A notes during D chord measures. It is because of those A notes at the beginning of lines 2 and 4, that a chord change occurs at the beginning of those lines, for the A note is not part of the G chord. It is typical, in the key of G, for a D chord to be played when the melody of a song dwells on an A note, for of the 1, 4, and 5 chords for the key of G, namely, G, C, and D, the D chord is the only one that contains an A note. Observe that in the breaks on the recording, the measures that have only one or two melody notes in them sometimes have what sound like extra 'melody' notes added to them in addition to the many filler notes that are placed around the melody, whereas the measures that have 4 melody notes in them often have one or two of these notes deleted from them, and when not deleted, they sometimes get displaced within the measure. For a slow-moving melody, as this song has, it will not work well to play for your break only what you see written on the attached melody sheets. In order to maintain good control of the rhythm, tempo, and feel of the song during your break, so that everyone who is playing backup during your break can be following you rather than the other way around, your break needs to consist mostly of eighth notes and quarter notes, not half notes and whole notes. If you don't know what other notes would work to put around the melody, then for lack of anything else to do, keep to the melody notes, but - on guitar, mandolin, and fiddle - change half notes to a quarter note followed by two eighth notes, and for whole notes, do this twice: i.e., quarter, eighth, eighth, quarter, eighth, eighth. To see what this rhythm looks like when written out, refer to the 'guitar break' in the attachment. I have not included a 'fiddle break' sheet or a 'mandolin break' sheet in the attachments, because the 'guitar break' tab suffices to show for the sake of all 3 of these instruments what the rhythm is that is being applied here to the melody. The banjo is a different story (repeating the same note several times in a row doesn't work very well when playing with finger picks), so I have included a 'banjo break' sheet in the attachments. This is a very basic break (a lot more is going on in Earl Scruggs' intro break on the recording than in the banjo break given in the attachments) which is given here to demonstrate how one can take one roll pattern (in this case, the alternating thumb roll) and place it around the melody, turning quarter notes into a pair of eighth notes, half notes into a series of four eighth notes, etc. To avoid the monotony that results from playing nothing but eighth notes in one's break, I have substituted for the roll in a few places a single quarter note followed by a quarter note double stop (called a 'pinch' on the banjo). On the break sheets, I have also included a pickup measure for each of the 4 instruments. You will need to use these, or something like them, in order to kick off the song effectively on your instrument without having to count into the song. Remember these three notes: d, g, a. These will work well as pickups for nearly any song in the key of G in which the first complete measure of the melody starts with a B note while a G chord is being played. The lyrics of 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' are quite repetitive and easy to memorize. For this reason, this is one of the songs I recommend learning to sing to those who wish to lead a song at the jam, but do not have much experience doing so. Other songs on the top 20 list and on the additional 30 list that are fairly easy to memorize include: Mama Don't Allow, New River Train, Hand Me Down My Walking Cane, Lonesome Road Blues, Long Journey Home, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, This Little Light Of Mine, When The Saints Go Marching In, and Worried Man Blues. For most of these songs, you need not know any more than 3 verses (in addition to the chorus for the songs that do have a chorus) in order to be ready to sing and play a complete arrangement of them at the jam. Notice that in the Flatt & Scruggs version of 'My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains' there are only 3 verses sung (plus the chorus), yet, if you were to look online for lyric sheets for the song, you would come across some other verses for the song in addition to these 3. It is important to sing from memory when leading the singing at a jam, because, whenever the lead singer is singing, he is the one who is primarily in control of the timing and rhythm of the song. So, he should be singing toward the group as a whole, and his lips should be clearly visible to the group, since the group is supposed to be following him. One cannot lead a song very effectively at a jam when reading the lyrics off a page. If the page is at eye level (for instance, on a music stand), then the page (and the stand) will form a barrier between the lead singer and his fellow jammers. If the page is below eye level (on the ground, or on one's lap), then the lead singer will be looking down, singing towards the ground, instead of towards the group. This does not mean that one should not bring lyric sheets to a jam. For, even when a song is memorized, it is very easy to forget - in the moment - how the 2nd verse (and subsequent verses) of a song starts. So, near the end of the break that comes right before another verse will be sung, it can be useful to be able to quickly glance at the lyrics to remind oneself, if one forgets. Observe, though, that this does not involve looking at the lyrics while singing. However, instead of referring to a page on which the lyrics are written out in full, it is better to just write out the first line of the 2nd verse, and the first line of each subsequent verse in large print, and then place the page on the floor in front of you. Many guitar players - myself included - will tape smaller versions of these kind of 'cheat sheets' to their guitars for songs that they fear they might forget the lyrics to, so that - if needed - they can take a quick glance at them before starting to sing the next verse. (This will also work for stand-up bass players.) If one needs to see more than just the beginnings of the 2nd and subsequent verses of a song in order to jog one's memory enough to be able to get through singing the whole song without serious errors, then this is usually a good sign that one does not yet know the song well enough to lead it effectively at a jam, and that one should give it some more practice at home before leading it at a jam. Happy Pickin', Jason
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Good jam last night! The new beginner bluegrass jam is off to an excellent start. The song of the week is Beautiful Brown Eyes in the key of G. The chord progression I use for the song is: 1144 1155 1144 5511 (Prog. W7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. If you do not already have a copy of the new beginner bluegrass jam handouts, just let me know by replying to this email, and I will forward to you the previous week's 'song of the week' email which contains the handouts together with an explanation of the handouts.) (In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D) There are other versions that use 1511 instead of 5511 for the last line of the progression, but 5511 fits better with the version of the melody I sing for the last line. Beautiful Brown Eyes is one of those songs that some people prefer to play in 3/4 time (boom-chuck-chuck rhythm on guitar) and others prefer to play in cut time (boom-chuck-boom-chuck rhythm on guitar). I think it works equally as well when played and sang either way, and I enjoy playing and singing it both ways. On the top 20 list for the beginner jam, Beautiful Brown Eyes is specified as being played in 3/4 time. One reason why I did this is because there is only one other song on the list that is in 3/4 time, namely, All The Good Times Are Past And Gone, but being just as comfortable with 3/4 time as with cut time is an essential bluegrass playing skill. Another reason is that people who are new to bluegrass but who are already familiar with this song are more likely to know a version of it in 3/4 time rather than in cut time. As the song of the week for the beginner jam, Beautiful Brown Eyes will be played in 3/4 time, but in the future, as we start getting away from sticking to the top 20 list for the first half of the jam, I intend to play it sometimes in cut time at the jam. Most of the bluegrass recordings of Beautiful Brown Eyes (or, in some versions: Beautiful Brown Eyes) that I have in my record collection and that I have found on youtube are played in cut time, whereas most of the non-bluegrass recordings of Beautiful Brown Eyes that I am aware of are played in 3/4 time. This is the closest I could come to finding on youtube a bluegrass version of Beautiful Brown Eyes in 3/4 time: Bailey Brothers, key of F http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYnzyeM1orQ Notice that both the intro break and the break after the second chorus are only half the length of a verse or a chorus of the song. When this is done, it is the second half of the progression that is used for the break. This is common on recordings - especially for songs that aren't played at a very fast tempo - but at a jam, less confusion results when one plays breaks that are the same length as a verse or a chorus, rather than shorter breaks. Besides, bluegrass jammers, especially those who don't sing, will tend to appreciate being able to play full length breaks, rather than just half-length breaks. Here are two good bluegrass versions of the song in cut time. Notice on the Red Allen recording, the intro break is even shorter than the intro break on the Bailey Brothers version just discussed. It is only a quarter of the length of a verse or a chorus. When a break is this short, it is called a 'turnaround', and is played using the last quarter of the progression for the verses or choruses of the song. Red Allen, key of G http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhPgbKqwNkc Gibson Brothers, key of Bb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBdHE1NAtMU In comparing the different recordings of the song, you might notice that each version uses a different set of lyrics. You might also notice that while there is much less divergence amongst the versions in the interpretation of the melody than what there is in the choice of lyrics, none of the 3 versions uses exactly the same melody. Both of these things are common in bluegrass, and this seems to be especially the case with songs that were not originally bluegrass songs, but were introduced into the bluegrass repertoire by one or more of the first or second generation bluegrass bands. The melody sheets attached here show how I sing the melody for the chorus, which is slightly different from all the recordings provided here. The melody for the verses is similar enough to that for the chorus (the difference occurs in the second line of the verses), that it doesn't matter whether one uses the chorus melody or the verse melody as the basis for a melody-based break for the song. In songs where there is a greater degree of divergence between the melody of the chorus and the melody of the verse, it is usually the melody for the verses that is used as the basis for breaks.
For the beginner jam on Wednesday, Jan. 4th, the song of the week will be 'Boil The Cabbage Down' in the key of A. Like a lot of other traditional fiddle tunes and folk songs that have been absorbed into bluegrass, there are many noticeably different versions of Boil The Cabbage Down. At bluegrass jams, one of the more common ways of playing it is as an instrumental in the key of A with the typical fiddle-tune form AABB, and that is how we will play it at the beginner jam when it is played during the first half of the evening. Alternate versions of the song are welcome to be introduced during the second half of the evening. AABB means that the tune has two parts (A-Part = first part; B-Part = second part), each of which is played through twice before going on to the next part. Like many other fiddle tunes, each A-Part and each B-Part is 8 measures long. Therefore, it takes 32 measures (8x4) to get through a complete break for Boil The Cabbage Down. The chord progression for the A-Part is: 1 4 1 5 1 4 1/5 1 This is the same as the progression for the B-Part of Soldier's Joy. (Prog. Y7 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout.) The chord progression for the B-Part is: 1 1 1 5 1 4 1/5 1 (Prog. Y2 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout.) Note: 1/5 means that the measure is split between the 1 chord and the 5 chord. In the key of A: 1=A. 4=D, 5=E. Banjo players and most bluegrass guitar players habitually capo to the 2nd fret for playing in the key of A, so their chord shapes will be the same as those for the 1,4, and 5 chords in the key of G, which are: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D. Here are a few youtube links to watch and listen to. I recommend the first one not only for mandolin players, but for anyone who wishes to get a better handle on the melody of the tune and the difference between the A-Part and the B-Part of the tune. You might notice that my version of the melody for the B-Part (see the attached melody sheets) differs a bit from the version of the melody used by the mandolin player on the first youtube link. This kind of variance in interpretation of the melody from one person to the next is quite common within bluegrass and old-time music, especially on fiddle tunes. Fiddle players should be aware that the mandolin is tuned the same way as the fiddle, so the fingering positions are identical on both instruments. The mandolin breaks in the youtube link - including the one that uses double stops (i.e., two strings being played simultaneously) can be played note for note on the fiddle just as easily as on the mandolin. The versions on the second and third links have vocals in them, and do not follow the form AABB all the way through. The instrumental sections of the second link do follow the form AABB while the vocal sections do not. In the version on the third link, the form for the breaks is: ABB and the form for the vocal sections is AB, but with the high part being used as the A-Part (i.e., the first part), and the low part being used as the B-Part (i.e., the second part), which is the opposite of what we will be using as the A and B Parts at the jam. Boil The Cabbage Down mandolin lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaIitAtwS5M The Hillbilly Gypsies (Old Time Version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTf3GwKspus Jackstraw (Bluegrass version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bzE8-5GfMM In the attachments, I have included the basic melody for Boil The Cabbage Down in standard notation, mandolin tab, banjo tab, and guitar tab. For fiddle, mandolin, and guitar players who wish to create simple break based upon the basic melody, I recommend applying a constant shuffle rhythm to the melody. That simply means playing a constant pattern of one quarter note followed by two 8th notes. Two cycles through this pattern is the length of one measure of music in cut time (2/2), and is counted as: 1 &a2 &a. In the attachments, I show what this rhythm looks like when applied to the first 4 measures of the melody for the B-Part of Boil The Cabbage Down (see the attachment titled 'Shuffle Rhythm Example'.) For banjo players who wish to create a simple melody-based break for Boil The Cabbage Down, I recommend applying one type of roll pattern across the board to the whole tune. For this purpose, the two roll patterns that work best to apply to the whole tune are the alt. thumb roll and the forward roll. (See the attachment: 'Fitting Rolls Around the Melody' for examples of this.) Remember, on banjo, there is more than one convenient location within the first few frets for some of the notes; in particular, banjo players will often get the B note on the 4th fret of the 3rd string instead of using the open 2nd string, so that they can slide into the B note, and so that they can put an alternating thumb or reverse roll around it. Likewise, they will often get the D note on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string instead of using the open 1st string, so that they can hammer into the D note, and so that they can avoid starting a roll on the 1st string. For those who wish to create a more complex melody-based break for Boil The Cabbage, I recommend making use of several different roll patterns: experiment with them to discover for yourself at which points in the break you find that one roll works better than another to carry the melody. Happy Pickin', Jason
The 'Top 20' and 'Additional 30' song lists are keyed to the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout. Basic Chord Progressions handout: For example, Prog. W8 refers to the progression that is located in row W, column 8 of the Basic Progressions chart. Any progression in row W differs by only one measure from the progression directly above it in row V. In row V, the 13th measure (i.e., the first measure of the fourth, or last, line) of each progression has a '1' chord, whereas in row W the 13th measure of each progression has a '5' chord. The two most common final 4 measures of a 16 measure progression are 1511 and 5511. The most common progressions in rows V and W are marked with an asterisk. By thoroughly familiarizing oneself with all the progressions in rows V and W, one can learn to avoid making a very common mistake. Upon hearing the first 12 measures of a basic 16 measure progression, it is a good thing to make an educated guess about what the last 4 measures will be. The mistake is to assume one ending over another ending to the progression. This is why I have included in rows V and W even some progressions that are very uncommon (notably V8 and W6). And this is one of the reasons why the handout is titled 'Basic Chord Progressions' instead of 'Common Chord Progressions'. The more uncommon a progression in either row V or row W is, the greater the temptation will be to automatically assume that one is dealing with the progression that is located in the same column of the other row. Although progressions like V8 and W6 are not encountered frequently, one should be prepared for them to show up in a straightforward and otherwise very predictable bluegrass song. For, other than the infrequency in which they occur, there is nothing odd about them; they conform to the 'pattern' just as much as the more common progressions do. In a song in which the progression for the chorus differs from the progression for the verse, and verse progression is V1, V2, V6, or V7, it is then quite likely that the chorus progression will be the progression located in row X of the same column. A song with a V6 verse, for instance, will most likely have either a V6 or an X6 chorus. All other combinations involving a V6 verse are far less common. Any row X progression differs only in its first line (i.e., its first four measures) from the row V progression that shares its same column. The row X progressions begin with 4411; other than that, each is identical to the row V progression that is in its same column. The progressions in rows Y and Z occur primarily in fiddle tunes. Like the progressions in row X, I have written out only the most common row Y and row Z progressions: the idea being that if one gets used to the row V and row W progressions, the uncommon row X, row Y, and row Z progressions will not be necessary to practise in order to learn to expect the unexpected. Of course, every row V and row W progression does have a row X, Y, and Z counterpart. If you take the time to figure these out, then I commend you for your studiousness about a matter that is usually learned only by cold hard experience. The progressions in row Y are closely related to the progressions in row V, and in the same way, the progressions in row Z are closely related to the progressions in row W. For example, in progression Y7, the order of the chord changes is identical to the order of the changes found in progression V7. Not only that, but also the relative locations of the changes within Y7 is identical to the relative locations of the changes in V7. If, for instance, one divides both progressions into 8 equal parts, the first eighth of both progressions has a '1' chord, the second eighth of both progressions has a '4' chord, etc. The only thing that distinguishes progression Y7 from progression V7 is that in Y7, the chord changes occur twice as frequently than is the case in V7, which results in Y7 being an 8 measure progression instead of a 16 measure progression. By observing how chord progressions are related to one another, you can develop the ability to predict with a fairly high degree of accuracy what is going to come next while playing a song in a jam that you have never played - or even heard - before. But, once again, such predicting is a matter of making educated guesses, not of making assumptions. Developing this ability is something that comes with experience in jamming and critical listening. But, one can speed up the process by thinking about these things during times when one is not jamming, and even when one is neither playing nor listening to music at all. Concerning the key of a song: All songs on the list can be played in any of the 12 major keys. However, only 8 of these keys are commonly used at bluegrass jams: G, A, Bb, B, C, D, E, and F, with banjo players tending to prefer G, A, Bb, and B over C, D, E, and F, and mandolin and fiddle players tending to prefer G, A, C, and D over Bb, B, E, and F. With the exception of the instrumentals on the song lists, the specifications for which key a song is to be played in on the 'Top 20' list are provisional, and will be removed from the list as the beginner jam advances beyond its first phase. The keys specified are those which suit my voice best for singing lead on the songs. Whenever the specified key for a song does not suit your voice for singing the lead part (i.e., the melody), but you wish to call the song during the first half of the night, have someone else sing the lead part while you sing a harmony part that does suit your voice for the key the song is played in. (For most songs, it is customary at jams to sing harmony only on the choruses, not on the verses.) For songs that you call during the second half of the night that you wish to sing lead on, make it a point to choose the key, of the 8 standard bluegrass keys, that suits your voice best for the song, rather than just simply defaulting to a key that the song has been sung in by others at the jam in the past. On the 'Additional 30 list', only a few songs have a key specified for them. These are fiddle tunes which are traditionally played at bluegrass jams as instumentals, and most fiddle tunes have only one standard key. For instance, nearly all fiddle (and mandolin) players who play 'Old Joe Clark', learn to play it in the key of A. For this tune, 'A' is the key that best suits the fiddle (and the mandolin). 'Old Joe Clark' is an 'A' tune. Therefore, when there are fiddle or mandolin players at a jam, it is generally understood that if a guitar player or banjo player calls this tune, he should expect to play it in the key of A. For nearly all banjo and guitar players who play this tune, this will simply mean capoing to the 2nd fret, which is far more convenient than to expect the fiddle and mandolin players to figure out on the fly how to play the tune in the key of G, instead of the key of A. Asking a bluegrass or old-time fiddler to play a tune in the key of G that is traditionally played in the key of A is somewhat analogous to asking a classical pianist to play Mozart's 'Sonata in A Major' in the key of G instead of the key of A. Time Signatures: Unless specified otherwise, all songs on the lists are played in 'cut common' (C or 2/2) time: 2 beats per measure: one-(and)-two-(and); guitar rhythm: boom-chuck-boom-chuck, or pick-strum-pick-strum. 3/4 time = three-four time (waltz time): 3 beats per measure: one-two-three; guitar rhythm: boom-chuck-chuck, or 'pick-strum-strum'. Additional Markings: Form: AABB. This refers to a tune that has 2 parts - traditionally called the A-Part and the B-Part - and in which each part is repeated before the next part is played. This is by far the most common form for a fiddle tune. In most AABB fiddle tunes, each part is 8 measures long; therefore, to go through the AABB form once involves playing 32 measures. In some AABB fiddle tunes (e.g., Cripple Creek), it takes only 16 measures to go through the form once, for in those tunes each part is only 4 measures long instead of 8. This is the second most common type of AABB fiddle tune. In some AABB tunes (e.g., Angeline The Baker, Shortnin' Bread), the chord progression is the same for both parts. However, in most AABB tunes, the chord progression for the B-Part is different than the chord progression for the A-Part. Inst. = Instrumental. As used here, this marking does not mean that the song does not have lyrics, but only that it is played at the jam without any lyrics being sung. Most of the songs marked as instrumentals on the two lists do have lyrics, but it is unusual at bluegrass jams to sing them. And, in the rare instances in which one might hear someone sing some lyrics at a bluegrass jam to a tune marked as an instrumental on the lists, it will almost always be in the same key that the tune is traditionally played in at bluegrass jams when played as an instrumental. (Once again, if the key does not suit your voice for the song, it is not a good idea to force yourself to sing the song in that key.) Half measure: In cut common time, a half measure has one beat instead of two. One way of thinking about this is that the time signature has momentarily changed from 2/2 to 1/2. (In 1/2 time, a full measure has only one beat). When a full measure of cut common (2/2) time occurs after a half measure, the beat of the half measure is to be counted as 'one', and the two beats of the full measure are to be counted as 'one-two' (as opposed to 'two-one'). Observe that this involves there being two 'one' counts back to back. It is crucial in songs that contain half measures to avoid thinking about the half measure as though it were the first half of a full measure that is then completed by the first half of the full measure that comes after it. A full measure that comes after a half measure is to be thought of and played just like any other full measure. Failure to do this results in the beat getting flipped around: one will find oneself either one beat ahead or one beat behind those who played properly through the part of the progression that contains the half measure. 1/5, 1/6m, 4/1, etc. These are split measures. In cut common time, this means that the first of the two chords is played for the first half of the measure (one beat), and the second chord is played for the second half of the measure. m = minor (chord). E.g., 6m = 6 minor chord.
For the first phase of the new beginner jam, we will, for the first half of the night, play only songs on the 'Top 20' list and only in the keys specified for each song on that list (see the attachments). For the second half of the night, people are welcome to call any beginner-friendly bluegrass songs that they would like to play at the jam, and with most of the 'key' restrictions removed, including for songs that are on the Top 20 list. (I will explain this in greater detail at the jam.) To give a clearer idea of what kinds of songs tend to be beginner-friendly at a bluegrass jam, I have also attached here, in addition to the Top 20 list, another list of songs titled '30 Additional Jam-Friendly Songs'. Most of these songs will at some point be introduced into the beginner jam repertoire.
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Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
Songs regularly called at the Beginner Bluegrass Jam and links from Jason's "Song of the Week" emails. (from Renee)
Songs
All
in alphabetical order
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