Hi, The song of the week is 'In The Pines' in the key of E. 'In The Pines' is in 3/4 time (a.k.a. 'waltz time': 3 beats per measure: guitar rhythm: boom-chuck-chuck), and is usually played at a slow tempo. Progression The chord progression is: 1141 1511 In the key of E: 1=E, 4=A, 5=B Recordings Bill Monroe - key of F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_UkluxB7gc Boone Creek (Ricky Skaggs on lead vocal) - key of B: this is my favourite recorded version of 'In The Pines': notice that the chorus is shorter than on the previous version: this is the way (i.e., with the 'woo-woo-woos' mimicking the sound of the wind omitted) that I sing the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kjiRfqFhUM Peter Rowan - key of E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKh8XjgoQfc Melody & Breaks The melody of In The Pines uses only the first 5 notes of the major scale. In the key of E, these notes are, from lowest to highest: E, F#, G#, A, B. However, In The Pines lends itself well to being played with more of a lonesome or bluesy feel to it than what would seem to be implied by the notes that the melody consists of. So, in both my backup playing and in my breaks, I tend to make a lot of use of b3 and b7 notes. In the key of E, those notes are G and D respectively. For instance, when playing a melody-based break for the song, I will tend to substitute G notes in place of some of the G# notes, and in my fillin licks - both in my breaks and in my backup playing - I will tend to use D notes in spots where I would much more often use C# notes instead. Many of my fillin licks, and other licks that I might use in a break when I am not attempting to stick close to the melody, will consist solely of the notes that make up the minor pentatonic scale. The E minor pentatonic scale consists of the notes: E, G, A, B, and D To get a feel for how one might get started in doing this for a melody-based break for 'In The Pines', I have included in the attachments, in addition to the melody as I tend to sing it (which consists of just E, F#, G#, A, and B notes), a modified 'melody' that adds 3 additional notes into the mix: G, A#, and D. When I am really going for a 'bluesy' feel in a break or in a fillin lick for 'In The Pines', I will make frequent use of the A#/Bb note as a passing note between A and B notes, whether ascending: A, A#, B, or descending: B, Bb, A. If you choose to make use of this note, be careful about how long you linger on it, for it clashes severely with all three of the chords in the song. The 'modified melody' in the attachments is only a basic example of how one might go about making use of the three extra notes to give a lonesome or bluesy sound to one's breaks. There are many more ways in which one might make use of these notes in one's breaks (and also in one's backup playing), so I suggest experimenting with these notes a bit. You might, for instance, take some licks you already know, and try modifying them in various ways to include one or more of these notes in them. In doing this, you might find it helpful to listen closely to the Boone Creek version of 'In The Pines' - see the link below - to use as a point of reference for the kind of 'sound' or 'feel' to aim for. Due to its slow tempo, you might find that playing 'In The Pines' at the jam affords you with a good opportunity to try to get more 8th notes - and even 8th note triplets (see the explanation below if you are not sure what 8th note triplets are) - into your breaks than what you otherwise tend to play. You might also like to use the song as an opportunity to work on improvising (i.e., making up a break on the fly), since the slow tempo allows one a bit more time to think about which note or combination of notes one might like to play next. Swung 8ths and 8th Note Triplets There are a couple of symbols on the melody sheets attached here that you will not see often on the melody sheets for the song of the week. The first one, at the top of the pages, consists of a pair of 8th notes followed by an equals sign followed by three 8th notes of which the first two are tied together and the numeral '3' occurs above the three 8th notes. This means that whenever you see a pair of 8th notes in the written music, the first of the two notes is held twice as long as the second one, but together, they take up the same amount of time in the measure as what two 'ordinary' (evenly spaced) 8th notes take up. To get the feel for this, sing (or play) the melody along with the sung choruses on the youtube link provided below, making sure that your 8th notes line up with the vocal phrasing. The numeral '3' which is placed below the staff under the group of three 8th notes in the second to last measure of the 'modified melody' indicates a triplet. Each note of an 8th note triplet lasts one-third the length of a quarter note; so, together, these three notes last the same amount of time as a single quarter note. Guitar Tab Melody Sheets For playing in the key of E, Bluegrass guitar players most often capo either to the 2nd fret and then play as if in D or capo to the 4th fret and then play as if in C. But, for In The Pines, as well as for many other songs in which it is desirable to make use of a lot of 'blue notes' (i.e., b3 and b7 notes) in one's playing, the 'capo 4 play as if in C' option can make doing this more awkward than what it needs to be, so I have not included a key of C melody sheet in the guitar tab attachments. (In the key of D, the b3 and b7 notes are F and C, whereas in the key of C, the b3 and b7 notes are Eb and Bb.) However, in addition to the key of D guitar tab melody sheet, I have included a key of E melody sheet in the guitar tab attachments, since playing in the key of E without a capo lends itself at least just as well to the use of blue notes as what the 'capo 2 play as if in D' option does. If you have never tried playing a guitar break in the key of E without a capo, but would like to, I suggest that In the Pines is a good song to start with. Note: When playing in the key of E without a capo, Bluegrass guitar players tend to play a B7 rather than a B for the '5' chord. Banjo Tab Melody Sheet Both the range of the melody for In The Pines and the desirability of using many 'blue notes' in one's breaks and backup playing for the song make the 'capo 2, play as if in D' option more practical than the 'capo 4, play as if in C' option. Therefore, I have included a key of D banjo tab melody sheet in the attachments, but not a key of C tab. For banjo players using the melody sheet as a guide for creating a break: for successive 8th notes in the melody, or in fillin licks, there is no need to avoid picking the same string two or more times in a row with the same finger: the song is played slowly enough to allow one to be able to play smoothly even while temporarily breaking away from typical banjo picking patterns in cases where doing so ends up being a more straightforward and simpler option. Happy Pickin', Jason
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Hi, The song of the week is 'New River Train' in the key of F. Recordings Here are some youtube links to good versions of 'New River Train' to listen to: First, here is the classic Bill and Charlie Monroe recording from 1936, with just mandolin and rhythm guitar and two voices - key of D. Notice how fast they play the song. In order to do this well, one needs to avoid all unnecessary motions in one's playing: e.g., keep your picking, strumming, - or on fiddle, bowing - motions short and compact so as to not overexert yourself, and don't allow your left hand fingers to fly away from the strings when taking them off the fretboard, keep them curled in towards the strings and have them anticipate the location on the fretboard where they need to go next. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyWMFjly24o Tony Rice and Norman Blake - also in the key of D, and quite a bit slower than the Monroe Brothers recording: good guitar breaks on this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y36HCn4Ivws Here are a couple of full band versions of the song (both in the key of E) in which - of the main bluegrass instruments - more than just guitars and mandolins are represented for the breaks: The White Brothers - New River Train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eLjdbN1xdg Roland White - New River Train - Live at McCabe's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZCsTzPb2k Lyrics The lyrics of New River Train 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 current main list and additional songs list that are fairly easy to memorize include: Mama Don't Allow, My Home's Across The Blue Ridge Mountains, Hand Me Down My Walking Cane, Lonesome Road Blues, Long Journey Home, Take This Hammer, and Worried Man Blues. For a song that has a chorus, 3 verses (in some cases, even just 2 verses) are plenty to sing for the song at a jam, and singing more than 4 verses is almost always too much, especially when songs are not being played up to speed. For a song that does not have a chorus, 5 verses is often perfect, more than 6 is usually too many, and just 4 verses will sometimes be enough. Note: In offering the preceding points about the number of verses for typical jam arrangements of songs, I have in mind songs in which each verse is 16 measures long and, if the song has a chorus, then songs in which each chorus is also 16 measures long. For songs in which parts of the song are shorter or longer than 16 measures each, the numbers given above should be adjusted accordingly. Progression The progression I use for this song is the same as the progression used on the recordings: 1111 1155 1144 5511 (W2 on the basic chord progressions chart) Notice that the 4 is followed by the 5 without a 1 intervening between the 4 and the 5. Keep this is mind if it helps you to avoid confusing this progression with the closely related progression given below in which a 1 does intervene between the 4 and the 5: 1111 1155 1144 1511 This latter progression (V2 on the basic chord progressions chart) is the one used for playing 'Mama Don't Allow' and 'Will You Be Loving Another Man'. Key of F In the key of F: 1=F, 4=Bb, and 5=C For mandolin, fiddle, and bass players (and players of any other instrument on which capos are not commonly used): the two major scales that share the most notes and in common with the F major scale (one flat in the scale: Bb) are C (no flats or sharps), and Bb (two flats: Bb and Eb), so if you are more familiar with playing in Bb and C than with playing in F, you might find it helpful for finding your way on the fingerboard in the key of F to think of it as having a lot in common with playing in these other keys. (The F major scale differs by only one note from the C major scale, and differs by only one note from the Bb major scale.) As for the three most frequently used chords in the key of F (F, Bb, and C, the 1,4, and 5 respectively), you might notice that two of these chords are among the three most frequently used chords when playing in the key of C (C, F, G, the 1,4, and 5 respectively), and when playing in the key of Bb (Bb, Eb, F, the 1,4, and 5 respectively). For New River Train in the key of F, some guitar players will prefer to capo to the 5th fret and play as if in C, while others will prefer to capo the 3rd fret and play as if in D. The C capo 5 option for F works well for doing a Carter-style guitar break for the song (i.e., a break in which the melody is carried on the bass strings of the guitar with strums in between the melody notes when there is time for them), for all the notes of the melody can be found within the first 3 frets on the 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings. Among other things, the D capo 3 option for F allows for lower-pitched fillin licks on the 1 chord that make use of the 6th string (e.g., the D chord equivalent of the famous bluegrass guitar 'G run'). I have included both a key of C and a key of D guitar tab melody sheet in the attachments For beginner banjo players, I recommend playing this song as if in the key of D: capoing the 3rd fret and spiking the 5th string at the 10th fret to arrive at the key of F. This way you can find all the melody notes on the 4th and 3rd strings. (See the attached banjo tab of the melody.) If you, like myself, do not have a 10th fret spike on your banjo, use your 9th fret spike and then manually tune the 5th string up the extra half step to a C note. Will You Be Loving Another Man Here is the original Bill Monroe recording of Will You Be Loving Another Man (with Lester Flatt on lead vocal, and Earl Scruggs on banjo): key of A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dJzPql4AOk Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is 'Liberty', an old-time fiddle tune that is traditionally played in the key of D. Recordings Flatt & Scruggs with Doc Watson - fiddle, guitar and harmonica breaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ugu-QwHWaA This contains a good example of harmonica being played in a bluegrass context. Take note of the feel and timing with which the 4 potato intro is played on the fiddle at the very beginning of the recording. Also, notice the 4 measure double ending after the last fiddle break at the end of the recording which is split between the fiddle and the guitar. Notice that Scruggs does not play a banjo break here, but contents himself with playing backup. And this is what I recommend that banjo players at the beginner jam do who have not yet learned to play in the key of D by way of playing as if in C, but with the capo on the 2nd fret. I advise against attempts by beginner-level players to try to come up with a banjo break for Liberty in D without a capo. Now, to make up for the lack of banjo breaks in the recording, check out this live performance involving so many great banjo players: Bill Keith, Tony Trischka, Greg Cahill etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE-2NO7WbhE Tempo For the next two weeks, I intend on kicking off Liberty at the extremely slow tempo of 72 beats per minute (2 clicks of the metronome per measure). That is 48 beats per minute slower than the standard square dance tempo (120). But after the tune has run through its song of the week cycle, attempts should be made to kick it off at increasingly faster tempos by those who call it at future jams. The reason for such a slow tempo is to encourage fiddle, mandolin and guitar players to learn to make use of more consecutive 8th notes in their breaks than what the general tendency has been up to this point at the beginner jam, and at the same time to make it easier for them in doing this to focus on their technique, feel, and timing for playing passages that contain many 8th notes back to back. Lilt Despite how they look when written on paper, and what their name implies, a string of consecutive 8th notes should not all be given equal time value when playing most Bluegrass breaks. Rather, they should usually be swung, so that the first 8th note in each pair of 8th notes lasts a bit longer than one-eighth of a measure, stealing time value from the second 8th note in the pair, which in turn takes up a bit less than one-eighth of the measure. The slower that consecutive 8th notes are played, the easier it is to detect whether they are being played in this manner (long-short-long-short, etc., often called 'lilt' or 'bounce'). To hear more clearly what this sounds like, slow down the youtube links provided here to half speed. To do this, click on settings, then click on speed, then click on 0.5. Melody As is the case with most traditional fiddle tunes, there are many versions and interpretations of the melody of Liberty, but most versions one will come across online (whether written or recorded) are compatible with the interpretation of the melody I have offered in the attachments. But, for fiddle, guitar and mandolin players to get the most out of playing Liberty for the next two weeks at the jam (very slow: 72 beats per minute), it is best for them to avoid playing a version of the melody that contains significantly fewer cases of consecutive 8th notes than the version I have offered here. Guitar & Banjo Tabs With ease of left hand fingering in mind, I have written the guitar and banjo tabs for Liberty in C instead of D. So, guitar and banjo players playing breaks based upon these will need to capo the 2nd fret to raise their playing up from the key of C to the key of D, and will need to make it a point to remember that Liberty is a 'D' tune, not a 'C' tune. (No guitar or banjo player should call Liberty at a jam in the key of C when there are fiddlers or mandolin players present.) Banjo Melody Tab The banjo melody tab in the attachments is not intended to be played as written for a banjo break, but is intended to serve as a guide for creating a Scruggs-style break. For tunes with fast-moving melodies like Liberty, Scruggs-style players tend to incorporate only as much of the melody into their breaks that is needed in order for the tune to be recognizable, and replace the rest of the melody with strategically selected filler-notes.that are compatible with the chord that is called for at the time, and that allow the player to make use of the right hand picking patterns that are typical of the style. In the attachments, I have provided examples of how a Scruggs-style player, using the melody sheet as a guide and following the basic principles of Scruggs-style, might choose to play the first two measures of the A Part and the first two measures of the B Part. Note to Clawhammer Banjo Players Clawhammer banjo players usually tune their banjos to double C tuning (GCGCD) for playing Liberty, and then capo the 2nd fret to raise their playing up to D. When tuned this way, in order to make use of the banjo melody tab provided here, one will need to add 2 to the numbers shown on the tab for the 4th string, and subtract 1 from the numbers shown on the tab for the 2nd string. (In the case of the open 2nd string notes shown on the tab, the 4th fret of the 3rd string will need to be used in their place.) By transferring some of the melody notes shown on the first string in the tab to the 2nd string (and by transferring also the open 2nd string note to the 4th fret of the 3rd string), it is feasible, with the help of drop-thumb, hammer-ons, and pull-offs, for a clawhammer player to grab almost every melody note. However, most clawhammer players take a similar approach to Scruggs-style players in being selective about which melody notes to include in their playing of the tune, substituting filler notes in place of some of the melody notes in ways that allow them to make more use of the picking patterns typical of clawhammer style than what would be the case if they were to try to grab as much of the melody as possible. 8 Potato Intros Since there is nothing more effective for kicking off most fiddle tunes at a bluegrass jam than 8 Potato Intros, I have included examples of these in the attachments for each of the 4 primary lead instruments played at the beginner jam: fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and 3-finger style banjo. Players of other instruments/styles can get ideas from these examples, and/or by listening to the 4 Potato intro on the Flatt & Scruggs recording of Liberty, for what to do on their instruments for an 8 Potato intro. Notice that the last (4th) measure of the 8 Potato Intro includes the two pickup notes (or in the case of the banjo tab, just one pickup note) that lead into the first complete measure of the A Part of Liberty. If there were no pickup notes into the A Part of Liberty, then all 4 measures of the 8 Potato Intro would be identical with each other. This is important to keep in mind when kicking off fiddle tunes with an 8 Potato Intro. For, if one does not start into the melody at exactly the right time, then the 8 Potato Intro fails to serve its purpose. Double Endings I have also included in the attachments examples of double endings suitable for Liberty for the four primary lead instruments played at the jam, since it is customary at bluegrass jams to end fiddle tunes (and certain other types of instrumentals) with these kinds of endings. When playing these endings, it is important to make sure that they start at exactly the right time relative to the end of the final B Part. The incomplete last measure on the melody sheets (2nd ending of the B Part) needs to be completed either by a quarter note rest, or by changing the last note from a quarter note to a half note before the first note of the double ending starts. Since the last break played for Liberty at the jam will usually be an 'everybody' break, it makes sense for everyone who played that break to also play the double ending together. But, even if the last break were not an 'everybody' break, I would still encourage everyone at the beginner jam who knows how to play a double ending to do so, so as to let them get more practice and experience with doing this. Those not playing the double ending should stop playing after the last note of the final B Part has been played, and then prepare themselves to do one final note, double stop, or strum that will coincide with the last note of the double ending. In order for them to be able to do this, and to do this confidently, it is important that those playing the double ending play it clearly and with the correct timing. Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is 'All The Good Times Are Past And Gone' in the key of A. This song is played in 3/4 (a.k.a., 'Waltz') time. Recording Flatt and Scruggs, key of A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LnhLmyOKmM Progression The chord progression for 'All The Good Times Are Past and Gone' is: 1141 1155 1141 1511 [Progression V6 on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout. Probably the most well-known song in 3/4 time that uses this same progression is 'Amazing Grace'.] In the key of A: 1 = A; 4 = D; 5 = E. With a capo on the 2nd fret, the chord shapes become: 1 = G; 4 = C; 5 = D. Notice that on the Flatt and Scruggs recording of 'All The Good Times', an extra measure of the '1' chord is played at the end of each of the breaks before the vocal comes in. When playing this song at the jam, this may or may not happen, so be prepared for either scenario. Also be prepared for the possibility that more than one measure of the '1' chord may be added to the end of some of the breaks before the vocal comes in. The safest thing to do here is to just keep on hitting the root note of the chord (on bass and guitar) at the beginning of each of these additional measures of the '1' chord so as to guarantee that you will be playing the root note of the chord at the time when the progression starts over from the beginning. 3/4 Time To say that a song is played in 3/4 time means that there are 3 beats per measure in the song. On guitar, when playing rhythm, one measure will consist of 'boom-chuck-chuck', i.e., 'bassnote-strum-strum', rather than the more common rhythm for bluegrass songs of 'boom-chuck-boom-chuck'. Notice that this means that in 3/4 time it takes two measures, instead of one, to get through a cycle of root-5 (alternating bass) on guitar (and on bass, if you are playing only one note per measure). For this reason, it can be useful to think of the chord progression in groups of two measures. Root-5 The root note of each chord is simply the note that has the same letter name as the chord. The '5' of the chord is the 5th scale degree of the major scale that has the same letter name as the chord. The first five scale degrees of the A major scale are A, B, C#, D, and E, so when playing 'root-5' over an A chord, this means that you are alternating between an A and an E note. There are six major (and six minor) chords for which identifying the '5' involves nothing more than counting up the musical alphabet, without having to worry about sharps or flats. The six are: A, C, D, E, F, and G. So, the 5 of 'C' (counting C as '1') is G (1,2,3,4,5: C,D,E,F,G), the 5 of D is 'A', the 5 of E is 'B', the 5 of F is 'C', and the 5 of G is 'D'. 3/4 Time Root-5 Taking the progression two measures at a time, the first two measures allow one to play 'root-5' over the 1 chord, but the second group of two measures (i.e., the third and fourth measures) allow one to play only the root note of the chords called for there, because the second of these two measures has a different chord than what the first of these two measures does. So, this scenario is similar to what happens in the non-3/4 time songs we play at the jam in which a single measure is split between two chords (e.g., the 7th measure of each of the parts of Boil The Cabbage Down and Soldier's Joy, or the 4th measure of each of the parts of Shortnin' Bread and the B-Part of Cripple Creek.) The second line of the progression for All The Good Times allows one to play root-5 over the 1 chord and then over the 5 chord. Notice that this means that two root notes over the 1 chord end up being played back to back, one in the last measure of the first line, and one in the first measure of the second line, since the first line of the progression ended with the 1 chord, and there was only time to play the root note of the chord, but not the 5, because the third measure of the first line called for chord that was not the 1 chord. 3/4 Vamp/Chop When playing a 'vamp' or 'chop' rhythm on mandolin, banjo, fiddle, or dobro, a measure of 3/4 time will consist of 'rest-chuck-chuck', which is the same as the guitar rhythm, just without the bass note at the beginning of the measure. 3/4 Rolls When playing a roll in 3/4 time on banjo, you will have time for a maximum of 6 plucked notes per measure (counted as '1 & 2 & 3 &'), rather than the usual maximum of 8 notes per measure ('1 e & a 2 e & a'), Considered in relation to a roll pattern consisting of 8 notes, this usually involves omitting either the last two notes of the roll, or in some cases, the 5th and 6th notes of the roll, or the 3rd and 4th notes of the roll. If approaching playing in 3/4 time from his angle, make sure that the 3/4 time rolls you create by dropping notes from the standard 8 note rolls don't result in the need to play two 8th notes back to back with the same finger of your picking hand. 3/4 Licks There are many standard (common time: 4/4, or cut common time 2/2) licks on banjo, as well as on the other bluegrass instruments, that have 3/4 time equivalents. The 3/4 time versions of these licks in many cases can be derived from the common time or cut common time lick by omitting a quarter of a measure's worth of the least essential notes of the lick. Little Cabin Home On The Hill Here is the original recording of 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill': Bill Monroe - key of A (Lester Flatt on lead vocal) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GbU45MyMFc Happy Pickin', Jason
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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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