Hi, The song of the week is 'Angeline The Baker', a key of D fiddle tune. Angeline The Baker is a standard length AABB fiddle tune. By that, I mean that each part of the tune is 8 measures long, and that there are 2 parts to the tune, called the A-Part and the B-Part respectively. Each part is played twice before going on to the next part. So this means that each break for the tune is 32 measures long. (8x4) There are 6 other tunes on the top 20 and additional 30 lists that have this same form: Boil The Cabbage Down, Buffalo Gals, Soldier's Joy, Liberty, Liza Jane, and Old Joe Clark. The chord progression is the same for both parts of Angeline The Baker: 1114 1111 In the key of D: 1=D, and 4=G There is no standardized order in which the two parts of the tune are played. When asking the person leading the tune which part they intend to start with, it does no good to ask: Do you start with the A-Part or the B-Part?, because whichever part is played first is, by definition, the A-Part, and whichever part is played second is, by definition, the B-Part. However, the two parts can be distinguished from one another by calling them the low part and the high part. Like most AABB fiddle tunes, one part of Angeline The Baker starts on a higher note than the other part, and is overall higher in pitch than the other part. When I call Angeline The Baker at a jam, I almost always start the tune with the high part. For this reason, in the melody sheets attached here, the high part is written as the A Part and the low part is written as the B Part. Since the chord progression is the same for both parts of 'Angeline', and since, in Bluegrass jam arrangements of this tune (as distinguished from Old Time arrangements), it is usually only one person who plays the lead at a time, the need will rarely arise at a bluegrass jam to know in advance which part the leader intends on starting with. This is just as much the case at our beginner jam: for even though we do collective breaks in which all instruments of the same kind play their breaks at once, the person who starts the tune off gets to play through the form once (AABB) with no one else playing a break along with him. (During the first pass through the tune, everyone else besides the person who kicked off the tune should be playing backup.) Nevertheless, it is important to pay attention to which part the tune starts with, the lower part or the higher part, for each person who does a break on the tune will be expected to play the parts in the same order as the person who kicked off the song. This is standard practice in bluegrass jams, and this procedure helps to minimize confusion. The chord progression is unusual for bluegrass in that it does not have a 5 chord. In the key of D, this means that there is no A chord. Some guitar players prefer to play 'Angeline The Baker' without a capo, whereas others prefer to play it with the capo on the 2nd fret and then play it as if in the key of C (In the key of C: 1=C, and 4=F) The same is true of 3 finger-style banjo players, except that they will usually have their 5th string tuned up to an A note (spiked or capoed at the 7th fret) regardless of whether they have a capo on the 2nd fret of their four long strings. I have included in the attachments, guitar and banjo tabs of the melody of the tune written in both the key of D and in the key of C. You might wish to try it playing it both ways, and see which way you like best. You might notice that there are fewer notes on the banjo tabs than on the rest of the melody sheets. The reason for this is because most Scruggs-style banjo players tend to choose to play other notes in place of the melody notes in these spots that are more convenient to grab in the context of one of the standard picking patterns (rolls) that characterize Scruggs-style playing, but the exact choice of notes in these spots differs from player to player. A similar thing tends to be true also of Clawhammer banjo arrangements of Angeline The Baker. The basic melody for Angeline The Baker is pentatonic. That is, it consists of 5 notes: major scale degrees 1,2,3,5, and 6. In the key of D, that means it consists of the notes D, E, F#, A, and B. (In the key of C, the five notes of the major pentatonic scale are: C, D, E, G, and A.) The range of 'Angeline' is relatively narrow for a fiddle tune. The range spans exactly one octave. The lowest note is the 5th scale degree (A), and the highest note is the 5th scale degree an octave higher (A). So, in ascending order of pitch, the notes are 5,6,1,2,3,5: A,B,D,E,F#,A. (In 'C', those notes would be instead: G,A,C,D,E,G.) The range of the low part is even narrower than that. Its highest note is the 3rd scale degree (F#). Tunes with such a narrow range can easily be played in two different octaves on fiddle, mandolin, and guitar (this is not so much the case with banjo). For, these three instruments each have 'A' notes in three different octaves that can be found on the instruments within the first five frets (or, on fiddle, in 'first position') Most guitar, mandolin, and fiddle players who learn to play Angeline The Baker learn to play it in the higher of the two readily accessible octaves. For those of you who already play the tune, you might try working out a break an octave lower than how you usually play it, as a variation to have up your sleeve when, at a jam, you get called on to play more than one break during the tune. Or, since we do collective breaks at the beginner jam, where all the fiddle players play their breaks at the same time, all the mandolin players play their breaks at the same time, etc., if you have worked out a break in the lower octave, it can be effective to play this while someone else is playing their break in the higher octave. For this reason, I have included in the attachments melody sheets in both octaves for fiddle, mandolin and guitar. One final point about the tune. Unlike most tunes, the last note of the melody does not have the same letter name as the key the tune is played in. Instead of ending on a 'D' note (the 1st scale degree), each part of Angeline ends on an 'A' note (the 5th scale degree), the lowest note of its range. Here are a couple of good youtube links to listen to for Angeline The Baker: Sammy Shelor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0BcfHZW5CQ (Preview) Alison Krauss (starts at about the 4 minute mark) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCYsZIQ0FQc (Preview) Happy Pickin', Jason
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Hi, The song of the week is 'I Still Write Your Name In The Sand' in the key of A. This song is from Mac Wiseman, a first-generation bluegrass singer who recorded with Bill Monroe, and sang harmony on a few of Flatt and Scruggs' earliest records. The chord progression for 'I Still Write Your Name In The Sand' is: 1144 1155 1144 1511 This is Prog. V7 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout. (In the key of A: 1 = A, 4 = D, 5 = E. The A chord consists of the notes A, C#, and E, The D chord consists of the notes: D, F#, and A. The E chord consists of the notes: E, G#, and B. In the key of G: 1 = G, 4 = C, 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 chord progression that 'I Still Write Your Name In The Sand' uses is the most common chord progression in bluegrass. Other songs that have been played at the beginner jam within the last year that use this same progression include: Bury Me Beneath The Willow Wreck Of The Old '97 Ain't Nobody Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone Hard Ain't It Hard I'm On My Way Back To The Old Home Once the current beginner jam is relabeled as an intermediate jam, and I start a new beginner jam - this will likely happen at the beginning of the new year - I will be encouraging those who participate in the new intermediate jam to expand their repertoire of jam-friendly bluegrass songs more rapidly. A good place to start for this is by choosing songs to listen to that use a familiar chord progression. The melodies and phrasings of these songs will often have many points in common with songs that one has already learned to play that use the same chord progression, thereby often making these easier and quicker to learn than songs with an unfamiliar chord progression. Here are some more songs that use the most common chord progression in bluegrass: Your Love Is Like A Flower Y'all Come Lost And I'll Never Find A Way Come Back Darling Why Did You Wander? True Life Blues If I Should Wander Back Tonight I'm Waiting To Hear You Call Me Darling Down Where The River Bends Back To The Cross Road To Columbus Hold Whatcha Got Let Her Go, God Bless Her Nobody's Love Is Like Mine Memory Of You I Have No One To Love Me (a.k.a. Drowned In The Deep Blue Sea) Flint Hill Special Wreck Of The No. 9 - verse progression only Rose Of Old Kentucky - verse progression only Little Annie - verse progression only Blue Moon Of Kentucky - verse progression only White Dove - verse progression only Tiny Broken Heart - verse progression only When You And I Were Young, Maggie - verse progression only Black Mountain Rag - C Part progression only The melody for 'I Still Write Your Name In The Sand' shares much in common with the melodies for several other bluegrass standards. For instance, the melody for the first and third lines of I Still Write Your Name In The Sand is the same as the melody for the first and third lines of 'Your Love Is Like A Flower'. Also, the melody for the 4th line of I Still Write Your Name In The Sand is the same as the melody for the 4th line of 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill.' If you are not familiar with these old bluegrass classics, look on youtube for either the Flatt and Scruggs or the Bluegrass Album Band version of 'Your Love Is Like A Flower', and for a Bill Monroe version of 'Little Cabin Home On The Hill'. Here are a couple of youtube links for I Still Write Your Name In The Sand: Mac Wiseman (studio recording - key of C#) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht71bNNPzx4 Mac Wiseman (live performance, intro missing - key of C) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc88atSam84 Notice that Mac does not sing the song exactly the same way or with the same words in these two recordings. (And, he sings it differently again on the older recording that I learned the song from, but that I could not find on youtube.) In the live performance, there are only 2 verses, and the 2nd verse is a mixture of lines from the 2nd and 3rd verses on the studio recording. Judging from Mac's facial expressions during this verse, I gather that he did not intend to sing the 2nd verse this way. For those of you who wish to sing harmony on the choruses, here are the lyrics I usually use. Oh! I love you my darling, how I love you. If I talk, will you try to understand? It's no matter how you treat me, I love you, And I still write your name in the sand. Happy Pickin', Jason
Playing a break for a song I mentioned last night at the jam that a break for a song can range anywhere from just playing the melody as given, for instance, on the melody sheets I include in the attachments for the song of the week emails to fitting licks over the chord progression of the song that have little to do with the melody. Most breaks that you hear on bluegrass records fall somewhere between these two extremes. If you are an absolute beginner, then just playing the melody without adding anything around it is a good place to start for playing a break, but it is only a start. To progress to the next level, here are a few things to try: 1) slide into some of the melody notes from a lower note. On fiddle, it tends to work best if the note you are sliding from is most often only a half-step lower than the note you are sliding to. On the fretted instruments, especially banjo and guitar, slides from a note a whole step or one-and-a-half whole steps lower will often work just as well, and sometimes better, than slides from a note a half step lower. 2) add notes around the melody that belong to the chord that is called for at the time: for Scruggs-style banjo, this is done by incorporating the melody into rolls. On the other bluegrass instruments, this is done more often by playing double stops, i.e., playing 2 notes at once, one of which is the melody note while the other is a harmony note that more often than not is some other note that belongs to the chord being played at the time. (Here, the information I offer about which notes make up each chord can especially come in handy.) 3) learn a few fillins: i.e., licks that are designed to fill up spots in a tune in which one measure or more elapses between the beginning of one melody note and the beginning of the next melody note. For songs that use a 16-measure progression that ends with 2 measures of the '1' chord (like any of the progressions in rows V, W, and X on the basic chord progressions handout), there will almost always be one of these types of spots that begins in the second to last measure of the progression and continues into the last measure of the progression. On bluegrass records, the part of the break that coincides with these spots will most often consist of a fillin lick, so this is a good place to start for looking for fillin licks to learn from records.To make it easier to learn these fillin licks, I will often find the songs on youtube and then go to settings where I can slow down the recording to half speed. In applying fillins in your playing, it is important to keep track of which chord they are designed to be played over: an 'A' fillin for instance, will not work over a Bb chord and vice versa. 4) Using breaks that you hear on bluegrass records as a guide, find places where it works to make use of notes that neither belong to the melody nor to the major scale of the key that the song is played in. Two of these notes that bluegrass players frequently make use of are the notes that are a half step lower than the 3rd and 7th notes of the major scale. These are often called 'blue notes'. In the key of Bb, these notes are Db and Ab, since the 3rd and 7th notes of the Bb Major Scale are D and A. In the key of G, these notes would be Bb and F, since the 3rd and 7th notes of the G Major Scale are B and F#. If you are trying to learn a break or a lick from a record, and you are hearing notes that don't belong to the major scale of the key that the song is being played in, it will more often than not be the so-called 'blue notes' that you are encountering. Playing in the key of Bb If you are fiddler or a mandolin player, and you already play songs or licks in 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 be 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. The G chord consists of the notes G, B, and D; the C chord consists of the notes C, E, and G, and the D chord consists of the notes D, F#, and A.) Banjo 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. If you do not have spikes or a 5th string capo, you can just tune up the 5th string manually to a Bb note, but don't be surprised if the string breaks. (You might wish to keep the banjo away from your face when tuning the 5th string up this high in case the string does break.) Also, remember that the tension on the neck changes every time you tune a string up or down. Tuning one string up 3 half steps will cause the rest of your strings to go flat, and so they will need to be tuned up a little bit. Hi, The song of the week is 'Will You Be Loving Another Man'. This classic bluegrass song was written by Bill Monroe and Lester Flatt during WWII, and then recorded after the war in 1946 by the original bluegrass band, Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, which consisted at the time of Bill Monroe on mandolin, Lester Flatt on guitar, Earl Scruggs on banjo, Chubby Wise on fiddle, and Howard Watts on bass. Here is the original 1946 recording of 'Will You Be Loving Another Man', with Lester Flatt on lead vocal and Bill Monroe on harmony vocal during the choruses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dJzPql4AOk I sing this song in the key of A (the same key as on the recording). The progression is: 1111 1155 1144 1511 (Prog. V2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout.) This is the same progression that is used to play Mama Don't Allow, She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain, The Crawdad Song, When The Saints Go Marching In, and some versions of Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms, Red River Valley and New River Train. Notice on the recording how each of the breaks differ from each other. The short mandolin intro break (half the length of a full intro break: it uses the last half of the progression) states the melody of the song in a simple manner, making use of drony-sounding double stops in connection with the main melody notes. In the first fiddle break, there is a lot more going on than what there was in the mandolin intro break, yet the melody is never lost sight of at any point in the break: its influence on the break is there from beginning to end. The banjo break zeros in on only the most essential notes of the melody and fills up the space between them with 8th notes that, for the most part, are notes that are part of the chord being played at the time. Finally, the second fiddle break, after its first four measures, contains almost no trace of the melody at all. The last 3/4 of this break is made up entirely of non-melody-based licks (which have gone on to become standard - one might say 'cliche' - bluegrass fiddle licks), fitted to the chord progression of the song. Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi everyone, I will resume leading the weekly IBA (Idaho Bluegrass Association) - sponsored beginner bluegrass jam in the Pioneer Building on Thursday, Sept. 8 (6:30 - 9pm). The song of the week will be 'Wabash Cannonball' in the key of A. Originally recorded by the Carter Family in 1929, 'Wabash Cannonball' has gone on to become a Country classic, and has been recorded by many notable Country and Bluegrass artists, including Johnny Cash, Hank Snow, Willie Nelson, Flatt & Scruggs, Mac Wiseman, Doc Watson, Norman Blake, and Claire Lynch. But perhaps the most well-known version of the song is still the 1936 recording by Roy Acuff - many people in both country and bluegrass circles still associate the song especially with him. and this record is one of the less than 40 singles to have sold more than 10 million copies. 'Wabash Cannonball' also happens to be the oldest song on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list. The chord progression that I use for 'Wabash Cannonball' is: 1114 5551 1114 55511 (In the key of A: 1=A, 4=D, 5=E. In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D.) Of the progressions on the 'Basic Chord Progressions' handout, this progression is most similar to progression W8, which is the progression used for 'Blue Ridge Cabin Home' and 'Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong': 1144 5511 1144 5511 The order of chord changes for 'Wabash Cannonball' is the same as in prog. W8, just the timing of the changes is different; the change to the 4 occurs a measure later in 'Wabash Cannonball', as does the change back to the '1' after the '5'. Here are a few versions of 'Wabash Cannonball' to take a listen to: Mac Wiseman - key of A: good banjo and fiddle breaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8HHFCDRFBk Note; In place of an intro break that follows the melody and chord progression of the song, a quote from another old well-known 'train' song 'The Orange Blossom Special' is used instead. Also, immediately after the fiddle break, Mac goes into another 'Carter Family' song 'Homestead On The Farm' (a.k.a., 'I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home'), which in bluegrass circles has become more associated with Mac than with the Carters.) Doc Watson: key of G (includes guitar, dobro, fiddle, and banjo breaks): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoJwNwB2N9E Norman & Nancy Blake: key of A: good guitar breaks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4RwJWXQYAU ...and for those interested: Roy Acuff: key of A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yhvv234oaA Notice that no two of these versions use exactly the same set of lyrics, and that there are also differences among them in notes that make up the melody, and in the case of the Acuff recording, the chord progression as well (1144 for lines 1 and 3, which works with the notes that Acuff sings here, but would not fit well with other versions of the melody) The melody sheets attached here correspond to how I usually sing the first verse of the song, with one exception. In the banjo tab of the melody, measures 4 and 12 have a higher starting note than what is given on the other melody sheets. The only reason for giving this alternative melody note here is because, in the octave in which the melody is written in the banjo tab, the note on the other melody sheets is inaccessible on the banjo when playing in G tuning with the capo on the 2nd fret for the key of A. I am looking forward to seeing you at the jam. Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is 'When The Saints Go Marching In' in the key of F. Here is a youtube link of Flatt and Scruggs playing the song in the key of F: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttC0QUTqlbM The chord progression is the same as for two other songs that are played regularly at the jam: 'Mama Don't Allow', and 'The Crawdad Song' (Prog. V2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout, included in the attachments to this email for those who are new to the jam or new to the beginner jam mailing list) 1111 1155 1144 1511 In the key of F: 1 = F, 4 = Bb, 5 = C. Additional versions to listen to: Monroe Brothers - key of D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy_xZFe3omE Note: On this recording, the progression is slightly different: 5511 for the last line instead of 1511: thus: 1111 1155 1144 5511 which is Prog. W2 on the Basic Chord Progressions handout, and is the progression that I use for New River Train, though when others have led New River Train at the jam, some of them have chosen to use the progression that Flatt & Scruggs used for When The Saints (Prog. V2). Prog. V2 is the progression we will use at the jam for When The Saints when I lead it. Note: For the column 2 progressions, more so than for any other column on the chart, it is almost never safe to assume V2 over W2 or vice versa when playing a song for the first time with the person leading the song, no matter how well you know the song that is being played. Unless the leader specifies in advance, you won't know whether the progression will be V2 or W2 until you see or hear him either play or lead into the beginning of the last line of the progression. I've seen it happen at many jams where, for instance, during 'Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms' some of the people, including the leader of the song, are playing W2, while others are playing V2 and seem not to notice that they are not following the leader. The Lilly Brothers & Don Stover - key of F: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA2TEH7pEdY Singing: For harmony singers: notice the arrangement of the vocals: For the first line of each verse and chorus, the lead singer and the harmony singer(s) alternate with each other rather than singing at the same time: in the space after each of the two halves of the lead part in the first line, there is exactly enough time for the harmony singer(s) to repeat the lyrics that the lead singer has just sung before he needs to start singing his next syllable, then after that, the remainder of the verse or chorus is sung as usual with all the singers singing at the same time. Notice what makes this a very jam-friendly arrangement: it this means that one does not need to know in advance which verse the lead singer will sing next in order to sing harmony with him; the harmony singers need not ever even heard that verse before in order to be able to sing it, they can learn it as they go during the first line of each verse; for once they have learned the first line of the verse, echoing it back the two halves of it to the lead singer, then they will use that same set of lyrics for the second and fourth lines. As for the third line of every verse, it is always the same as the third line of the chorus: "O Lord I want to be in that number". Note: When I sing this song at a jam, I usually don't use a chorus for the song. The chorus in the versions provided here functions in my version as the first and last verse of the song: this allows for more breaks to be played without the song lasting so long. 'When The Saints Go Marching In' is one of the few songs in my repertoire that I find the key of F better suited than any other key for my vocal range. This is a big part of the reason why I chose this song for the song of the week. I have noticed that of the 8 standard bluegrass keys (the 7 naturals + Bb), the key of F is the key that we least often play in at the jam, and I have found it useful to use 'When The Saints Go Marching In' as a way to get myself started for playing in any key that I am not accustomed to playing in. Not only does the song have a familiar chord progression, but the melody consists of only the first 5 notes of the major scale (do-re-mi-fa-sol). The first 3 notes of the major scale (do-re-mi, or in Nashville Numbers 1-2-3) are especially important points of reference for playing in a given major key, since it is extremely rare for even one of these notes to be absent from major key melodies. 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 notes 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 banjo players: On the Flatt and Scruggs recording, Earl played his banjo in F without a capo (but with the 5th string spiked at the 7th fret, so that the 5th string is tuned to a note - an 'A' note - that is one of the notes that makes up the '1' chord i.e., the F chord.) His break was played up-the-neck, but it works well on banjo also to play a down-the-neck break for this song in F without a capo, so I have included a down-the-neck melody sheet in the attachments written in banjo tab in F. But, if you know how to play an up-the-neck break in G for this song, and if your break contains no open strings other than the 5th string, all you need to do is move it down two frets lower and you will then be playing it in F. Not all banjo players may wish to play this song in F without a capo; and for those who have never tried playing in F without a capo before, and do not have much time to work on this song before coming to the jam, I suggest working it up in either the key of D or the key of C without a capo (whichever feels more familiar to you) and then capoing up to the key of F, by spiking the 5th string at the 10th fret, or, if you - like myself - do not have a 10th fret spike - spike at the 9th fret and then tune the 5th string up the extra half step so that it registers as a 'C' note on your tuner, and then capoing to the 3rd fret if you were playing in D when you didn't have the capo on, or to the 5th fret if you were playing in C when you didn't have the capo on. I prefer to play a Scruggs-style down-the-neck break for When The Saints in D without a capo rather than in C without a capo, for the key of D requires less left hand fingerings, and allows me to locate all my melody notes on the 4th and 3rd strings, which gives me more options in terms of which roll patterns I place around the melody. The melody sheet in C in banjo tab is written with no open strings although one could make it easier on the left hand by getting all the D notes on the open 1st string instead of the 3rd fret of the 2nd string, and by getting all the G notes on the open 5th string instead of the 5th fret of the 1st string, but I have written it this way, so that the melody can be moved up-the-neck to any other location of the fretboard, depending on which key you desire to play it in without needing to change the left hand fingering patterns. For instance, to play the melody in F, just move all the key of C fingerings up 5 frets higher (because going up 5 half steps higher in pitch than a C note lands you on an F note). For guitar players: I have not included a melody sheet in guitar tab for the key of F without a capo, because bluegrass guitar players tend to avoid playing in F without a capo. Among other reasons, it does not allow them enough open strings in their chords to get that open 'ringing' sound that bluegrass players tend to favor, and to form a Bb chord (Bb is the 4 chord in the key of F) on guitar within the first few frets in such a way as to get the most desirable bass notes for bluegrass rhythm playing involves barring the index finger across the first fret of all 6 strings. This can be physically difficult to do on a guitar with the medium gauge strings and relatively high action that many bluegrass guitar players find desirable in order to get enough volume from their instruments so as to not be drowned out by the naturally louder instruments (banjo and fiddle especially). But, if you wish to try picking out the melody in F without a capo as a good exercise, or just for the fun of it, you may use the banjo tab melody sheet that is written in F, for the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings of the banjo are tuned the same way that the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings of the guitar are tuned. The same goes for dobro. (Any melody sheet I provide for banjo - unless I indicate on the tab a tuning other than G tuning - that does not involve the 5th string can be read as though it were dobro tab, for the first 4 strings of banjo and dobro are tuned the same.) For guitar players who wish to play a Carter-style break for 'When The Saints', I recommend using the key of C melody tab included in the attachments (capo 5 for F). For those who prefer to play in D without a capo rather than in C without a capo (some, for instance, like to avoid playing 'F' shape chords whenever possible, others like to be able to use D runs in their backup and/or breaks, etc.), I have also included a key of D melody tab (capo 3 for F). Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is the popular bluegrass jam standard Columbus Stockade Blues in the key of G. Here are some good youtube links of Columbus Stockade that I recommend taking a listen to: Tony Trischka - key of D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTfbb21C0HY Bill Monroe - key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-MWx2bMUE Della Mae - key of A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IA0NKOfXIo The progression for the verses is: 1111 5511 1111 5511 (Prog. W5 on the basic chord progressions handout) Notice that the two halves of the progression are identical) The progression for the chorus is: 4411 4455 1111 5511 Notice that the second half of the chorus progression is identical to the second half of the verse progression. In the key of G: 1 = G; 4 = C; 5 = D As played at most bluegrass jams, there is a stop in the middle of the chorus progression. And that is how we usually play Columbus Stockade at the beginner jam. For measure 8 of the chorus progression, everyone who is playing backup plays a D chord or a D note at the beginning of the measure, then silences their strings immediately afterwards, and then plays nothing until the beginning of the next (9th) measure. Hence, during the last 3/4 of measure 8 of the chorus progression, the only thing that should be heard is either the vocal (if a chorus is being sung) singing the words: "In your", or the instruments whose break it is (if a break is being played over the chorus progression). When playing a break over the chorus progression, there should be no stop made by the instrument(s) playing the break (only the instruments playing backup should do the stop), for there needs to be something keeping time during the measure in which the stop occurs so as to help guide everyone to come back in at the same time as each other at the beginning of the 9th measure of the progression. Besides, part of the reason for doing a stop during a break is so that more attention can be drawn to the instrument(s) playing the break. So if the instrument(s) playing the break stop when the backup players stop, then part of the reason for doing the stop has not been taken advantage of. I will start the song off by playing an intro break over the verse progression only. All subsequent breaks (except possibly for the very last one) will be played over both the verse and the chorus progression, and will be split between two different types of instruments. Sometimes I will 'tag' the last sung chorus. That means that after singing the final chorus, I might choose to repeat either the last line (last 4 measures: starts with: "(yes) / leave me little darlin'...) of the chorus, or, more commonly for this song, I might choose to repeat the last two lines (last 8 measures: starts with: "In your / heart...") of the chorus before ending the song. But, how I choose to end the song is a decision that I tend to make in the moment, rather than planning it out in advance. Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is the old bluegrass classic 'Long Journey Home' (a.k.a. 'Two Dollar Bill' or 'Lost All My Money'). The chord progression is: 1111 1141 1111 1511 When I lead the song at the beginner jam for the next two jams, we will play it in the key of A. However, it is also a good idea to be prepared for the future to play it in G and in B, since these are the keys that others have chosen to sing it in at the jam in past. (In the key of A: 1=A; 4=D; 5=E. In the key of G: 1=G; 4=C; 5=D. In the key of B: 1=B; 4=E; 5=F#.) The melody for 'Long Journey Home' has many points of similarity with the melody for the previous song of the week 'This Little Light Of Mine', which was played in B last night and the week before, but will likely be played in A at some point again in the near future at the jam. So, for those playing non-capoed instruments (fiddle, mandolin): if you come up with a melody-based break for Long Journey Home in A, this should help you to come up with a break for This Little Light Of Mine in A, and, in turn, your key of B break for This Little Light Of Mine should help you come up with a break for Long Journey Home in B - you can recycle at least two-thirds of the measures of your break for This Little Light in playing a break for Long Journey Home, and vice versa. Keep in mind when working up this song, either to kick it off at the jam, lead the singing on it, or to just play along, that Long Journey Home is often played at a fast tempo (see the Jim and Jesse version below for a typical example of this): while there is no need to play it that fast at the jam in order for it to sound right, of the songs on the lists we use at the jam, it should stand out as one of the faster songs played at the jam. In the two other versions given here, the song is played at tempos that I think would make for good points of reference for playing the song at the jam. Flatt & Scruggs - key of A (song starts at 2:05) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55no2qhrkzQ Bill Monroe & Doc Watson - key of G https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIsDyBxPujM Jim and Jesse (key of A) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ZjqYJtlY8 For reasons of historical interest, I include the following version of 'Long Journey Home' by the Monroe Brothers (Bill Monroe and his older brother Charlie). From 1936, this was one of the first songs that Bill Monroe recorded, and it is played wickedly fast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4ZLjumc8x0 One of the things that makes 'Long Journey Home' a jam friendly song is the repetitive nature of the lyrics. So there is not much that needs to be memorized in order to be able to sing harmony on the choruses, and the last line of the chorus is identical to the last line of each verse: Lost all my money but a two dollar bill, Two dollar bill, boys, two dollar bill. Lost all my money but a two dollar bill: I'm on my long journey home. The repetitive nature of the lyrics also makes Long Journey Home a good song choice for those who wish to lead a song at the jam, but do not have much experience yet singing at a jam, or who have difficulty memorizing lyrics. Happy Pickin, Jason
Hi, The song of the week is 'In The Pines' in the key of G. '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. The chord progression is: 1141 1511 In the key of G: 1=G; 4=C; 5=D Like the melodies for 'Boil The Cabbage Down', and 'When The Saints Go Marching In', the melody for 'In The Pines' - at least the way I usually sing it - uses only the first 5 notes of the major scale. In the key of G, these notes are, from lowest to highest: G, A, B, C, and D. 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 G, those notes are Bb and F respectively. For instance, when playing a melody-based break for the song, I will tend to substitute Bb notes in place of some of the B notes, and in my fillin licks - both in my breaks and in my backup playing - I will tend to use F notes in spots where I would much more often use E 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 G minor pentatonic scale consists of the notes: G, Bb, C, D, and F. 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 G, A, B, C, and D notes), a modified 'melody' that adds 3 additional notes into the mix: Bb, C#, and F. 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 C#/Db note as a passing note between C and D notes, whether ascending: C, C#, D, or descending: D, Db, C. 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. 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. For those who are relatively new to reading music, I would like to point out that 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. The symbol placed before the 2nd note of the 2nd complete measure of the modified melody in the first attachment (and which also occurs in the second to last measure of the modified melody in the same attachment) is called a 'natural' sign, and simply means that you play a natural note (in this case, an F note) in place of the note that is indicated by the key signature (in this case, an F# note). When a natural sign occurs before a note, it temporarily overrides the key signature (just as when a sharp sign or a flat sign occurs before a note); both that note and all subsequent notes within the same measure that are written on the same line or space on the staff become naturals, unless a flat or a sharp sign occurs before a subsequent note written on the same line or space. After the measure ends, the key signature goes back into full effect. In The Pines - 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 both Kathy and I both sing the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kjiRfqFhUM Peter Rowan - key of E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKh8XjgoQfc Happy Pickin', Jason
Hi, The song of the week is 'In The Pines' in the key of E. The chord progression is: 1141 1511 1141 1511 (This is the same as if one were to play the last 2 lines twice of the verses or choruses of many other songs, including Foggy Mountain Top, Amazing Grace, All The Good Times Are Past And Gone, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Cotton Fields, and Little Cabin Home On The Hill.) In the key of E: 1=E; 4=A; 5=B The E chord consists of the notes: E G# B The A chord consists of the notes: A C# E The B chord consists of the notes: B D# F# Together, these 7 notes (E F# G# A B C# D#) make up the E major scale. Since it is always a viable option - even if not usually the best option when playing bluegrass - to play the '5' chord in the song as a 7th chord, guitar players playing through this progression may wish to play a B7 chord instead of a B for the '5' chord measures. Because playing a B chord on guitar requires using a bar chord, and bluegrass guitarists have a tendency to avoid bar chords when possible, playing a B7 in this context is much more common amongst bluegrass guitarists than playing a B. For banjo players I recommend placing the capo on the 2nd fret and spiking/capoing the 5th string at the 9th fret. The fingerings then become just as if one were playing in the key of D: 1=D; 4=G; 5=A. Many guitar players will probably wish to capo to the 2nd fret also. Capoing to the 4th fret, and then playing as if in C (1=C, 4=F; 5=G) is also an option for banjo and guitar players for playing in the key of E, and works well on many songs, but not so well for 'In The Pines': the main reason being that the song favours the use of additional notes in breaks and backup licks that do not belong to the E major scale which tend to be more awkward to play in combination with the notes of the major scale when working out of 'C' instead of 'D' or 'E'. These additional notes give a 'bluesy' quality to the song which suits the 'lonesome' subject matter of the lyrics quite well. (To see which notes these are and where they are located on your instrument when playing in the key of E, see the melody sheet and the sheet music to tab conversion chart attached to this email.) An additional reason for avoiding capoing to the 4th fret to play In The Pines in E, is that the 'C' chord shape as played within the first three frets on guitar and as played within the first 2 frets on banjo tends to detract from the bluesy feel that the song lends itself so well to, and has a greater potential than what either the 'D' or the 'E' chord shapes that occur within the first 3 frets of guitar or banjo do to clash noticeably with some of additional notes being played by other instruments that give the song a bluesy flavour. For those who are relatively new to reading music, I would like to point out that there are a couple of symbols on the melody sheet 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 page, 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 second symbol that you will not often see on the song of the week melody sheets occurs in the pickup measure before the second note, and in 4 other measures as well, in the 'modified melody'. This is called a 'natural' sign, and simply means that you play a natural note (e.g., G) in place of the note that is indicated by the key signature (e.g., G#). When a natural sign occurs before a note, it temporarily overrides the key signature (just as when a sharp sign or a flat sign occurs before a note); both that note and all subsequent notes within the same measure that are written on the same line or space become naturals, unless a flat or a sharp sign occurs before a subsequent note written on the same line. After the measure ends, the key signature goes back into full effect. If you aren't sure that you understand this correctly, don't concern yourself too much with it, for I have written the letter names of the notes below each of the notes occurring in the 'modified melody', so you may use those to help you read the music correctly. In The Pines - Bill Monroe - key of F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_UkluxB7gc Peter Rowan - key of E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKh8XjgoQfc Boone Creek (Ricky Skaggs on lead vocal) - key of B https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kjiRfqFhUM Happy Pickin', Jason
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