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Wildwood Flower

10/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Hi,
Excellent jam last night!
The song of the week is 'Wildwood Flower' in the key of C.

The chord progression for 'Wildwood Flower' is:

11511
11511
1141
11511

In the key of C: 1=C, 4=F, 5=G

Notice that the 1st, 2nd, and 4th lines of the progression are each 5 measures long.

This song has lyrics, but more often than not, it is played as an instrumental at bluegrass jams, and that is how I intend on playing it while it is the song of the week.

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

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

Most people I have heard sing Wildwood Flower use the same set of lyrics that the Carter Family recorded back in the 20's, but some of the lines in their set of lyrics make little sense; so, for those who would prefer to sing a set of lyrics that make more sense, here is an older set of lyrics for the song:

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

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

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

He told me he loved me,
And promis'd to love,
Through ill and misfortune,
All others above,
Another has won him,
Ah! misery to tell;
He left me in silence
No word of farewell!

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

The Carter Family lyrics are as follows:
Oh, I'll twine with my mingles and waving black hair
With the roses so red and the lilies so fair
And the myrtles so bright with emerald dew
The pale and the leader and eyes look like blue.Oh, I'll dance, I will sing and my laugh shall be gay
I will charm ev'ry heart, in his crown I will sway
When I woke from my dreaming, idols were clay
All portions of love then had all flown away.
Oh, he taught me to love him and promised to love
And to cherish me over all others above
How my heart now is wond'ring misery can tell
He's left me no warning, no words of farewell.
Oh, he taught me to love him and called me his flow'r
That was blooming to cheer him through life's dreary hour
Oh, I'm longing to see him through life's dark hour
He's gone and neglected this pale wildwood flower.
Here are some versions of Wildwood Flower to listen to, some instrumental, and some with vocals, and in a variety of different keys:

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

Ralph Stanley - key of G instrumental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W2gbj9m-xg

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

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

key of F: instrumental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf_yAp-BJ0I

key of E: instrumental
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIUZVRNGs_E

Happy Pickin',
Jason
Wildwood Flower Banjo tab 1.pdf
File Size: 269 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wildwood Flower Banjo tab 2.pdf
File Size: 264 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wildwood Flower Guitar tab 1.pdf
File Size: 270 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wildwood Flower Guitar tab 2.pdf
File Size: 274 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wildwood Flower Mandolin tab.pdf
File Size: 223 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Wildwood Flower Melody in C.pdf
File Size: 268 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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  • Home
    • About
    • Join Us
    • Donate
    • IBA Newsletter
    • Our Logo
  • Articles and Podcasts
    • Podcasts >
      • ​Jeremy Garrett Interview
      • Keith Reed Interview
      • Jason Homey Interview
      • Becky Smith Interview
      • Marv Quinton Interview
      • Rue Frisbee Interview
      • Donna and Mike Bond Interview
      • Honi Deaton Interview
      • Dennis Stokes Interview
      • Gary Eller Interview
    • Articles >
      • Glen Garrett - The Golden Years
      • Sammie Bush - came to Weiser
      • Mark O’Connor - My History at Weiser
      • Barbara Lamb - Fiddler Extraordinaire
      • Charlie Simmons -The Idaho Bluegrass Association from 1975 to 1985
      • Idaho's 19th century Fiddlers
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions ​ 1950s & 1960s
      • ​Byron Berline
      • Dave Frisbee
      • Weiser Fiddle Champions from 1970s and 80s
      • Megan Lynch Chowning
      • Fiddle Champion ​in 1990s and 2000s
      • Tashina and Tristan Clarridge
    • Snap Shot - Videos from IBA members
  • Events
    • Calendar (BCBB)
    • Open Mic
    • Winterfest
    • IBA Concert Series
    • Springfest
    • Virtualgrass
    • Other Bluegrass Events
  • Jam
    • Idaho Jams
    • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2021 - 2022
    • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2021 - 2022
    • All of Jason's Songs
    • Old Blogs from Jason >
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2019 - 2021
      • Jason's Beginner Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Jason's Intermediate Jam Blog 2017 - 2018
      • Songs in 2016
  • Camps & Contests
    • Idaho Bluegrass and Banjo Camp
    • Banjo Contest
    • National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest
  • Idaho Bands
  • Teachers
  • Classified
  • Links
    • General
    • Learning
    • Specific Instruments