quote:

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Originally posted by rstieg

"My Little Home in Tennessee", sometimes called "Little Home in Tennessee" is not one of the most commonly played bluegrass songs, just one I happen to like. I believe it's an old Carter family song and has been recorded by a number of artists, recently by IIIrd Tyme Out. There is a tab for it at banjobluegrass.free.fr/Banjo_tabs_M.html, though chords are not included. You can tell from the tab, however, that it is a I - !V - V - I chord progression.

There are a few other songs I've found where at least the verse is a I - !V - V - I progression. I'll try to find my list and post them here.

RICH
Pleasanton, CA

The truth is a moving target... perception is more important than reality... everything is relative...

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I forgot to check my list at home over lunch, but here are a few others I believe should be in "Group D": We'll Meet Again Sweetheart, Is It Too Late Now (both Flatt & Scruggs). Also, Give Me Forty Acres and there's a gospel song that I can't remember right now. I'll get back to you with any others I can come up with.

RICH
Pleasanton, CA

The truth is a moving target... perception is more important than reality... everything is relative...

Here are a few others in Group D - I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap, Great Speckled Bird, and Teardrops in My Eyes (verse).

RICH
Pleasanton, CA

The truth is a moving target... perception is more important than reality... everything is relative...

Here's another one for Group D: I Wonder Where You Are Tonight. We just played this one at a jam last night.

RICH
Pleasanton, CA

The truth is a moving target... perception is more important than reality... everything is relative...

Good thread...Light just went off...***Ding Ding***. I get it. I love when something simple that has been kicking me in the rear clicks. Thanks everybody!!

Tim Nash
"Awaiting my Huber"

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Originally posted by slowlybutsurely

Good thread...Light just went off...***Ding Ding***. I get it. I love when something simple that has been kicking me in the rear clicks. Thanks everybody!!

Tim Nash
"Awaiting my Huber"

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Excellent work, Kemo. These lists are already proving useful. Thanks to you and the rest of the contributors to this thread.

AD3

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Originally posted by AD3AD3AD3

Excellent work, Kemo. These lists are already proving useful. Thanks to you and the rest of the contributors to this thread.

AD3

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I just managed to re-locate this thread with some difficulty. I would suggest that this be made a either a sticky or that it gets its own link off of the Tablature section or in the lessons section.

Thanks for the list Phil, that will come in handy

Scott

( ) ===== : :

"Just start picking and we'll figure it out"

Thank You so much!
I've been away from the boards & my banjo for a while. This is so encouraging to find my first time back.
YipEEee

watersprite

While the chord progressions are the same for all of these tune (within their groups) the timing for each chord differs from song to song.
In Cripple Creek, for example, the IV is only a half measure, but in Worried Man Blues it's three measure.

It maybe obvious to most, but I thought it should be mentioned.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rollingwolf

While the chord progressions are the same for all of these tune (within their groups) the timing for each chord differs from song to song.
In Cripple Creek, for example, the IV is only a half measure, but in Worried Man Blues it's three measure.

It maybe obvious to most, but I thought it should be mentioned.

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Great list and great thread.

The thing that has always struck me funny is that THIS is the way most guitar lessons START. I had a college room mate who one day said, "I bet I can teach you 50 songs on the guitar in about 20 minutes." I was incredulous, but where he was coming from was this idea that if you learn a G, C, and D chord, you can "play" every song in that list. Hand you a capo and you can play them all in 3 keys.

And yet for some reaon, when I approached banjo instructors with this request, "I wanna learn banjo like people learn guitar, give me 20 minutes and I'll show you how to play 20 songs on the banjo", they all looked at me like I was from Mars.

"Jest lern yer tabs boy!"

So I stayed home, saved my lesson money for a nicer banjo, and started digging chord progressions out of every source I could find.

And heck, it's easy to find people to play with because everybody knows breaks they can do while I mess around with rolls and chords!

I don't know why more instructors don't teach this way. You as the instructor know the leads. Those are very impressive, but me the dumb student can only pick them up excruciatingly slowly through tons of repetition that "doesn't sound like a song" (heard that before?). Well, what if the instructor could teach me the chord progression with a basic forward/backward roll for a few different songs, start my ear training listening to chord changes and timing, get me on the road to playing with others in my FIRST lesson instead of not thinking I was "ready for that" for three years down the road, and best of all, get me thirsting for how to inject a bit of that fancy lead playing into the song somewhere.

It seems like about a thousand times better teaching method than plunking out a tab for me and telling me, "Practice enough and someday you'll be able to do this....."

Sorry just venting a little. As I said, great list, great thread. It just needs a catchier title like, "YOU can play 50 banjo tunes whether you know it or not!"

-Dave G.

BTW - In the above reference to "you" the instructor, I don't mean to lash out at "you" Phil, just at narrow minded instructors. but even them just a little bit. :^)

hipine:

AMEN!!!

Kemo Sabe: Great list, thanks for taking the time to do this. I've got an issue though with "This Land Is Your Land" in Group A. The song starts on the IV chord, so it doesn't seem to me that it belongs in Group A (or B or C or D.)

-Ryan.

quote:

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Originally posted by RyanHerr

hipine:

AMEN!!!

Kemo Sabe: Great list, thanks for taking the time to do this. I've got an issue though with "This Land Is Your Land" in Group A. The song starts on the IV chord, so it doesn't seem to me that it belongs in Group A (or B or C or D.)

-Ryan.

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Kemo Sabe, you bring up some interesting issues. Here's how I hear it: "This land is" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "your."

Like in Amazing Grace, "A-" is a pick-up note, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "-maz(ing)," or in She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain "She'll be" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "com(ing.)"

So for This Land Is Your Land, I'd say that in a certain sense the song starts on "your" which is on the IV chord. If you were to play the chords to these songs in a cycle over and over, you'd say that the cycle of chords restarts on "your" and "-maz(ing)" and "com(ing)", not on "This land is" or "A-" or "She'll be."

Let me know if this makes any sense or not.

-Ryan.

quote:

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Originally posted by RyanHerr

Kemo Sabe, you bring up some interesting issues. Here's how I hear it: "This land is" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "your."

Like in Amazing Grace, "A-" is a pick-up note, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "-maz(ing)," or in She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain "She'll be" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "com(ing.)"

So for This Land Is Your Land, I'd say that in a certain sense the song starts on "your" which is on the IV chord. If you were to play the chords to these songs in a cycle over and over, you'd say that the cycle of chords restarts on "your" and "-maz(ing)" and "com(ing)", not on "This land is" or "A-" or "She'll be."

Let me know if this makes any sense or not.

-Ryan.

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quote:

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Originally posted by hipine

Great list and great thread.

The thing that has always struck me funny is that THIS is the way most guitar lessons START. I had a college room mate who one day said, "I bet I can teach you 50 songs on the guitar in about 20 minutes." I was incredulous, but where he was coming from was this idea that if you learn a G, C, and D chord, you can "play" every song in that list. Hand you a capo and you can play them all in 3 keys.

And yet for some reaon, when I approached banjo instructors with this request, "I wanna learn banjo like people learn guitar, give me 20 minutes and I'll show you how to play 20 songs on the banjo", they all looked at me like I was from Mars.

"Jest lern yer tabs boy!"

So I stayed home, saved my lesson money for a nicer banjo, and started digging chord progressions out of every source I could find.

And heck, it's easy to find people to play with because everybody knows breaks they can do while I mess around with rolls and chords!

I don't know why more instructors don't teach this way. You as the instructor know the leads. Those are very impressive, but me the dumb student can only pick them up excruciatingly slowly through tons of repetition that "doesn't sound like a song" (heard that before?). Well, what if the instructor could teach me the chord progression with a basic forward/backward roll for a few different songs, start my ear training listening to chord changes and timing, get me on the road to playing with others in my FIRST lesson instead of not thinking I was "ready for that" for three years down the road, and best of all, get me thirsting for how to inject a bit of that fancy lead playing into the song somewhere.

It seems like about a thousand times better teaching method than plunking out a tab for me and telling me, "Practice enough and someday you'll be able to do this....."

Sorry just venting a little. As I said, great list, great thread. It just needs a catchier title like, "YOU can play 50 banjo tunes whether you know it or not!"

-Dave G.

BTW - In the above reference to "you" the instructor, I don't mean to lash out at "you" Phil, just at narrow minded instructors. but even them just a little bit. :^)

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I believe that Chord progression will become second nature with anyone who plays a lot of backup. In the 1960's I played banjo with a group of old time fiddlers. Usually it was fiddle, banjo, and 1 or 2 guitars. Around here the banjo was not a common instrument and most folks didn't know that it could "lead". At the time I was a rank beginner and couldn't lead, so I played lots of backup. I still can't lead much, but can still play backup even though I laid the Banjo aside for about 30 years. Just recently got interested again. Even now on a song I never heard before I can hear chord changes before they get here and unless it is a really unusual chord (Fiddlers sometimes do that) I can always hit the right one.

Does this make sense?
Stan

quote:

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Originally posted by Stan41

I believe that Chord progression will become second nature with anyone who plays a lot of backup. In the 1960's I played banjo with a group of old time fiddlers. Usually it was fiddle, banjo, and 1 or 2 guitars. Around here the banjo was not a common instrument and most folks didn't know that it could "lead". At the time I was a rank beginner and couldn't lead, so I played lots of backup. I still can't lead much, but can still play backup even though I laid the Banjo aside for about 30 years. Just recently got interested again. Even now on a song I never heard before I can hear chord changes before they get here and unless it is a really unusual chord (Fiddlers sometimes do that) I can always hit the right one.

Does this make sense?
Stan

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Phil: I think I made a mistake in my Banjo education. In the 1960's I bought one of the early Ome Grubstakes (ser. No. 358) that was when it was still being made by hippies in Boulder, Colorado. I never met any other banjo men to show me anything. The only thing I had was the Scruggs book and records. I did however play many hours with old time Texas fiddlers. Some of them were quite good in the Texas style of fiddling. One of the best ones I ever knew would call the chords as he played. This was for the benefit of his beginning nephews who were trying to learn guitar. I will never forget one night he was playing some tune with many weird chords and he was calling them. When we got through one of the boys said "That is hard!" He said "Well boys, you will find that the prettiest music there is, is hard to play".

I got too busy making a living (or thought so) that I didn't play at all for many years although I have always had a love for bluegrass. Since I am now 66 and retired I have started going to some bluegrass festivals and picking at home on the banjo. Boy am I really rusty. Don't know if I will ever get these old right hand fingers to move fast enough again, but I'm going to try.
Stan

quote:

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Originally posted by Stan41

Phil: I think I made a mistake in my Banjo education. In the 1960's I bought one of the early Ome Grubstakes (ser. No. 358) that was when it was still being made by hippies in Boulder, Colorado. I never met any other banjo men to show me anything. The only thing I had was the Scruggs book and records. I did however play many hours with old time Texas fiddlers. Some of them were quite good in the Texas style of fiddling. One of the best ones I ever knew would call the chords as he played. This was for the benefit of his beginning nephews who were trying to learn guitar. I will never forget one night he was playing some tune with many weird chords and he was calling them. When we got through one of the boys said "That is hard!" He said "Well boys, you will find that the prettiest music there is, is hard to play".

I got too busy making a living (or thought so) that I didn't play at all for many years although I have always had a love for bluegrass. Since I am now 66 and retired I have started going to some bluegrass festivals and picking at home on the banjo. Boy am I really rusty. Don't know if I will ever get these old right hand fingers to move fast enough again, but I'm going to try.
Stan

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quote:

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Originally posted by RyanHerr

Kemo Sabe, you bring up some interesting issues. Here's how I hear it: "This land is" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "your."

Like in Amazing Grace, "A-" is a pick-up note, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "-maz(ing)," or in She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain "She'll be" are pick-up notes, and the first downbeat of the song falls on "com(ing.)"

So for This Land Is Your Land, I'd say that in a certain sense the song starts on "your" which is on the IV chord. If you were to play the chords to these songs in a cycle over and over, you'd say that the cycle of chords restarts on "your" and "-maz(ing)" and "com(ing)", not on "This land is" or "A-" or "She'll be."

Let me know if this makes any sense or not.

-Ryan.

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quote:

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....The pick-up notes I believe TIMEWISE are notes that are subtracted from the last measure of the song ....

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