Bluegrass Learning Jam at Harry’s Guitar Shop

Handouts for September through December 2017

Songs:

Blue Moon of Kentucky (key of G)

Dark Hollow (key of D, or “key of C” with capo on second fret)

Down the Road (key of A, or “key of G” with capo on second fret)

Oh Sinner Man (key of A minor)

Instrumentals:

Big Sandy River (key of A, or “key of G” with capo on second fret)

St. Anne’s Reel (key of D, or “key of C” with capo on second fret)

Holiday Tunes:

Jingle Bells (key of A, or “key of G” with capo on second fret)

Auld Lang Syne (key of G)

Blue Moon of Kentucky

(Key of G) by Bill Monroe Verse-Chorus

This is probably Bill Monroe’s most well-known composition. It’s often

played slowly in 3/4 time (waltz time), and then changed to an uptempo 4/4

time midway through the song.

Verse:

G (G7) C ●

G ● D ●

G (G7) C ●

G D G ●

Chorus:

C ● G ●

C ● G D

G (G7) C ●

G D G ●

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining,

Shine on the one that’s gone and proved untrue.

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining,

Shine on the one that’s gone and made me blue.

It was on a moonlight night, the stars were shining bright,

They whispered from on high, your love has said goodbye.

Blue moon of Kentucky, keep on shining,

Shine on the one that’s gone and said goodbye.

Dark Hollow

(Key of D) by Bill Browning Verse-Chorus

Verse and Chorus (same chords for both):

D ● A ●

D ● ● ●

D ● G ●

D ● ● ●

D ● (D7) ●

G ● ● ●

D ● A ●

D ● ● ●

Chorus:

So blow your whistle, freight train,

Carry me far on down the track.

I’m going away, I’m leaving today,

I’m going but I ain’t coming back.

Verses:

I’d rather be in some dark hollow,

Where the sun don’t never shine,

Than to be home alone, knowing that you’re gone,

Would cause me to lose my mind.

I’d rather be in some dark hollow,

Where the sun don’t never shine,

Than to be in some big city,

In a small room with your love on my mind.

Dark Hollow

(Key of D, capo 2) by Bill Browning Verse-Chorus

Verse and Chorus (same chords for both):

C ● G ●

C ● ● ●

C ● F ●

C ● ● ●

C ● (C7) ●

F ● ● ●

C ● G ●

C ● ● ●

Chorus:

So blow your whistle, freight train,

Carry me far on down the track.

I’m going away, I’m leaving today,

I’m going but I ain’t coming back.

Verses:

I’d rather be in some dark hollow,

Where the sun don’t never shine,

Than to be home alone, knowing that you’re gone,

Would cause me to lose my mind.

I’d rather be in some dark hollow,

Where the sun don’t never shine,

Than to be in some big city,

In a small room with your love on my mind.

Down the Road

(Key of A) Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Verse-Chorus or Verse only

On the classic Flatt and Scruggs version of this song, they never sing the

Chorus, only the Verses. But many bluegrass jams do sing the Chorus each time.

Like with many bluegrass songs, it’s common to play the I (one) chord (in

this case, an A chord) a few extra measures in between an instrumental solo and

the next verse—sometimes we call this “vamping” on the A chord.

Verse and Chorus (same chords for both):

A ● ● F#m

A ● E A

A ● ● F#m

A ● E A

Vamp: A ● ●

Chorus:

Down the road, down the road,

I got a pretty gal down the road.

Verses:

Down the road just a mile or two Lives a little girl named Pearly Blue, About so high and her hair is brown,

Prettiest thing boys, in this town. Any time you want to know Where I’m goin’, down the road Get my girl on the line, You can find me there most any time.

Now every day and Sunday too, I go to see my Pearly Blue, Before you hear that rooster crow,

You’ll see me headed down the road. Old man Flatt, he owns the farm, From the hog lot to the barn, From the barn to the rail, He made his living by carrying mail.

Down the Road

(Key of A, capo 2) Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Verse-Chorus or Verse only

On the classic Flatt and Scruggs version of this song, they never sing the

Chorus, only the Verses. But many bluegrass jams do sing the Chorus each time.

Like with many bluegrass songs, it’s common to play the I (one) chord (in

this case, a G chord shape) a few extra measures in between an instrumental solo

and the next verse—sometimes we call this “vamping” on the G chord.

Verse and Chorus (same chords for both):

G ● ● Em

G ● D G

G ● ● Em

G ● D G

Vamp: G ● ●

Chorus:

Down the road, down the road,

I got a pretty gal down the road.

Verses:

Down the road just a mile or two Lives a little girl named Pearly Blue, About so high and her hair is brown,

Prettiest thing boys, in this town. Any time you want to know Where I’m goin’, down the road Get my girl on the line, You can find me there most any time.

Now every day and Sunday too, I go to see my Pearly Blue, Before you hear that rooster crow,

You’ll see me headed down the road. Old man Flatt, he owns the farm, From the hog lot to the barn, From the barn to the rail, He made his living by carrying mail.

Oh Sinner Man

(Key of A minor) Traditional Verse-Chorus

Like many traditional songs, you’ll find versions of this one with some slightly

different chords, but this simple two-chord version is probably the most common.

Verse and Chorus (same chords for both):

Am ● ● ●

Am ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

Am ● ● ●

Am ● ● ●

Am ● G ●

Am ● ● ●

Chorus:

Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?

Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?

Oh sinner man, where you gonna run to?

All on that day.

Verses:

I ran to the rock, the rock was a mountain, (3x)

All on that day.

I ran to the sea, the sea was a boiling, (3x)

All on that day.

I cried to the Lord, said Lord won’t you hide me? (3x)

All on that day.

Big Sandy River

(Key of A) by Kenny Baker/Bill Monroe AABB

A part:

A ● ● ●

E ● ● ●

A ● ● ●

E ● A ●

B part:

A ● D ●

E ● A ●

A ● D ●

E ● A ●

Big Sandy River

(Key of A, capo 2) by Kenny Baker/Bill Monroe AABB

A part:

G ● ● ●

D ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

D ● G ●

B part:

G ● C ●

D ● G ●

G ● C ●

D ● G ●

St. Anne’s Reel

(Key of D) Traditional AABB

St. Anne’s Reel is a popular fiddle tune often played with just three

chords (D, G, and A). You may also encounter versions that include some

minor chords, such as an E minor chord substitution (replacing the G chord)

as shown here in the B part.

Many guitar and banjo players play this tune with no capo (key of D),

and many put a capo on the second fret (to play it using “key of C”

positions). Try both ways and see which you prefer!

A part:

D ● ● ●

G ● D ●

D ● ● ●

G A D ●

B part:

D ● G ●

A ● D ●

D ● G ●

A ● D ●

Try using an E minor chord to replace these G chords.

St. Anne’s Reel

(Key of D, capo 2) Traditional AABB

St. Anne’s Reel is a popular fiddle tune often played with just three

chords (with your capo on, the C, F, and G chord shapes). You may also

encounter versions that include some minor chords, such as a D minor chord

substitution (replacing the F chord) as shown here in the B part.

Many guitar and banjo players play this tune with no capo (key of D),

and many put a capo on the second fret (to play it using “key of C”

positions). Try both ways and see which you prefer!

A part:

C ● ● ●

F ● C ●

C ● ● ●

F G C ●

B part:

C ● F ●

G ● C ●

C ● F ●

G ● C ●

Try using a D minor chord to replace these F chords.

Jingle Bells

(Key of A) by J.L. Pierpont/Public Domain Verse-Chorus

Verse:

A ● ● ●

A ● D ●

D ● E ●

E ● A ●

A ● ● ●

A ● D ●

D ● E ●

E ● A E

Chorus:

A ● ● ●

A ● ● ●

D ● ● A B ● E ●

A ● ● ●

A ● ● ●

D ● ● A E ● A ●

Jingle Bells

(Key of A, capo 2) by J.L. Pierpont/Public Domain Verse-Chorus

Verse:

G ● ● ●

G ● C ●

C ● D ●

D ● G ●

G ● ● ●

G ● C ●

C ● D ●

D ● G D

Chorus:

G ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

C ● ● G A ● D ●

G ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

C ● ● G D ● G ●

Jingle Bells

by J.L. Pierpont/Public Domain Verse-Chorus

Dashing through the snow,

In a one-horse open sleigh,

Over the fields we go,

Laughing all the way!

Bells on Bobtail ring,

Making spirits bright,

What fun it is to laugh and sing a

Sleighing song tonight! Oh…

Chorus:

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way,

Oh what fun it is to ride in a

One-horse open sleigh!

(repeat)

A day or two ago,

I thought I’d take a ride,

And soon Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side.

The horse was lean and lank,

Misfortune seemed his lot,

He got into a drifted bank,

And then we got upsot! Oh…

Auld Lang Syne

(Key of G) Traditional/Robert Burns Verse-Chorus

Verse:

G ● ● ●

D ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

C ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

D ● ● ●

G ● C D G ● ● C

Chorus:

G ● ● ●

D ● ● C

G ● ● ●

C ● ● ●

G ● ● ●

D ● ● ●

G ● C D

G ● ● ●

Try using an E minor chord to replace these G chords.

Auld Lang Syne

Traditional/Robert Burns Verse-Chorus

Should old acquaintance

Be forgot, and

Never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance

Be forgot, for

Auld lang syne?

Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll take a cup of

Kindness yet, for

Auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll have

Your pint cup,

And surely I’ll have mine,

We’ll take a cup of

Kindness yet, for

Auld lang syne.