11/29/07 – Transcribing Monroe’s Nine Pound Hammer

I highly recommend visiting Ron Block’s website. He has some great essays on practice and other aspects of learning an instrument. I was inspired by on of his essays to finally sit down and transcribe some Monroe licks. I decided to study Nine Pound Hammer as I am comfortable with the song and have been playing it a lot lately.

Thanks to the The Bluegrass Hub and DC++, I have 30 gigs of live Bill Monroe recordings – in fact it is every Bill Monroe recording known to be available. A quick search of the directory and I was able to bring up every show in which Big Mon played Nine Pound Hammer.

Played Nine Pound Hammer very regularly with his brother Charlie in 1955. It seems that after Charlie left, Bill pretty much stopped playing it. Then, in the late seventies he picked it up again and would throw it into the 4 or 5 song medleys.

The version of Nine Pound Hammer played in the 50’s with Charlie is certainly the best representation of Big Mon’s style and interpretation of the song. The best recording I found was from an unknown date in 1955. One funny thing I noticed is that every time Bill played Nine Pound Hammer, he would say something like “let’s go boyee” before they started – he says it in the recording below.

Bill & Charlie Monroe – 1955 – Nine Pound Hammer

So, I opened the recording in Audacity and slowed it down. I think I got the notes down pretty well. I used this very handy website to write the tab.

The process of transcribing the solo note for note was a great experience, and I will definitely be doing this more often. Ron Block says in one essay, “There is a concentrated listening, a deep awareness that happens when we listen to a small part of a song over and over; it gets down deep into our musical consciousness and becomes a part of us.”

Getting Big Mon’s style into my musical consciousness…now that’s what I’m after.

***NOTE***for some reason I have formating issues with wordpress and it messes up my tab. I think it is laid out correctly now, but I will have to go back and check.***

E  |000----------------------------------------------50-----------|
 A  |----420--03p230--0---03p230---------02320----------420--------|
 D  |---------------24----------42----24----------------------|
 G  |----------------------------------------------------------------|

Filed under: My Journal, My Transcriptions, Nine Pound Hammer, Practice Session Notes

11/26 & 27/07 – γνωθι σεαυτόν

In order to keep practice enjoyable you have to constantly shake things up. Learning an instrument, or anything else of practice, is a cycle of reaching a plateau and then breaking through to a new plateau. The real challenge here is being able to recognize when you have reached a plateau and then effectively break out of it – γνωθι σεαυτόν.  Many people reach a plateau and then stay there for years. At that point the plateau has become a rut.

3 months ago I had set the goal of going through the instructional book “Bluegrass Up the Neck.” Too many times I have gotten 1/3 of the way through a book and then put it down. This time I wanted to go through the book methodically and completely.

Well, I got about 2\3rd’s of the way through and lost interest. At first I blamed the book – the companion CD doesn’t separate out the mandolin by stereo, and so you can’t practice along; there are no exercises, only solos, and that’s not helpful; blah blah blah/excuses. I have come to the conclusion that I lost interest in the book at that point, and there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, I did the correct thing and moved on to something else that I found more productive and enjoyable.

The point of this journal is to make it easier for me to look back on what I have done, and then tap into what I need to do next. This journal should make it very easy for me to identify my cycles of interest and my attention span.  Case in point – I used to expect to be able stay on the same practice regime for a month or so.  Now I am beginning to see that I shouldn’t expect to stay interested in anything for more than two weeks. -> γνωθι σεαυτόν

For the month of October my practice sessions were extremely focused. This has not been the case for November. Now, having a new-born child come into your life surely has something to do with that. But in any case, I adjusted the precious little time that I get to spend with my mandolin to an activity that was fun for me.

Right now I feel a change coming along again. Monday and Tuesday I played along with the recording of the Northport jam and I focused on playing the melody, note by note, of each song. I jammed a little and just explored the neck. I focused on tone. I think that I want to spend a few more practice sessions like this, and then start working on finger control and speed again.

Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal

Billy in the Lowground

Texas Style Billy in the LowgroundTexas Style Billy in the Lowground >.pdf

Billy in the Lowground is a timeless classic tune in most old-time fiddle styles and Texas is no exception. This version comes mostly from legendary fiddler Benny Thomasson, slightly modified for the mandolin.

He plays so many great variations on this tune that we’ll look at some here and more in the next issue. He plays an outstanding version on the CD The Weiser Reunion from Voyager Records.

We start out measure one with a triplet. Hammer-on (h in the music) to the A and B notes, the second and fourth frets on the G-string. You’ll see the same triplet in measures nine and 14. Execute it the same way. Other options are to pick all of the notes, or pick the G-note (open string), hammer-on the A note (second fret) and pick the B note (fourth fret). Execute the triplet in measure 20 the same way.

Also note there are many seventh fret notes played with the pinky finger on the left hand. Over the music these are marked with a “4″ to indicate the fourth finger. That is the pinky (yes even to you pianists out there).

In measures 7, 17, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31, I like to play the D-sharp note (sixth fret on the A-string) with the pinky. In measures 23 and 31, slide this note to the seventh fret, indicated by “sl” in the music. This tune, like many of the past tunes in this column, is great for the pinky. Practice these phrases SLOWLY and EXECUTE clearly! In a couple of months your pinky will improve dramatically.

A cheerful winter thought. As you play this tune, think of a hot summer day at a festival, pickin’ with friends and having a beverage of your choice. I can see the hills of Weiser right now…

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Filed under: Billy in the Lowground, Show Notes & Song References

Dixie Breakdown

Dixie Breakdown

This arrangement comes into the category of “What to do when the banjo player plays …..” Since Foggy Mountain Breakdown banjo instrumentals have been an important component of the bluegrass sound. The mandolin player has to fake up some interesting breaks to these tunes, and none better than Dean Webb’s breaks when Doug Dillard launched into his fast banjo instrumentals with the Dillards during the 1960s. As Dean demonstrated, the mandolin player has carte blanche to create an interesting sound in his own right in this situation.

In the two breaks to Dixie Breakdown below I’ve borrowed quite a lot from Dean Webb’s playing on The Dillards Live – Almost! LP album. The licks in Part 1 of both breaks are mostly variations of Dean’s playing in his first break on the album. In Part 2 I’ve used some movable double stops which reflect the banjo part more closely.

Before playing these breaks you are recommended to work through the double stop exercises below. The left hand fingering will help you through the various versions of these double stop licks that you will find in the breaks.

Also note the difference between Version a and Version b of each lick. Version a moves the double stop smack on the downstroke. However in Version b the move occurs a one-eighth note earlier, to create a driving syncopated effect which is used in the main breaks. When playing back the tab through MIDI your ear will soon be confused, and you will need to keep tapping your foot to recognise how the changes fit in with the downbeats. Dean Webb uses this kind of syncopation a lot to add excitement to his playing.

I believe that Don Reno originally recorded Dixie Breakdown at a more moderate speed, but the Dillards take it at the speed of light, somewhere between 166 and 168 half-note beats per minute. I’ve set the MIDI playback in the MusEdit file a lot slower so you can hear what is going on, but you can alter it as you wish.The chords in square brackets in Part 2 are played in stop time: one brush and the solo instrument plays on unaccompanied for two bars until the next chord change. The band picks up regular rhythm again in bar 13, on the E chord. The re-release of Live – Almost! together with Back Porch Bluegrass on a single Dillards CD (budget priced in Europe) has been one of the highlights of 2002. No bluegrass buff should be without these classic recordings from the 1960s – get them while you can!

Filed under: Dixie Breakdown, Show Notes & Song References

11/24/07 – Northport Jam

Saturday afternoon I was able to get out for a jam session at Carl’s house on Northport. For this jam we had Carl on banjo, David on bass, and my good friend Kieth on guitar. About halfway into the jam David switched to fiddle and Kieth picked up the upright bass. To my ears Kieth sounded great on the bass and I think he had fun with it too.

This jam session was just a rocking good time. Everyone was sounding good and having fun. I think that my fast and loose practicing really paid off. I felt that my breaks, while not complicated, were loose, fast and raw. I focused on staying within the chord structure and adding fills around it. I played a lot of blues (7th) notes and double stops. I tried to find the melody within the chord changes.

The following clip is a good example of that. It is “Love Please Come Home” in the key of G. The tricky part of the song is the F chord that gets thrown in. In the past I would have tried to find that note in the melody, and I would have missed. Instead, this time I said “screw it” and just banged on that F chord when its time came. Then I went back to G and hung out on double stops. I brought the whole thing back to the G in the end with a couple of blues notes.

Love Please Come Home_11-24-07_clip

This next clip from “Hold Watcha Got” shows the same idea. I like this clip because I really nailed the Monroe style shuffle about midway through. I tried to fit too much into the very end though…

Hold Watcha Got_11-24-07_audio clip

Again, these solos are not technically magnificent, or even very interesting. But they are driving. “Fast and low to the ground.” Simple, driving and effective.

Listening to the entire jam session and all of my breaks I realize that there is a downside and danger to this method – it gets very predictable. Predictable = boring. I’m not going to sweat it though. As I have stated in the past I think that at this point it is very important to find my voice and style. I need to seek out licks and runs that I like and learn them. Time to fill the ipod up with Monroe recording and keep a notebook by my bed.

Here is the setlist:

• Long Black Veil (A)
• Old Folks At Home (G)
• Old Home Place (G)
• Nine Pound Hammer (G)
• Love Please Come Home (G)
• It Takes a Worried Man (G)
• Hold Whatcha Got (G)
• Dixie Breakdown (G)
• Banks of the Ohio (G)
• Reuben (D)

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Jam Setlist, My Journal

11/20 – 22/07 – Fast and Loose Practice Sessions

Well, I guess that I have been getting in some decent practice sessions the last couple of days. My fingers are sore and my callouses are worn thin.

With the new baby my sleep schedule has been waaaaay out of wack. I’m not even sure what day of the week it is. Lately I have been getting in some great practice sessions in around midnight, right after my evening nap. See, I take the baby at 8:30 or 9 for a couple of hours to let my wife get some sleep, but usually I fall asleep too. So I wake up bright eyed and ready to jam at around midnight. The last two nights I was able to play out in my backyard patio – that was magical. I won’t be able to do that anymore though; a cold front just came into Dallas today.

I have mainly been playing along with the recordings of jam sessions that I have. I have been focusing on playing fast and staying loose. In the faster jams I will just play arpeggios or scales along with the chord changes. Other times I focus on finding and playing the melody of the song. I have also been practicing some of the licks and positions in “Bluegrass Up the Neck” and applying them to some of the songs in the jams.

I can’t say enough how useful it is to have the recordings of jam sessions. In fact, I decided that going forward I will list the songs played so that I will be able to search them out as needed in later dates.

I went to the venerable Charley’s guitar shop today and was able to spend a good hour playing the guitars and mandolins in stock. I absolutely fell in love with a Collings parlor guitar they just got in stock. They also have a Collings MT that is the loudest mandolin I have ever heard. It defines “bluegrass cannon.” I am looking very good in my fantasy football league, and if I win the prize money could be enough to fund a new instrument acquisition….

Filed under: My Journal, Practice Session Notes

11/19/07 – Southwest Bluegrass Club Meeting, Concert & Jam

Today I forgo watching the Cowboys game so that I could attend the monthly Southwest Bluegrass Club meeting. I am glad I did because I had a great time.

I was able to get to get to the meeting a little early and jam. There was a good jam session going on with 2 fiddles, 2 banjos, a bass, a mandolin and a guitar. The first song we played was Man of Constant Sorrow (“Oh Brother style”) and that was a lot of fun to sing but my break was not so good. The clip below is from the last song we played. I don’t know what the name of the song is, but this turned out to be my best break of the day. Unfortunately I didn’t realized until later that I had placed my H2 recorder facing my chest inside my shirt pocket, so the sound is a little muffled.

Southwest Bluegrass Club Pre-Meeting Jam 1-19-07_clip

Somebody brought some photo albums and nice scrapbooks of the club’s history and I really enjoyed looking through them. Our club was founded in 1974 and it has seen some great bluegrass in those years. Every month we invite a local band top play at the meeting, and every year we have a concert with national bands. I could not believe the legends that this club has seen. I was most impressed in seeing that the Country Gentlemen (with Doyle Lawson on mandolin) has played for our club. That must have really been something to see.

At this meeting the band Bluefield Express played for us. I thought that the banjo player was very good, but that’s about it. The singer had a nice voice, but they played mostly old gospel songs and that’s not really my cup of tea, so I ducked out back to jam.

The jam session going on out back was really great. Local legends Gerald Jones and Tom Becket were present. In the clip below I had literally just walked up to the jam circle and a break was tossed to me. The fiddle played after my break is that of Tom Becket, and the banjo you hear is Gerald. I wanted to keep in Tom’s fiddle break because I think that he just shredded it up. There are two breaks in the clip below…they are actually 3 min apart but I fused them together with audacity.

Lonesome Road Blues 11-19-07_double clip

I am pretty happy with my break here just because I was able to keep up with the jam. I played a couple of songs here and then moseyed back inside to the slow jam. For some reason I had a much more difficult time playing in the slow jam, although I did have one nice break in Nine Pound Hammer (which I sang also).

Anyways, it was a really fun meeting and my hand was cramped by the end of it.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal

11/12/07 – Slow Jam at Charley’s

My wife gave me a great gift Monday night – she allowed me to go to a bluegrass slow jam across town at the venerable Charley’s guitar shop. Not many wives would let their husbands run off to play bluegrass the night after they deliver a child and are still laid up in the hospital. What can I say other than that I have an awesome wife.

My wife understands me. She knew that I had a lot of excitement and joy in my heart and that I needed to release it in my own individual way.

Bluegrass is great for expressing these kind of emotions. It can be very bouncy, active and happy – especially the fiddle tunes.

Unfortunately I am still not very good at expressing myself through the mandolin, and I am even worse at playing bluegrass and bluegrass fiddle tunes. In other words…I found myself having a very difficult time playing that night at Charley’s. I don’t think I played very well at all. It was very disappointing. Usually I make tangible progress in the month from one Charley’s jam to the next. This time I felt like I had regressed two months or more.

What happened? At first I thought that maybe I too excited, that maybe I was distracted.

But then I took a look at my journal, and the journal never lies. I found that I haven’t had a serious, concentrated practice session for the entire month of November. My last GOOD practice session was October 28.

So yes, I probably was distracted, but the bottom line is that I was really just RUSTY. I need to get back on a healthy diet of at least two solid practice sessions every week. I should have plenty of time for practice with Thanksgiving coming up.

Out of the some 15 breaks I took at the jam, I only have the guts to post one of them. The rest were just horrible. I mean, my readers and listeners should know that I am a beginner. None of my solos are going to be that great, but this was really bad.

On second (and third) listen this solo could be much better, but at least it not incoherent. Also, the unsatisfying mandolin solo is only matched by my singing.

11-12-07 Nine Pound Hammer (Mandolin solo and singing)

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal , Charley's Jam

Baby Girl

Hi folks….my new baby girl arrived this past Sunday. Her birthday is 11-11-07 …pretty cool birthday, don’t you think? Her name is Nola Lourdes. Mother and baby are back home now and I am home also trying to keep our two year old son out of my wife’s hair. I am so excited to have a little girl. Now I need to start practicing lullibies and saving up for a pony.

Pictures can be seen here.

Filed under: My Journal

11/09/07 – Friday Night Backyard Jam

We went over to my parents house last night for dinner and my Dad and I got to jam a little bit. My Dad is really good at playing Brazilian bossanova jazz on the guitar. It is pretty hard to play along with him because the songs use very exotic chords and will change keys at seemingly random times…but when we do find that groove, it sounds pretty nice.

Here is a short clip of one of my favorite moments in the jam….

11/09/07 – Friday Night Backyard Jam

Filed under: Jam Reflections, My Journal