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

Nine Pound Hammer

Nine Pound Hammer

This nine pound [G]hammer is a little too [C]heavy
For my [G]size [D]buddy for my [G]size
Roll on buddy don’t you roll so [C]slow
How can I [G]roll [D]when the wheels won’t [G]go

It’s a long way to Harlan
And a long way to Hazard
Just to get a little booze
Just to get a little booze

Oh, the nine pound hammer killed John Henry
Ain’t gonna kill me
Ain’t gonna kill me

There ain’t one hammer down in this tunnel
That can ring like mine, that can ring like mine
Rings like silver, shines like gold
Rings like silver, shines like gold

Buddy when I’m long gone, won’t you make my tombstone
Out of number nine coal, out of number nine coal

I’m going on the mountain, just to see my baby
And I ain’t coming back, no I ain’t coming back

Filed under: Nine Pound Hammer, Show Notes & Song References