bluegrass jams

[Bluegrasstjej]

I started a discussion about this at the general board but I realize this is the proper place for it.
I've played for a while but haven't attended jams a lot, mainly because I'm not so good and the pickers at the only regular jam available are very advanced. But I'm improving and there are not so many jammers there anymore so I'm going to attend when it starts in September.
Also, I just visited Nääsville bluegrass music festival and I got to jam some, I hadn't planned to but it turned out my bus doesn't go all the way home anymore so I had to take a later bus, which meant I could stay at the jams (if there were any). I didn't have my mandolin but at a bluegrass festival there are plenty of pickers and they don't all play their mandolins at the same time so I borrowed one.
Anyway, it was great fun, I had forgotten how much I love jams. I'm better now than when I attended jams before even if I need to work up some things. But I'm certainly going to visit those regular jams and I'm staying over at the next festival too.

Ok, to the questions I had. I asked something about intros vs not intros which I got good answers to, but I got to think of something else that might be a problem.

I sing lead quite a lot now, but my voice is quite unusual, I think. I sing in weird keys. I wonder, is it ok to sing songs in any key at jams? Maybe not E or A flat, but C, Bflat, B, etc. Can people play in those keys? How is it for the banjo players? I remember there was some problem with C. The thing is when I started singing, I sang in A, but my voice gets higher the more I sing, so now I sing in C on most standards, quite often I also sing in G and E too.

What do you say?

[Peter Hackman]

I started a

I sing lead quite a lot now, but my voice is quite unusual, I think. I sing in weird keys. I wonder, is it ok to sing songs in any key at jams? Maybe not E or A flat, but C, Bflat, B, etc. Can people play in those keys? How is it for the banjo players? I remember there was some problem with C. The thing is when I started singing, I sang in A, but my voice gets higher the more I sing, so now I sing in C on most standards, quite often I also sing in G and E too.

What do you say?
The rule is very simple: the singer picks the key that
is most expressive/comfortable for him or her and
the players conform to that. Conversely, if I am
to play with a vocalist I demand that he/she is absoutely
sure what key he/she wants to sing in.



Now, there is nothing esoteric
about the keys you mention.

The keys of B natural and
B flat have been standard in bluegrass from the very
beginning, actually there are even classical
or traditional
fiddle tunes in the latter key. Sailor's Hornpipe
is one traditional example, Cheyenne is a bluegrass classic
in the same key. B natural is a very good key for
bluesier stuff
on fiddle or mandolin. E flat isn't used much,
but sits well on the mandolin.

Banjo players without a fifth string capo may have trouble
with C, but that key is manageable in open position,
at least when playing backup.

I believe Paul Anastasio was quoted in this forum as
saying that there are no difficult keys, only unfamiliar ones. I wouldn't love to play the mandolin in A flat,
D flat or F sharp, with so much fretting near the nut,
but if the singer demands it I would certainly oblige
and come up with something. And definitely something new.

Stå på dig,

Peter (före detta bluegrasskille)

[Bluegrasstjej]

Thanks! Good news.

[Dennis Schubert]

Common bluegrass keys are G A Bb B C D E F (mostly the opposite of horn keys), which gives you a pretty good choice for singing. If your voice puts you in higher keys --3-4 frets above the most common choices -- give some serious thought to singing the tenor part. Good bluegrass tenor singers are scarcer than other varieties. If you choose that path, I guarantee you won't regret it.

[Bluegrasstjej]

I'd love to, but at home I'm alone singing and playing, so it feels kinda weird to sing the tenor.. could do it to the CDs though..

[Christopher Howard-Williams]

I have mostly sung lead in my time but now as a mandolin player I find I am asked more and more to sing tenor.
So I worked at it singing along to Bluegrass Album Band songs and other classics.
It's fun and not so hard once you train yourself to it a bit.
Indeed, if you sing high that may be an option for jams. I find it quite useful for that now.

[Bluegrasstjej]

My voice is normally much lower than other ladies' voices. If I sing lead, my friends will have to sing the tenor part or whatever you call that when ladies sing. But if I sing with men, I'm not sure how it would be.