Help w/ Ashokan Farewell

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

I was hoping for some insight & advice about playing Ashokan Farewell.

I have two problems:

1. I leaned the tune in the standard A-B format. #Is it AA-BB or AAAA-BB?


2. What are the correct chords? #This is what I have:
A Part:
D / D / G / Em / D / D (or Bm?) /
-1st A part ending: #Em / A7
-2nd A part ending: #A7 / D

B Part:
D / D / G / D /D/ Bm / Em(or A?) / A(or A7?) / D / D / G / D
-1st B part ending: D / Bm / A / #D
-2nd B part ending: D / Bm (or D? / A(or A7?) / D

I would appreciate input and advice. #I have listened to several recordings and there seem to be subtle chord variations. #What is the typical jam session standard?

Thanks,

[craig]

there is a TEF version available with the chords at: Mandozine (http://www.mandozine.com)

i would imagine this is pretty standard.

craig

[Jim Broyles]

I had it all wriiten out but I x'd out of it by mistake. The version I have is Grisman and some other guys. At least 2 mandos and a guitar. It kind of changes each time around but basically it's:
D D/F# G Em D Bm G A
D D7 G Em D D A D

D D7 G D D Bm A A7
D C G D/F# D D A7 D

The last time around it goes to the Em before the A (next to last chord) then the D, but they always use a G there the rest of the time.

[Nathan Sanders]

Check out this site:JohnHartford.org (http://www.johnhartford.org)
Go to the video section and you can view a clip of Jay Ungar and company playing Ashokan. Scan down the list of videos and find the Songs of the Civil War section.

[Eric F.]

I play the version from Jay Buckey's Web site. I really like it - it's much more interesting to me than the Mandozine version. If you want it and it's no longer on his site, PM me and I can send it to you.

[RI-Grass]

I just want to know how to pronounce "Ashokan".

ASH-o-kan
ash-O-ken

?

[Jim Broyles]

a SHOW kan

[csstanley]

and it isn't a "civil war" song per se. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

It is a bout a camp shutting down for the summer in Ashokan, New York.

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

Thanks for the help !

BTW-I found tab and a quality mp3 on Jay Buckey's web site.

Here is the link:
http://www.jaybuckeymusic.com/archives.htm

Also, I have used some of Jay Buckey's stuff and like it.

Chris

[Nathan Sanders]

As we all know, the tune was used in Ken Burns' Civil War series. That is why many people always think of it as a Civil War tune, but how surprised they are to learn just how "young" the tune really is.

[PaulD]

FWIW: The version I learned from has it written out as A-A-B-B, but at the jams around here A-B-A-B is favored.

pd

[Chris "Bucket" Thomas]

The format:

I learned it AAAA-BB. The 1st and 3rd A endings are the same & as are the 2nd & 4th A endings.


Ken Burns in format and Jay Buckey in another..........

Chris

[Sarge]

yeah, the song was actually written in the 1980s, go figure.

Here's the chords Ive learned by Jay Ungar, they work nice:

1st part: D D/#F G Em D Bm (1st ending G A7, 2nd A7 D) repeat

2nd part: D D7/F# G D D Bm A A7 D C G D D B A7 D

you should really use that F#, the iii chord just works so nice

[staggarlee]

I play the version from Jay Buckey's Web site. I really like it - it's much more interesting to me than the Mandozine version. If you want it and it's no longer on his site, PM me and I can send it to you.
Could you email this version? Jay has taken down the archives. jdbutler72@gmail.com

Thanks!

[Jim Broyles]

It's still there. (http://www.jaybuckeymusic.com/Ashokan%20Farewell%20-%20Mandolin%20Duet.pdf)

[Perry]

That C chord in measure 7 of the A section of Buckey's version is a bit funky. I think a G chord sounds better there. Saving the C chord's first appearance for the B section makes it that much more dramatic at that point.

But that's just me


http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[WJF]

But ... if you only used that C chord in the A section on one trip through the tune ... say the last time through ... it might actually be kinda cool ... an unexpected surprise for the ear that you can voice lead nicely from the Bm thru the A chord.

But now we're getting into arranging the tune and anyway that's just my taste ... it is a "different" twist on the usual harmonization of the tune ...

[Jim Broyles]

Perry,
I agree with you. I didn't even play that arrangement until today, and it sounded wrong to me. It works better with the chords I wrote out upthread.
Jim

[Michael Gowell]

Please forgive an unsophisticated question, but I learned this tune as a sequence of notes - I never thought much about the chords. #Why is this discussion emphasizing chords rather than the melody?

[Jim Broyles]

Because the melody is most definitely played over an accompaniment of chords, and we are discussing the relative merits of the arrangements. For this discussion, it is assumed that we know the melody and are playing different chords under that melody to hear what sounds the best. In my opinion one can better "know" a song if one knows the harmonic structure as well as the melody of the song.