Which Bluegrass Standards To Learn

[sachmo63]

I've searched and searched and can't find it.

I'm helping a younger banjo player get her sea legs and looking to get a list of the most played bluegrass songs regually heard at jams.

I've already supplied her with a long list of instrumentals but we're looking for vocals so, when someone say's " kick of Little Cabin Home on the Hill" she'll know what to do.

Any help will be appreciated.

And thanks

S

[farmerjones]

As luck would have it, Pete "Dr. Banjo" Wernick was on the front page of the Mandolin Caf'e. Why not swing by his great site? If i wanted just a list, i'd read the descriptions of those jam instructional DVDs. They always include a list of the titles. What's more, the tunes often are catagorized in terms of ease/difficulty.
Vocals or instrumentals, BG tunes are as numerous as stars in the sky. It also seems their are more or less global favs as well as local favorites. So another route may be to attend the local jams just to jot down the tunes (and keys), and listen. This way you could be targeting/concentrating your efforts.

Best of Luck

[Byrdmando]

Bluegrass Album Band has loads of standards on there recordings.

[onassis]

I think Farmerjones is on the right track. Just cribbing off of the Wernick or Kaufman CDs should give a great list of standards. I've been thinking of doing something similar to build more of a BG repetoire. I don't listen to a whole lotta grass, but I'd like to have a few songs jam-ready.

[GRW3]

FJ was even closer than he thought. On the Wernick site is a list of the most common songs broken down by chord amount.

For tunes, if you look on the Kaufman website there is a file that contains the chords for a lot of standards.

[John Gardinsky]

This gets asked a lot and the answer will vary significantly by location. I found a list of songs I had heard at actual jams that I needed to learn or brush up on. Here are a few standards that seem to pop up now and then.

Little Georgia Rose
I Wonder Where You are Tonight
Roll on Buddy
The Old Home place
Lonesome Road Blues
Love Please Come Home
How Mountain Girls can Love
Hit Parade of Love
Dark Hollow
Blue Moon of Kentucky
Long Journey Home
In the Pines

These are pretty old standards, some of which may be getting some wear but if you want to play it you gotta understand the roots I suppose. Seems to me any bluegrass picker should at least be familiar enough with these songs to add something or follow along pretty easily. Hope this helps, John

[Danny L Sharp]

Here is the Pete Wernick list.

[GVD]

As luck would have it, Pete "Dr. Banjo" Wernick was on the front page of the Mandolin Caf'e. Why not swing by his great site? If i wanted just a list, i'd read the descriptions of those jam instructional DVDs. They always include a list of the titles. What's more, the tunes often are catagorized in terms of ease/difficulty.
Vocals or instrumentals, BG tunes are as numerous as stars in the sky. It also seems their are more or less global favs as well as local favorites. So another route may be to attend the local jams just to jot down the tunes (and keys), and listen. This way you could be targeting/concentrating your efforts.

Best of Luck

I agree with attending local jams and making a list of what songs are played there. After a quick look at Dr. Banjo's list I see several songs that are played locally but also several that are rarely if ever played. That being said the same songs that are rarely played around here I've heard a lot at other jams. There are a few songs that seem to be fairly universal but to get the most bang for your buck so to speak I'd start learning with the ones played most in the jam you plan to attend regularly.

[Steelee]

Welcome,

Wabash Cannonball
Salt Creek
Cripple Creek
Amazing Grace
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Washed in the Blood of The Lamb
Blackberry Blossum
Old Joe Clark
John Hardy
Red haired Boy
Soldiers Joy
I'm Working On a Building
and two banjo favorites:
Bugle Call Rag
Shucking the Corn

Good luck to the young lady. I am 60 years old and just started playing 3 years ago. Have fun on the learning journey.

Regards, Lee