Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 31

Thread: Songs/tunes in Dm

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Ashland, OR
    Posts
    141

    Default Songs/tunes in Dm

    I'm looking for a few songs/tunes in Dm, like "Red Rocking Chair." Love that sound. Now that I think about it, songs/tunes in other minor keys would also be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Bill

  2. #2
    Registered User Perry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Rockland Cty, NY
    Posts
    2,145

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Red Rocking Chair is not a minor tune key. It's modal.

    Little Sadie is often played in Dm so is Shady Grove.

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Ashland, OR
    Posts
    141

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Thanks, Perry. Trying to understand this. So Red Rocking Chair is in D, but it's built on Dm minor scale. I could play D Major chord in the first measure, but Dm chord sounds so much better. And I guess I play C Major in the second measure, which is the minor 7th which conforms to the Dm scale. Sounds great! Is that right? But in measure 7 the Dm doesnt' sound good; D Major is better. So, some of this must be whatever sounds best to you, is that right. Sorry to be so obtuse, and dont' want to bother you with much of this stuff. Rather than learning by the book, I like to play my way into this stuff if possible. I'm taking lessons from Mike Marshall at Artistworks, and he goes through this a bit, so I can find my way with his lessons. Thanks for your response! -- Bill

    Bill

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Gainesville, FL
    Posts
    2,664

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Check out "The Coal Tatoo", chords are dm,f and c. It's a fun tune to play and sing.

  5. The following members say thank you to Denny Gies for this post:


  6. #5
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Saint Augustine Beach FL
    Posts
    6,618

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Raleigh and Spencer, great tune.
    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  7. The following members say thank you to Charles E. for this post:


  8. #6
    Registered User Charles E.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Saint Augustine Beach FL
    Posts
    6,618

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Here is a sample from my home boy Joe Newberry, along Mike and Ray.....


    Charley

    A bunch of stuff with four strings

  9. The following members say thank you to Charles E. for this post:


  10. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    charlottesville, VA
    Posts
    1,140

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Here is a sample from my home boy Joe Newberry, along Mike and Ray.....
    Though, again, not in Dm, but rather D modal.
    Mitch Russell

  11. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    charlottesville, VA
    Posts
    1,140

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Lonesome Fiddle Blues
    Big Timber
    Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
    Dawg's Breath (Skaggs tune)
    Elzic's Farewell
    Julia Delaney
    Mitch Russell

  12. The following members say thank you to onassis for this post:


  13. #9
    Registered User Tom C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Warwick, NY
    Posts
    3,985

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Perry,
    Pete(friend of ours) plays Red Rockin' Chair with Bm and D chords. Or the tune is actually in D and just not a minor tune?

  14. The following members say thank you to Tom C for this post:


  15. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    12,258

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Songs in minor keys

    Vamp In The Middle
    Travellin' Kind
    You Don't Miss Your Water
    Muddy Water

    Tunes in minor keys

    Bluegrass Minor - Sizemore
    Edsel's Tailpipe - Gaudreau
    Old Grey Coat, Manzanita - T. Rice
    Waiting on Vassar - Dawg
    Gilderoy - trad.

  16. The following members say thank you to AlanN for this post:


  17. #11
    Registered User Ky Slim's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    586

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Manzanita is a great Dm tune.

    People play Red Rocking Chair different ways.

    This one is minor:




    This one is major:


  18. The following members say thank you to Ky Slim for this post:


  19. #12
    Registered User jefflester's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2,471

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Obligatory Spinal Tap reference:


  20. #13

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    My favorite Red Rocking Chair is Jack Lawrence's version he does solo. Quite a bit different from what Doc would do when they played together. I believe it is C# minor capoed fourth fret if I recall properly.

    Has anyone mentioned Wayfaring Stranger. Normally A minor but it lays out in D minor just fine.

  21. #14
    jbmando RIP HK Jim Broyles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Plymouth Meeting, PA
    Posts
    4,451

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Findley View Post
    Thanks, Perry. Trying to understand this. So Red Rocking Chair is in D, but it's built on Dm minor scale. I could play D Major chord in the first measure, but Dm chord sounds so much better. And I guess I play C Major in the second measure, which is the minor 7th which conforms to the Dm scale. Sounds great! Is that right? But in measure 7 the Dm doesnt' sound good; D Major is better. So, some of this must be whatever sounds best to you, is that right. Sorry to be so obtuse, and dont' want to bother you with much of this stuff. Rather than learning by the book, I like to play my way into this stuff if possible. I'm taking lessons from Mike Marshall at Artistworks, and he goes through this a bit, so I can find my way with his lessons. Thanks for your response! -- Bill

    Bill
    Try using D and Bm. If you use Dm, go to F.
    "I thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is."~John Mellencamp

    "Theory only seems like rocket science when you don't know it. Once you understand it, it's more like plumbing!"~John McGann

    "IT'S T-R-E-M-O-L-O, dangit!!"~Me

  22. #15
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Upstate New York
    Posts
    24,807
    Blog Entries
    56

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Julia Delaney is a favorite. D modal or Dm I am not sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyTbK9_zdcQ
    A talent for trivializin' the momentous and complicatin' the obvious.

    The entire staff
    funny....

  23. #16
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,292

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    Julia Delaney is a favorite. D modal or Dm I am not sure.
    It's in D dorian in the usual (Irish) settings. Cool tune, very common in sessions.

    I was in a former band where we used to play "Man of Constant Sorrow" in a slow D minor version. It had a spooky sound, a little closer to the theme of the lyrics than the usual upbeat Ralph Stanley/Soggy Bottom Boys major key setting.

  24. #17

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by Denny Gies View Post
    Check out "The Coal Tatoo", chords are dm,f and c. It's a fun tune to play and sing.
    The song Warren a Haynes did? Cool!

  25. #18
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    North CA
    Posts
    5,013

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    I know the OP was asking about BG tunes...but if you play Klezmer on mandolin, you'll learn a LOT of Dm tunes.

    At the 1985 Klez Kamp, the saying was "Dm isn't just another key, it's a way of life."



    Typical Dm tune

  26. #19
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Iowa City, Iowa
    Posts
    37

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Buck White's tune "Broken Dreams" is a lovely Dm piece. There's mandolin tune on Bob Black's "Ladies on the Steamboat" album written by John Purk called "Flight to D.C." that's in Dm as well. Both are very nice tunes and not too difficult to play.

  27. The following members say thank you to Warren H for this post:


  28. #20
    Stop the chop!
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    europe
    Posts
    1,698
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Findley View Post
    I'm looking for a few songs/tunes in Dm, like "Red Rocking Chair." Love that sound. Now that I think about it, songs/tunes in other minor keys would also be appreciated.

    Thanks,

    Bill

    A song is in whatever key you choose to sing it in. I believe there are several different melodies for this one; the one I recall basically oscillates between a major chord and the relative minor.

  29. The following members say thank you to ralph johansson for this post:


  30. #21
    Stop the chop!
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    europe
    Posts
    1,698
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidKOS View Post
    I know the OP was asking about BG tunes...but if you play Klezmer on mandolin, you'll learn a LOT of Dm tunes.

    At the 1985 Klez Kamp, the saying was "Dm isn't just another key, it's a way of life."



    Typical Dm tune
    Looks like it's largely using the fourth degree of the a harmonic minor scale (with the exception of that g minor chord). Perhaps one could use a little more exotic chords, extracted from the scale?

  31. #22
    Stop the chop!
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    europe
    Posts
    1,698
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Quote Originally Posted by onassis View Post
    Lonesome Fiddle Blues
    Big Timber
    Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
    Dawg's Breath (Skaggs tune)
    Elzic's Farewell
    Julia Delaney

    If you are to give the Moonlight Waltz as being in one single key, it would have to be F major, because that's how it ends. There's a strong suggestion of d minor in the first 8 bars, not so much because of the d minor chords, but because of the A7 in the middle. But there never is full d minor ending.

  32. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to ralph johansson For This Useful Post:


  33. #23

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Has anyone mentioned Little Sadie? Rosa Lee McFall is another song that the Monroe Brothers did in Dm. Doc and Tony Rice play Shady Grove in Dm. I think it is that way on the Pizza Tapes also with Grisman and Rice.

  34. The following members say thank you to CarlM for this post:


  35. #24
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Kernersville, NC
    Posts
    2,593
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    I like cruzin timber in Dm.

  36. The following members say thank you to Mark Wilson for this post:


  37. #25
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Ashland, OR
    Posts
    141

    Default Re: Songs/tunes in Dm

    Wow, I haven't heard of many of these tunes. Thanks, my work's cut out.
    Last edited by Bill Findley; Mar-27-2017 at 9:50pm. Reason: delete

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •