20 songs to learn

[bjshear]

I'm sure this has been posted before but I couldn't find it. I also realize this is a loaded question, but anyway, here it is:

What are the first 20 bluegrass songs someone should learn to be able to play at a jam session? I'm talking about the staple songs that if you don't know, people will be surprised. I'm sure there are way, way more than 20, but it's a starting point.

I have plenty of bluegrass books, and they overlap some songs, but I really a trying to figure out what the staple songs are. Any help would be appreciated.

thanks!

[re simmers]

Good question.
Blue Ridge Mountain Home, Will the Circle be Unbroken, Rose of Old Kentucky, Blue Moon of Kentucky, Foggy Mt. Breakdown, Spinning Wheel, Wildwood Flower, I Saw the Light, Amazing Grace, Cabin in Caroline, The Old Homeplace, Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin, Molly & Tenbrooks, Ballad of Jed Clampett, Rawhide, On My Way Back to the Old Home, Hot Corn Cold Corn, Soldier's Joy, Old Joe Clark............EMD, just to show you are serious.

Bob

[Loretta Callahan]

I'm learning: Ol' Joe Clark, Boil the Cabbage Down, Blackberry Blossom, Salt Creek, Soldier's Joy, Wildwood Flower, Angeline the Baker, Cripple Creek and Whiskey Before Breakfast. There's a nice range of techniques for me to practice ~ and they seem to be pretty popular and staple. What a wonderful instrument.

[onassis]

Someone posted this Pete Wernick list a while back. I found it really helpful.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Pete Wernick's listing is a good one,however, it leans towards the trad.end of Bluegrass. Personally,i think that a few good 'modern' (ish) tunes should be part of the mix as well. Maybe a few 'Newgrass Revival' tunes or the 'Infamous Stringduster's' stuff.
If you're lucky enough to have a regular 'jam',then discuss what the rest of the folks want to play & go with that - keep it interesting or you'll end up being bored paying the same tunes every week (i've been there etc. !). Don't be afraid to push yourselves by learning more 'complex' tunes either.It all builds confidence in your personal ability,
Ivan

[Mike Bunting]

. Maybe a few 'Newgrass Revival' tunes or the 'Infamous Stringduster's' stuff.

Ivan

But Jesse Cobb says that they are not bluegrass.

[bjshear]

Pete Wernick's listing is a good one,however, it leans towards the trad.end of Bluegrass. Personally,i think that a few good 'modern' (ish) tunes should be part of the mix as well. Maybe a few 'Newgrass Revival' tunes or the 'Infamous Stringduster's' stuff.
If you're lucky enough to have a regular 'jam',then discuss what the rest of the folks want to play & go with that - keep it interesting or you'll end up being bored paying the same tunes every week (i've been there etc. !). Don't be afraid to push yourselves by learning more 'complex' tunes either.It all builds confidence in your personal ability,
Ivan

sound like a good idea, which tunes would you recommend?

[GRW3]

I don't think you can actually make such a list because the 'standards' are fluid, depedent on local taste. You need to hang with a jam for a few cycles to see what they play. Second part of that is to see who plays it. In some jams, specific tunes and songs become 'owned' by a specific person. I don't care if somebody calls a song I routinely sing but a lot of people do care. They care because they've worked hard to perfect that tune/song as their showcase. If John always sings "The Old Homeplace" don't call it unless John is absent.

I suggest you learn some songs to introduce to a jam. Stick with Monroe, Stanley, Osborne, etc. for most jams. Two or three chords max. When you are 'known' you might add a song with a forth chord. Avoid songs with fancy stops or pauses or bridges. Artful chording and arranging are band material, not jam material.

In our beginner/intermediate jam I usually introduce a new song with a guitar because they can follow guitar chording easier than mandolin. In our intermediate/advance jam I usually just play the mandolin because they have enough experience to hear/feel the chord structure.

[farmerjones]

You'd think in twenty tunes there'd be some cross-over, but there hundreds if not thousands of songs/tunes, so it's still a shot in the dark.

Know your I, IV, V chords in the keys of G, D, A, and C. The first change will be to the IV or the V, so you've got a 50/50 chance. Some tunes are two chord tunes too. So with this you can chop along to a majority of tunes.

Make a list of tunes played at the new jam. That way you can woodshed some breaks, for next time.

If i step up to a strange jam and it comes around to my turn, i may play Redwing, Angel Band, I'll Fly Away, Old Joe Clark, Home Sweet Home, or Rollin my sweet baby's arms. Not Jerusalem Ridge.

[JeffD]

What are the first 20 bluegrass songs someone should learn to be able to play at a jam session?

There are lots of correct answers, but it seems to me the very best thing to do is to go to the jam, and find out what they are playing. Bring a note pad, make a list. Bring a recorder if you want, to catch their particular versions of the tunes. Bring a mandolin, and plink along as best you can, to get the feeling. Ask some of the folks there what they consider the most important tunes to know.

While there will be a core repertory, every jam is different.

You can't go wrong learning all the tunes listed in this tread! But until then it is an excellent thing to start attending the jam.

[gregorx]

Someone posted this Pete Wernick list a while back. I found it really helpful.

Great list thanks...

[doublestoptremolo]

I think it's helpful to do some intensive listening to Monroe, Flatt and Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers, Jim and Jesse, the Osborne Brothers, Jimmy Martin, Bluegrass Album Band, and so on. The Osborne Brothers' Bluegrass Collection is a good place to start.

[marcja]

I know it isn't a direct answer, but I was talking to Skip Gorman at Guitar Mandolin Camp North last month, and he said, "Don't learn songs from lists. Learn songs you love to listen to."