Same chord?

[journeybear]

[Ed Goist]

Jim and Journeybear, thank very much for the advice (especially regarding the walk down). Great stuff.
Jim, sorry about the confusion caused by the initials thing.
Thanks again guys.

[journeybear]

It gets more confusing. You see, my full name is River Mouth Journey Bear, and I never did care for the first part of that (even though, as you may have noticed, I can go on and on sometimes ). I am so used to the second part of that, using it as my interweb presence and all that jazz, I have gotten in the habit of using it as one word, lower case (thank you so much, e e cummings), but technically it really is Journey Bear, hence JB. Now I suppose a case could be made for my initials being RJ, but as I said, I never use that first part, so I doubt I would respond. Besides which, if I may paraphrase a short lyric snippet from the bard:

You may call me Jerry, you may call me Jimmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say ...

Well, OK, this has gone on quite long enough!

[jgarrow]

Jim and others that commented - thanks so much for the help. Especially the youtube vid - very helpful. I tinkered with the song a few years back and let it go. The Punch Brothers closed out their show here in Atlanta playing the Weight as a tribute to Levon Helm and got my Band juices flowing again.

Thanks again for the help!

[journeybear]

Hey - thank YOU for bringing us back to our senses. We do wander ...

You reminded me of how far-reaching this song is. It is a perennial jam favorite. And apparently beloved by top-flight performers as well as us just plain folks. If anyone saw "It Might Get Loud," which explored the use of the electric guitar by examining how it has been played by three generations of guitarists - Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White - you may recall that they did very little interactive playing, which I found frustrating and disappointing. They finally did all get together and play - just one song, right at the end, during the credits: an acoustic version of "The Weight." Just three guys sitting around, playing and singing this old warhorse, just like so many of us. I wish I could remember if they got the timing right on the chorus.

[Jim Broyles]

Hey - thank YOU for bringing us back to our senses. We do wander ...

You reminded me of how far-reaching this song is. It is a perennial jam favorite. And apparently beloved by top-flight performers as well as us just plain folks. If anyone saw "It Might Get Loud," which explored the use of the electric guitar by examining how it has been played by three generations of guitarists - Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White - you may recall that they did very little interactive playing, which I found frustrating and disappointing. They finally did all get together and play - just one song, right at the end, during the credits: an acoustic version of "The Weight." Just three guys sitting around, playing and singing this old warhorse, just like so many of us. I wish I could remember if they got the timing right on the chorus.

It's fairly easy once you realize that the last measure is 3/4. From the beginning of "A-a-a-a-and" and "Me" is seven beats. "Me" comes in on 3, and the next beat is the downbeat.

[journeybear]

Oh, *I* know how it goes. I was just trying to remember if those musical giants in the movie got it right.

But that is an easy way to look at it; I usually think of it as a dropped beat. Thanks! I might mention that to my guitarist, who gets the count wrong at the end of my solo about 1/4 of the time.

[Jim Broyles]

Well, did you notice that on our little collaboration, the solos either didn't do the chorus or left that measure off? Makes it easier.

[journeybear]

Yes, I did, and it does. Wonder whether the original would have been less memorable without it? It's kept people guessing for generations ...

[Jim Broyles]

Well, there were no solos in the original. My guess is that had The Band done solos they would have done them without that measure to contrast with the vocals' timing.

[jgarrow]

Hey JB - on your intro piece you end in that open G moved up two frets - do you also use that as your root chord when you're playing through the verse?

[journeybear]

I was afraid this might not make sense. This is the first time I've tried to tab out something.

This riff ends on two D chord fragments - xx52 - xx95 - that is, D-F# and F#-A.

A C#m F#m ... E ..... D
-5-4- |-0-2-0-------|-2-2-2-5-|-5-
------|-------4-2-0-|-5-5-5-9-|-9-
------|--------------|---------|---
------|--------------|---------|---

I guess I left you hanging (just like the song ). I resolve (bring it back to the verse) with something as simple as can be:

-------------
-4-2-0-2-0--
-------------
-------------

FWIW, I end the song with this same riff, an octave down, slowed down:

-------------
-------------
-------------
-6-4-2-4-2--

This is not what The Band do - they end it right there on the D. They can get away with this - they wrote it - and as I mentioned, I believe it's these little things that have served to embed this song in the public's memory. But I usually like to wrap things up neatly, and this is what I came up with. (I also figured out how to end "Brown Eyed Girl," instead of fading out. I figure I owed it to the island, since I think I am guilty for introducing the song here back in 1988, and it has become one of those overplayed/overrequested songs that most local musicians loathe. But I digress ... )

[Jim Broyles]

Hey JB - on your intro piece you end in that open G moved up two frets - do you also use that as your root chord when you're playing through the verse?

Honestly I only played fills and solos on that project. I never play rhythm for that song on mandolin, but if I did I would use whichever A chord would be the most convenient for me in light of where I am and where I'm going. I may go between 6200 and 2245 for my A. Maybe even the A chop shape - 9745.

[jgarrow]

journeybear and Jim - thank you both for the replies.