Bluegrass Breakdown

[mandoman4807]

Can anyone head me in the right direction?? Were on the net, I can find the cords and tab to this great tune by the Big Mon? (Bluegrass Breakdown)

Thanks,

Darrell

[G_Smolt]

G G F G F G D G (x2)
G G C G C G D G

As far as the notes of the tune...a better question would be, "what DOESN"T go in there?".

Ear it out in the Chop Chord shape for each chord change...the notes are right in there. Every now and then I play it straight, but most of the time I goof around A la Ron Thomason, throwing doublestops in 5ths, slides, and yes, even the theme from "Peter Gunn".

So...
Get ahold of a few recorded versions of the tune, and don't just listen to 'em, really put yer ear to them.

Versions to look for:
Dry branch Fire Squad (still my fave)
Frank Wakefield & the good old boys
Hershel Sizemore
Tom Adams

Oh Yeah, and some guy named Bill...

[mandoman4807]

G Smolt,

One theory you mentioned is double stops in fifths. This sounds interesting! Can you briefly elaborate on that?


Darrell

[AlanN]

Bobby Clark does a nice take on this on his 1987 Top Dog release

[kudzugypsy]

well a mandolin is tuned in 5th's, so a 5th double stop would just be barring both intervals on the same fret. (or just hitting two chorused strings open) of course you will have to adjust for the 7th degree of the (major) scale, that one will be different. that is the "chinese" sound you get on Limehouse Blues, and if used in succession, will sound very "chinese", but fiddlers use that double stop all the time, basicly that is where you anchor your octave "frame" for the complete octave.

[Ott]

I think mandozine has this one

[Ott]

Sorry I guess mandozine doesn't have it you can find it here but it isn't free and I have never dealt with this site before

[DMC]

This topic reminds me of a question I have - this tune is G Mixolydian, right? Loads of fiddle tunes seem to be played in A Mixolydian and when you are chopping the rhythm going down to the G major chop chord is no problem. But when in G Mixloydian you can't go down to a proper F major chop chord and it doesn't sound right moving all the way up the neck to play the chop chord up there (seeing as the G, C and D are across the first few frets). What F major shape do people play in this context?

[mandoman4807]

Ott,
Thanks for the info on the website you listed above. Looks like a ton of great stuff


Darrell

[Moose]

FYI: Ah!! - the "classic" Bluegrass Boys'! - Bluegrass Breakdown: recorded at Castle Studios. Nashville, Tennessee ,October 2, 1947 ; Bill Monroe: mandolin ; Lester Flatt:guitar ; Anthony "Chubby" Wise: fiddle ; Earl Scruggs:Banjo ; Howard "Cedrick Rainwater" Watts: bass.("Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys: an illustrated discography" ; comp... by Neil Rosenberg, Country Music Foundation Press, Nashville, Tennessee,c1974)- Sorry, I don't have tab...., I stole(copped) and learned to play it from Monroe and the Boys... Happy tabb'n...

[Don Grieser]

Bill plays a great horse gallop rhythm in the B part of this tune. Listen to the original recording like Moose suggested.

[kudzugypsy]

monroe would play the F chord with only 2 strings, not a "chop" chord shape.
G string - 2nd fret (A)
D string - 3rd fret (F)
you "could" hit that open A string and still be ok. but it sounds odd to have 2 A notes in a 3 note chord...that isnt an A chord.

that BB mandolin solo has got some FIRE in it!!!!!!!!

i should note that, as don said, on the F chord you cant "chop" it, you have to "shuffle" it. too many players rely soley on the chop for rhythm, monroe was VERY rhythmic with his right hand. dont think that to play effective bluegrass rhythm you need to cement yourself to full chop chord shapes, i would recommend that anyone get Jethro Burns mel bay book for a complete understanding of the way things work chord wise on the mandolin. (even though Jethro was not a big Monroe fan)

..........also, remember that at the time of this recording, 1947, monroe was just finding the style of rhythm that he later became known for. it wasnt until earl joined the band that he developed that chop style. listen to the monroe brothers stuff...completely different style.

also interesting.....the reason many monroe tunes (and scotch) were mixolydian was that for music played on a bagpipe there was no F# (M7) note, only an F (b7), therefore, you could not play a complete G major scale, it was mixolydian. many of the scotch/irish settlers brought these "old sounds" over with them to america. likely that was the sound monroe heard growing up in KY.