cuckoo's nest

[abram]

I've been playing this tune now for three years, and always with a C as the second chord. Someone told me that it should be an Am, and I just can't tell for sure. Putting an Am in a tune in D makes for some pretty wild harmonic stuff, for a fiddle tune.

[250sc]

You should be able to use either chord without conflicting with the melody. Am7 is the relative minor to a C chord ie. all the same notes (C,G,E) Personally I like changing the chords to fiddle tunes to make them a little more harmonically interesting.

My advice is play what the other people you play with are playing. If you feel adventurous throw out a relative minor where it fits. You will either get a smile or a dirty look from those around you, but at least you tried.

[Moose]

"Oh, the cuckoo, she's 'a pretty bird ; she warble's as she flies ; but I never give her Miller's 'till the Fourth Day of Julyyyy.."(as sung by the Osbourne Brothers - one time - long go..).

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

The version I know goes D and 2 and/A and 2 and/C and 2 and/ G and 2 and/ for the first few measures. No Am.

[mandofiddle]

Yeah, I play it with an A major too.
A part:
D / A / C / G
D / D G / D / A D

B part:
D / D / C / C
D / D G / D / A D

[jlb]

That is the way I play it as well, but I have heard versions that start with (what I consider) the B Part, and I suspect such is the way the original poster is playing it.

[mikeyes]

You are thining of two different tunes. "Nest" is an old fiddle tune taken from an Irish/Scottish tune of the same name. "Bird" is a song with a totally different tune.

Cuckoo's Nest is not an easy one to play on the mandolin whereas Cuckoo Bird is fairly easy. Two entirely different traditions here so don't confuse them.

[Moose]

Mike : I would suggest that you are possibly....correct. - Thanks for the "heads-up" -

[mandofiddle]

Yeah, Cuckoo's Nest has some cross picking in it which isn't the easiest thing for me to do. Listen to Thile play it... Makes me want to burn my mando.

[abram]

Hey, I have been playing it wrong!
I've been playing both the first and second parts with pretty much the same changes, but it sounds much better with the A after the D on the first part.
And I'm starting to think I do like the Am more than the C on the first part, anyway. Playing D-A-Am almost makes it sound classical.
By the way, does anyone know the origins of this tune? I figure it's Irish (and yes I do know what a "cuckoo's nest" is)

[John Ritchhart]

Depends on where you start...

[Moose]

"How you stand..., depends on where you're SITTING"(source: long forgotten).