# Music by Genre > Rock, Folk Rock, Roots Rock, Rockabilly >  Ripple. Grateful Dead.

## Anti

I would give my left nut for any instruction how to play this beautiful piece of music.

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## tnt2002

This is my version, a little rustic.  And the webcam sound is pretty bad. :Mandosmiley:

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## HddnKat

Very nice - I've never tried that one on mandolin - can't play it and sing at the same time.  Nice dart board in the background, too - but it looks a little high for regulation.

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## Anti

Tnt,
That's awesome. You wouldn't happen to have tabs for the melody parts? Or at least could you tell me what the chords are?

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## journeybear

I would tell you, but I'm not interested in the barter you proposed.  :Wink:  I mean, you can keep that, thanks!

tnt2002 is playing in G, so he's using G, C, D in the verse, add Am, A, D7 in the bridge. I play the melody an octave up from his version. It really falls out of the chord patterns. I'm no good with tab, but these are simple chords so you should be able to figure this out from G 0023, C 0230 and 0233, and D 2002. Play that first G chord, and the melody lies on the A string - frets 2-3-5 - then up to fret 3 on the E string. That should get you started.  :Mandosmiley:

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Astabeth

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## SternART

> I would tell you, but I'm not interested in the barter you proposed.  I mean, you can keep that, thanks!


Maybe almonds?  Walnuts?

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## journeybear

Sorry - this is between me and Anti - don't need no agent taking 10%!  :Disbelief:

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## SternART

Holdin' out for mixed nuts, eh?

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## Anti

Thanks for the help Journey. My eyes and ears aren't trained enough to figure out that it's in G lol. 

(He's totally holdin' out on us Stern.)

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## ColdBeerGoCubs

I'd also throw in a testicle to learn this one.

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## journeybear

Guys, _please!_ Save them for more important causes. This is not that difficult!  :Grin: 

You'll get it; just takes doing. Just spend a little more time on the song than on ... well ...  :Whistling:

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## Anti

Lol. I think playing on band for three years spioiled me. Having all the sheet music readily available and person to person instructions. Never had to work to figure out music :D

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## Mandolin Mick

If anyone is interested ... Jesse McReynolds told me that his next album will be an album of Grateful Dead works.

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## journeybear

> Never had to work to figure out music :D


It's good practice. You will acquire skills you never thought you had in you. You will gain understanding. And the best thing is you will be able to figure out your _own_ songs, ones you are dreaming up yourself. After all, sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own.   :Mandosmiley: 

Hope Jesse does _that_ one!

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## Anti

I think I got part of the melody after looking at some piano sheet music. (tab starts on "If my words could glow")

G
D
A 2-2-2--3-5---                                                                        5--
E                    3-3-7p5-7-3----0-----0-0-3-----5--3--0-0-3-----0-

I tried to kinda space the number out to go with the tune. Any suggestions/improvements? I'd like to move it down a string but i can't seem to figure it out.

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## Anti

G
D
A 2-2-2--3-5-------------------------------------------------------5--
E --------------3-3-7p5-7-3----0-----0-0-3-----5--3--0-0-3-----0-

fix'd

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## tnt2002

Try this.  (I'm away from my mando right now, but I think this is what I play.)

Intro


|----------------|--3---3---------|--0---0---0-----|--0-------0-----|
|----------------|--2---2-----2-02|--3---3---3-----|--3-------3-----|
|---------------0|--0---0---5-----|5---2---2---2-02|5---5-7-5---0-2-|
|----------4-4-5-|0---------------|----------------|----------------|
 -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|  -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|   -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|   -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|


|--0---0---3-----|--3---3---------|--0---0---0-----|--3-------2---2-|
|--3---3---2-----|--2---2-----2-02|--3---3---3-----|2-2-23-20-0-0-0-|
|5---2---0-------|0---0-0---5-----|5---2---2---2-5-|----------0---0-|
|------------4-5-|----------------|----------------|----------2---2-|
-|_|_|_| |_|_|_|  -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|  -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|  -|_|_|_| |_|_|_|

|--0-------3---3-|
|--3---0---2---2-|
|2-5-5---5-------|
|----------------|
-|_|_|_| |_|_|_|

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## Mark Hudson

> If anyone is interested ... Jesse McReynolds told me that his next album will be an album of Grateful Dead works.



I saw Jesse at Wind Gap earlier this summer. He made a really sweet intro going into how Jerry Garcia loved bluegrass and Jim&Jesse, and then cut into a beautiful cover of 'Black Muddy River'. I went looking for the recording and found it was supposed to be on the next album, but I thought it was due last Dec and sadly got dropped. Maybe I read it wrong, anyway it's good to know that it's on the way - I will be standing in line for it!  :Smile:

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## mandocrucian

The verse (melody) of _"Ripple"_ is actually from some old gospel tune.  I don't know what the name of it is.

I was in a jam some 20/25-odd years ago, picking with bluesman (guitar) John Jackson. This guy 'knew' hundreds, if not thousands of tunes, dormant in his unconscious mind.  Out of the blue, he might start playing and singing some tunes he had played, (or heard) 30 or 40, or even 50 years before. And just as it had bubbled to the surface of conscious memory it could sink back into oblivion again. (He had somewhat of a reputation for this). And it wasn't just/only blues material, but old pop stuff, old country...etc.   I had played "_Ripple"_ for many years before this incident with Jackson, and the melody to one half of his song was _identical._  He said he didn't know the name of that song. And on several occasions in subsequent years I asked him again about the song, even playing/humming the melody, and he would say that he'd never heard it before.  As I say, I'd heard other players talk about stuff popping into his memory from the ozone layer, so he was being honest, he really didn't remember the song at all.

 

Maybe some 78 record collector (or _"The History Detectives"_) might know something more about this. I don't have that compilation cd _The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead_, but I'm pretty sure that this _"Ripple"_ source is not on it. 

Niles H

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## Mandolin Mick

Banjo-mandolin,

When I talked with Jesse in a workshop he mentioned that his most recent project was a tribute to the Grateful Dead. I took it to be in the can and ready for release. 

Then he said "Sorry ..." expecting a Bluegrasser to be disappointed in his latest choice of material. But, I'm not. I respect him for his willingness to explore new areas and know that he recorded with the Doors in the `60's, etc.

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## journeybear

> The verse (melody) of _"Ripple"_ is actually from some old gospel tune.  I don't know what the name of it is.


I've never heard this before, which doesn't by any means it can't be so.  :Smile: 




> ...I'd heard other players talk about stuff popping into his memory from the ozone layer, so he was being honest, he really didn't remember the song at all.


People talk all the time about tunes bubbling up from memory or feeling like they've heard it before but just can't place it or _swear_ they've heard it somewhere but can't remember where. Didn't Bill Monroe say that all this music was floating around, he just reached up and grabbed it? Some songs seem to tap into a collective unconscious and resonate with people from very different backgrounds. 

Reminds me of what just happened to Men At Work. Seems they have to pay whoever wrote or owns the kookaburra song 5% royalties because of a repeated flute motif in "Down Under." I said, "What?"  :Disbelief:  When my head stopped spinning I listened to both and there is a similarity in one two-measure melodic phrase, major in the former, minor in the latter, but whether this was a conscious homage by the flute player or just happened to be bouncing around in his mind since he sang the song as a kid is anyone's guess - and I wouldn't be surprised if _he_ didn't know. My point is, sometimes you hear something that sticks with you, or you think you've made up something but it's an echo of something you heard, and there's no way of knowing how this dynamic works or why certain tunes resonate with people. It's magic. And sometimes the songs that we hear _are_ just songs of our own.  :Mandosmiley: 





> ...I don't have that compilation cd _The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead_, but I'm pretty sure that this _"Ripple"_ source is not on it.


Nope. Those are all songs they learned _entirely_ from other sources. I'll bet just about anything Garcia and Hunter thought they wrote that themselves.

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## Anti

Tnt, your tabs beat my fail tab.

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## Steve Sikes-Nova

"Ripple" is one of my all-time favorite Grateful Dead tunes.  :Smile: SS-N

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## EdHanrahan

> ... what just happened to Men At Work. Seems they have to pay whoever wrote or owns the kookaburra song 5% royalties because of a repeated flute motif in "Down Under." I said, "What?"


And like what happened to George Harrison with "My Sweet Lord" vs. "He's So Fine".  (The Marvellettes, maybe?)  Who could have guessed that "Hare Krishna, Hare Rahma" derived from "Doodle-lang doodle-lang do-lang"?  Unfortunately for George, the chord progression is identical, so I guess that's what did it.

Not really trying to offend anyone but...  I bet they could be worked into a medley!

And, oh yeah, Ripple is one of my favorites:
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/ripple.html

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## taterbugman

Is it just me, or is there something really ironic (taboo) about asking for tabs/instructions to a Grateful Dead song?!?! (especially the part about sheet music)    :Disbelief:

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## journeybear

It's just you.  :Smile:  The Dead have long been very open about sharing their music, especially where taping and trading - but not selling - their shows is concerned. I can see where this attitude could be interpreted as extending to include tabs.

And yeah, the George Harrison - Chiffons thing ... a landmark case. Much more high profile than it needed to be, only because an ex-Beatle was involved. I believe the law deals only with musical similarities, regardless of intent, so though George may have been unaware of the similarity, or may have been paying homage, the judge determined the two songs were too similar. It's not just the chord progression either; the melody and call-and-response stuff, all too similar. The Men At Work deal involved all of two measures, which appear maybe six times, and the 50-60% the plaintiff was asking was excessive. Hope he's happy with 5%, that's pretty reasonable.

So how's it coming, Anti? Waiting for a video or sound clip. No pressure, though ...  :Whistling:

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## taterbugman

What I meant by that is, (coming from a fan, here) if you admire The Dead, you can't rely on sheet music and stuff.  Heck, *they* probably didn't even know what they were playing!  :Laughing:   If you don't have a good enough ear to tell what key it's in (which everyone does, you just need to practice) then I'm sure good ol' Jerry wouldn't mind if you played it different.  Besides, it dosen't take a very good ear to figure out that song if you ventured out and tried.

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## journeybear

OOOHHH!!! I get ya!  :Wink:  Sorry for the misunderstanding. Seems to me they have put out some song books over the years, two that I know of, and have - the classic one of "Workingman's Dead" and "American Beauty," with all kinds of illustrations and calligraphy, and some kind of Anthology, from which I xeroxed "Eyes Of The World" and "Scarlet Begonias" - ages ago - and put them in my case so I could learn them. Pretty sure the first is out of print, and probably fetching a pretty penny on ebay these days, dunno about the other. They're both in deep storage at this point.

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## david blair

Lots of tabs here.   
http://www.rukind.com/
 Garcia's song writing style often included unique and interesting chord and key changes.

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## Anti

No video clip. And I haven't figured anythign out aside from tnt's tabs. 


...I kinda suck at this figuring out by ear stuff.

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## Perry Babasin

... and now for your listening enjoyment a very nice "Wake the Dead" rendition complete with a tasty mando-intro. I've seen these guys several times and love them.

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Astabeth

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## Perry Babasin

Come to think of it I think their mandolinist, Paul Kotapish is a cafe member, at least I've seen him post before...

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## Ed Goist

> ... and now for your listening enjoyment a very nice "Wake the Dead" rendition complete with a tasty mando-intro. I've seen these guys several times and love them.
> ...snipped video...


Wow. Really nice! Thanks for posting.

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## journeybear

"The World's First Celtic All-Star Grateful Dead Jam Band" - nicely done. Also, note quick on-the-fly tuning right after the intro - all of five seconds, using neither tuning fork or electronic tuner. Also nicely done.  :Wink:

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## MandoNicity

OMG!  Thanks for posting that.  I a huge fan of WTD and didn't realize they had videos.  I have turned a bunch of people on to them since I first discovered them about 5 years ago.  Sweet!

JR

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## Elliot Luber

Hey, I just read that Jerry's estate refused to give a new biographical film on his life rights to use any of his music or recordings. First time I ever heard of the Dead enforcing their copyrights. Times have changed.

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## mandotopia

I think Jerry's last wife was trying to take control of the estate and did not share Jerry's or the Dead's philosophy about controlling the music. I think she tried to stop the file sharing of bootlegs. She is young, smart  and gorgeous. I love Jerry but I had to ask what this woman saw in an old, fat geezer like Jerry. When this estate stuff hit the news, it seemed clear to me.

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## tnt2002

"Is it just me, or is there something really ironic (taboo) about asking for tabs/instructions to a Grateful Dead song?!?!"

Nah, it's just you. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/im...ilies/wink.gif

I have a few Dead sheet music books, published by the Dead.

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## journeybear

> ... I love Jerry but I had to ask what this woman saw in an old, fat geezer like Jerry. When this estate stuff hit the news, it seemed clear to me.


Wow. That just doesn't sound right. I know you're using a rhetorical device, but it's late, and I'm having a hard time thinking, particularly wrapping my mind around that, and I don't like speculating without enough information, but I can't help thinking - could it have been an eventual enormous inheritance?  :Confused:

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## Paul Kotapish

Thanks for posting that video, Perry. It was recorded by a band pal at the Colorado Irish Festival last summer--one of our rare forays out of California. I think there are a couple of dozen tunes up from our two shows at the festival.

Our version of "Ripple" is only tangential to the Dead's lovely original, and we mix it up with a Cajun-inflected fiddle tune that Danny made up called "If I Knew the Way." We never play it exactly the same way twice, and my intro is usually improvised after the pickup bar. Some nights are better than others . . . 

BTW, if anyone is interested, there are a lot of full-length Wake the Dead shows in audio and video formats available free and for trading, but I'm afraid I'm not sure about the best way to find them. This list is a little out of date--there have been many more shows recorded since--but a bunch of them are listed here, with some contact info: 

http://www.wakethedead.org/pages/live_shows.html

As a rule, I think that there's a lot to be learned from painfully struggling through the process of learning something by ear. Learning my first few songs and tunes by ears was a task that took days--sometimes weeks to accomplish. Over the years learning something new got down to an few hours and then eventually to just a few (OK, maybe more than a few) times through the tunes. I always begin by just listening and trying to understand the structure and hear the intervals and relationships. If I listen to the point where I can sing the melody, everything else generally falls into place.

Good luck.

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## MandoNicity

Hey Paul, thanks for the link!  I have three shows that I got off Dime, which is where I first discovered WTD.  Everyone that I have turned on to WTD has universally loved the sound.  I turned on a young Dead-head friend of mine to WTD and his mom heard it and went crazy for it so I had to burn a copy for her too.   :Wink:   Keep on keepin' on!

JR

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## journeybear

By and large I agree with you, Paul. It was a long time ago, when I was just starting out, and I knew next to nothing, so it took a LOT of fumbling to get going. There weren't the online sources that exist today, nor people to ask for help. The best I could do was to get some songbooks of music I already was familiar with from listening, and a book of chords, and coordinated these two information sources. It still took a LONG time before I could pull chords from listening to a record. But thankfully the songbooks I had started on - The Band, Traffic, Lovin' Spoonful, Jethro Tull, The Beatles - contained a great many songs with atypical chord structures, so trying to figure out songs that were a bit different from standard was easier as a result. Man - never mind "Ripple," learn the chords for "Tea For Two" - now THERE is some highly evolved songwriting!

I get a little peeved sometimes when I see someone asking for tab for what I think is a pretty simple song. But then I have to try and put myself in that person's shoes and remember how I would have felt at a similar point in MY development. It was a long time ago, and I have made a fair amount of progress over the decades (still learning), but I still remember how frustrating such things can be. And I also recall how triumphant I felt when I was able to sort out a song that had had me stumped for a while. Few things bring such satisfaction as solving a frustrating puzzle. Geez, I wrote a song back when I was 13 that I couldn't figure out how to play until I was nearly twice that age, even though there are only three chords - just because they aren't a standard progression. Very common progression, mind you, but non-standard, so it doesn't show up in lesson books. Oh, when THAT light bulb went on! Still burning brightly ...  :Mandosmiley: 

So hang in there, Anti, and everyone who gets frustrated with this stuff. Working out problems like this has rewards beyond just learning a song. Learning how to learn is a valuable technique that pays unexpected dividends and applies to so many aspects of life.

It must be a hungover Sunday. I'm getting awfully philosophical.  :Smile:

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Astabeth

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## lenf12

> It still took a LONG time before I could pull chords from listening to a record. But thankfully the songbooks I had started on - The Band, Traffic, Lovin' Spoonful, Jethro Tull, The Beatles - contained a great many songs with atypical chord structures, so trying to figure out songs that were a bit different from standard was easier as a result. Man - never mind "Ripple," learn the chords for "Tea For Two" - now THERE is some highly evolved songwriting!
> 
> Few things bring such satisfaction as solving a frustrating puzzle. Working out problems like this has rewards beyond just learning a song. Learning how to learn is a valuable technique that pays unexpected dividends and applies to so many aspects of life.



Great post JB. I just read it today and truer words have not been spoken about learning and musicianship.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

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## journeybear

Thanks, Len. That perked my day up. Been struggling with some setbacks lately and your kind words put a smile on my face. Not enough kindness expressed in the world on a regular basis. Good on ya!  :Smile:

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