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Thread: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

  1. #1
    Registered User mbruno's Avatar
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    Default Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Hey everyone

    So I'm looking around to find bluegrass standards or "new standards" that have a 6 2 5 1 change in them. I know Salty Dog Blues is basically a 1 6 2 5 1 song (G E A D G) and I know a bunch of tunes that use 2 5 1 (like the B part of Old Home Place) but I can't think of any others that use 6 2 5 1.

    Note, I'm not looking for non-bluegrass songs that use 6 2 5 1 and would sound good as bluegrass (frankly I think you can play anything with a bluegrass feel and make it sound better haha) - I'm looking specifically for songs that you might hear in a jam (even if they aren't super common)

    Any thoughts?
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  2. #2

    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    A lot of people in these parts play Sweet Georgia Brown at jams and pretend it is a bluegrass song.

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  4. #3
    Registered User mbruno's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Same with Lady Be Good and Limehouse Blues. I'll allow it
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    Dan Scullin dscullin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down…

    https://youtu.be/vCfFNfcPckg
    Dan Scullin
    Louisville, KY

  6. #5
    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Alabama Jubilee?
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

  7. #6

    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    I know what it means to be lonesome is one of my favorites for this progression.


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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Well, seeing as how all the ones that popped into my head right off have been mentioned already - "Salty Dog," "Deal" - plus a few others that incorporate the progression though feature other chord patterns - "Alabama Jubilee," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Limehouse Blues" (I don't think "Lady Be Good" does, though) - I'll just give my blessings to those and go off on a slight tangent.

    Dan Scullin's avatar - I remember that, and have posted it once or twice but ages ago. The scale of this work of art is hard to appreciate in that small image. I thought I added it to the Mandolins in Visual Art thread - which was a fun one, and should be restored - though I can't find it except in someone else's reference. Here it is for better viewing, with a reference for scale. Thanks for settling on that for your avatar, Dan - a fine choice, indeed.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  11. #8

    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Scruggs tune Dear Old Dixie incorporates it. The end of Kentucky Waltz and Beaumont Rag use it. So does Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia though that one is not exactly bluegrass.

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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Cincinnati Rag, with a variant on the B part.

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    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Most of the tunes mentioned have not been "6-2-5-1"

    Most have been V/V/V - V/V - V -I in terms of actual chord changes; D7 -G7 - C7 - F.

    vi-ii-V-I would be Dm - Gm - C - F

    Just a technical point.

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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Well, technically ... But these tunes are not enharmonic, to be sure; they follow the VI7 - II7 - V7 - I pattern so common in swing music from the 1920s-1930s. I'm pretty sure that's what the OP meant.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  16. #12
    Registered User mbruno's Avatar
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    Default Re: Bluegrass Tunes with 6 2 5 1 progression

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidKOS View Post
    Most of the tunes mentioned have not been "6-2-5-1"

    Most have been V/V/V - V/V - V -I in terms of actual chord changes; D7 -G7 - C7 - F.

    vi-ii-V-I would be Dm - Gm - C - F

    Just a technical point.
    Diatonically, sure but technically speaking, saying "5 of 5 of 5, to the 5 of 5, to the 5 to the 1" is just a complicated way of say "major 6 2 5 1".
    Information on lessons, gigs, and misc musical stuff: www.mattcbruno.com
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