Come on up to the house, Sarah Jarosz

[micall5]

OK, so I'm trying to get the chords to this song down and when listening to Tom Waits, I believe it's in a different key than the version on Jarosz album. I can match the Tom Waits version with a capo, and come close to Jarosz version without, but I feel like I'm missing a few. Anyone know the chord progression for this song? And what key they play it in?

Another question from a beginner at theory... what does it mean to play in a key with a mandolin? When I chop to a song in say.. A, I can also take a break all over the fretboard. So this is a confusing topic for me.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Mike Bunting]

Google is your friend.

http://www.google.ca/search?client=s...JoainAf1-uHyDQ

[jaycat]

Boy, that is a cover version that DOES NOT work. Not that most covers of Waits' stuff do.

[doc holiday]

Jaycat...different strokes for different folks...I though "Come on up the the house" was one of the strongest songs on Sarah J's first CD and showcase a great singing voice...
To each his own...

[Ed Goist]

I think Sarah Jarosz's version is killer.
I'd also love to see the key/chords for her rendition.
-Ed

[John Hill]

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Waits but I actually prefer Jarosz's version much more than ol' gravel voice's. Maybe she should cover Rain Dogs...or Filipino Box Spring Hog.

[JeffD]

Another question from a beginner at theory... what does it mean to play in a key with a mandolin? When I chop to a song in say.. A, I can also take a break all over the fretboard. So this is a confusing topic for me.

Thanks in advance for the help.

The condenced version - if you play in A, besides the A chord, the E chord and the D chord will be useful to you, and you'll want to remember to play C# instead of C, and F# instead of F, and G# in stead of G.

Each key will have a handful of chords that predominate, and the notes that work, usually the notes of the scale in that key.

For the key of C, besides C, the G and F chords are important, and there are no sharps or flatted notes.

Its a whole lot more involved than that, of course, but there are a lot of references available for learning the basics of music theory, lots of web sites and books. Some of them are kind of encyclopedic - trying to present everything at once instead of what you want to know now and what else you might want to know later. So poke around but don't get discouraged. You don't need to know everything right away.

Others can chime in and recommend favorite sites and books.

There is a "Music Theory for Dummies" book I have looked at, in which it looked fairly easy to find the particular topic you want.

[thirdstation]

Others can chime in and recommend favorite sites and books.

I've found Edly's book to be the most useful re: theory.
http://www.edly.com/mtfpp.html

[Loretta Callahan]

Did anyone catch Sarah's great rendition of this on Austin City Limits a few weeks ago? She was wonderful!

[Mike Bunting]

Did anyone catch Sarah's great rendition of this on Austin City Limits a few weeks ago? She was wonderful!

Yes I did, and you are correct, she is terrific, of all the young folk, she's my favourite.

[Ed Goist]

Did anyone catch Sarah's great rendition of this on Austin City Limits a few weeks ago? She was wonderful!

For anyone who missed this fine performance on ACL, here is a link to the video for the entire episode (Steve Martin with Steep Canyon Rangers & Sarah Jarosz).

[micall5]

Thanks for the great help JeffD and Thirdstation, I'm going to check out that book. I really need to get a good teacher. I live in Bellingham WA, anyone know of any? Mandolin or theory?

As for the Sarah Jaroz song? Anyone have any tips?

[Markus]

I very much liked the ACL version as well. Still have it on DVR, god I love that thing [Steve Martin too!]

Others can chime in and recommend favorite sites and books.

If you play guitar, I found the Skeptical Guitarist series to be very useful as an introduction, Vol 1 gets a lot of the basics out of the way and I found a good way to jump in.

If you don't play guitar, that's just going to confuse you with 6 strings.

[Rob Gerety]

I agree Sarah is terrific. She really has it. My favorite young progressive bluegrass type player. Great stuff. I can't imagine what she will become as she matures.

[tallmike]

Thanks for the great help JeffD and Thirdstation, I'm going to check out that book. I really need to get a good teacher. I live in Bellingham WA, anyone know of any? Mandolin or theory?

As for the Sarah Jaroz song? Anyone have any tips?

It just so happens that I worked this out when the album was released. The key is A, and the chords are very close to (if not exactly) what are listed here: http://www.guitaretab.com/s/sarah-jarosz/255975.html

It's a pretty great solo (the album version) that covers a good amount of the fretboard. I've recorded a slower version for you here...please excuse the flubs:

[Loretta Callahan]

Very nice and soulful, Mike!

[Ed Goist]

Mike, that's some sweet playin'! Thanks for posting.
Oh, what type of mandolin are you playing, and how did you make the recording (equipment)? It sounds great!

[tallmike]

Thanks, guys!

Ed - I'm playing a Collings MF-5 (thread here) and recorded the video through the built-in mic & camera on my MacBook Pro (using Quicktime Pro).

[Ed Goist]

Mike, that Collings MF-5 is just stunning (sounds awesome, too). Congratulations.
Boy, good sound for a built-in mic.

[Peter Kurtze]

Mike, you have a great ear (and fingers)! Any chance you also worked out "Mansinneedof" while you were at it? I could sure use a s-l-o-w video of that one . . . or tab . . .

[pops1]

Sorry old post

[Mark Gunter]

Old'un but good'un pops1. I watched Sarah do this (YouTube) after reading this thread a month or so back and was blown away by watching the blues played so well on cello and fiddle - and of course Sarah's singing and playing are just awesome. This thread was the reason a newbie like me had to find out more about Sarah and find all her albums. As an aside, I met a really competent mandolin player at the Pearl Texas Bluegrass jam just a couple months ago, he was from Austin area and had been Sarah's first mandolin teacher, he knew her well as a child and he was great fun to play with. He let me play a tune on his Ellis.

[Jim_G]

Boy, that is a cover version that DOES NOT work. Not that most covers of Waits' stuff do.

This is an old thread, but I only just discovered the song. I spent a week playing Sarah's version over and over, just to get the lyrics in my head, and then moved on to the chords. (I don't hear a G in this, to my ears it's the minor 6th, so right or wrong, whatever that means, I'm keeping that F#m in my version).

When it came time to start learning the melody and break I checked out Tom's original version to see what he did with it. I burst out laughing as he unleashed the first line. I've heard him before of course, but not for a number of years, so I wasn't quite ready for it. But you know what, 10 minutes later, after I replayed it twice, I loved it and can't get enough of his version now.

[jaycat]

T But you know what, 10 minutes later, after I replayed it twice, I loved it and can't get enough of his version now.

Probably not so different than when folks of my generation first heard the originals of I Just Want To Make Love to You, or I'm a King Bee, after only being familiar with the freshly scrubbed and newly minted Rolling Stones versions.

[jshane]

T You don't need to know everything right away.

You can say THAT 2 times...

Personally, I think it helps to start thinking in the key of C major (no sharps/flats). If one remembers that chord triads are built (simplistically) from a root tone, a third and a fifth, than in the key of C, we have the following chords:

Cmaj (C,E,G)
Dmin (D,F,A)
Emin (E,G,B)
Fmaj (F,A,C)
Gmaj (G,B,D)
Amin (A,C,E)
Bdim (B,D,F)

All other major keys follow this same pattern of major, minor, and diminished chords, with appropriate sharps or flats added to preserve the interval patterns between notes (ie, in the key of Gmaj, one starts and ends on the note "G", and an F# is needed to preserve the interval relations, so the chords are Gmaj, Amin, Bmin, Cmaj, Dmaj, Emin,F#dim.

One can develop an understanding of a significant number of modal structures and minor keys as deviations and alterations of this basic pattern (although personally I think that in actually USING them, it is better to abandon intellectual understanding and just hear it).

There are a gagillion books on the subject and one can take music theory as far as you like (Take a gander at The Chromatic Lydian Concept ....). I'm not sure that taking it this far is advantageous, but a basic understanding of WHY certain chord patterns occur and re-occur-- and where those patterns come from-- is really, really helpful.