The Major Chords I-IV-I-V-I
If a IV propels the song forward when it appears, then having it start off the tune is downright exciting! Here’s “John Hardy”. The excerpt of the song is at:
www.mikeperryweb.com/chords/MajorChrds-I_IV_V/JohnHardy.mp3 (344KB)

I have also created a Flash 6 file for "John Hardy" that plays the song and graphically shows the changes as they happen. To view this file, you will need to get the latest Flash reader software. Right-Click (PC) or Control Click (Mac) on the image when it comes up, and select "play" to start the sound. Select "Rewind" then "Play" to hear the song again. Select "Loop" to play the song repeatedly.

The Changes:
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
V V V V
V V I I

I thought I would do another full analysis of a bluegrass standard just to show how these changes and an arrangement appear in “Lonesome Road Blues.” The complete song is at:
www.mikeperryweb.com/chords/MajorChrds-I_IV_V/LonesomeRdBluz.mp3 (2.9MB)

I have also created a Flash 6 file for "Lonesome Road Blues" that plays the song and graphically shows the changes as they happen. To view this file, you will need to get the latest Flash reader software. Right-Click (PC) or Control Click (Mac) on the image when it comes up, and select "play" to start the sound. Select "Rewind" then "Play" to hear the song again. Select "Loop" to play the song repeatedly.

Here is the chord analysis:
I I I I
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
V V I I

And here are the arrangement notes. The tune was originally in “B”, but I didn’t know that for sure until I got out my mandolin (I DID have a sneaking suspicion though, because the drive in a bluegrass song in B is unmistakable):

Banjo solo
Chorus
Verse
Fiddle solo
V
V
Mandolin solo
Ch
Ch
Banjo solo
Ch
Tag playing the last 8 measures

I had the entire arrangement notated in a matter of minutes. You should try making up shorthand arrangements like this for all the tunes you can recognize the chord changes for. Next time we’ll talk about the Blues (I think we’re ready for it).

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