Topic: Miller's Breakdown

[One-Eyed Ross]

OK, having tried this on the 6 string, I will, with egg on my face, say capo at 5, playing out of E position.

Interesting exercise for me, going from the 12 to the 6 and hearing the different voices.  (If I were to perform this on the 12, I would do it in G position, capo at 2 however....I just like the sound there).

[Gumbo]

I'm agreeing capo 5 and E shape (key of A) alternating with a C#m shape relative to the capo (so F#m on the neck) and there's an A shape with grace notes on the  2nd and 4th frets of the top string (relative to capo). Lovely to play with. Thanks John

[David Kaatz]

I think she is playing in open G. Not sure where the capo is - 2nd or 3rd fret? Because I don't know what my guitar is tuned to.
First the chord progression: She is going back and forth between the one chord and the relative minor sixth chord. Then eventually goes to the four chord, sixth chord, and back to one to start over.

She plays at open G, fretting the 5th fret of 1st string to catch the high root. Then she moves up to fret 9 5th string to play the bass note of the six chord, and plays a D7 shape on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings at the 8th fret. For the four chord, she plays at the 5th fret, barred across, reaching to the 7th fret on the 1st string for some notes. Then back to fret 9 for the sixth chord, and back to open.

Dave

[Vermonter]

Because no one else has suggested it, I'm going for Capo on 4th fret, played in F position, then slide up to 9th fret D position for the second chord. Beautiful song.
Oh, and the "that is why" section moves to a B chord and then D chord on 7th fret.
It's a guess, anyway.

[waxwing]

Just cleaning up the work of others because I didn't look at this until now, but at least I didn't cheat with software, which usually bars me from posting.

I think I'm in agreement with the Capo on 5th fret, E position folks with the chords relative to the capo being E; C#m (X4X654); A and D. The verse is a slow rocking between the E and its relative minor C#m, then the chorus is a quicker rocking between the A and the D, then using a C#m to get back to the E.

|E|C#m|E|C#m|E|C#m|E|C#m|A/D|A/D|A/D|C#m|E|C#m|E|C#m|E|C#m|

Wax

[uncle bud]

I'm going to go out into crazyland and say she's in an altered tuning. We know she has tuned the 6th string up to F before to play out of F. I'm thinking here she may also have tuned the 5th string up to B-flat. She gets the open F on the sixth string with a regular F chord, then a D minor with a little pinky reach for the treble note. For "That is why..." she gets the B-flat bass on the open 5th with the top three strings in a partial: x0x331.

Sorry, edited to add, all of that capoed up to 4th or 5th fret (not sure where my guitar is tuned right now).

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I think this one has been open long enough and it has been great to see all the responses.  Here are the answers:
   * Precious Bryant is playing out of E position, sounding in A, so assuming she was tuned to A 440 more or less, she was capoed at the fifth fret.  Congratulations to those of you who chose this as her playing position.
   * The progression of the song is pretty much exactly as Waxwing expressed it in the previous post to this one.  Put in the position in which the song was played, it would be:
   |    E    |    C#m    |    E    |    C#m    |

   |    E    |    C#m    |    E    |    C#m    |

   | A  D/A | A  D/A    | A  D/A  |  C#m    |

   |    E    |    C#m    |    E      |    C#m    |

To put the song in the key in which it sounds, just change all of the E chords to A chords, all of the C#m chords to F#m chords, the A chord to a D chord and the D/A chord to a G/D chord.  As has been noted, the first, second and fourth lines of the form rock between the I chord and its relative minor.  In the third line, the song goes to the IV chord, and I think it's really helpful in terms of hearing to think of the D chord, which relative to the I chord would be a bVII chord, instead, as a IV of IV.  Precious Bryant is basically rocking there between X-0-X-2-2-0 and X-0-X-2-3-2, but she could have gotten the rocking motion on the interior four strings by going from X-0-2-2-2-X to X-0-4-2-3-X.  I think this rocking motion works out particularly pretty in the position she chose to play the song in--the analogous move played out of G position, C rocking to F/C, doesn't have quite as nice a sound to my ear, though others of you may prefer it.

It's neat to have so many people join in on the puzzle.  It's worth pointing out, perhaps, since there are some people participating for the first time, that there is absolutely nothing wrong with posting the same solution as someone else previously posted if you believe that solution correctly answers the questions that have been posed.  I really like "The Truth", both the song and Precious Bryant's performance of it; it has a nice relaxed feel, and elements of Gospel and older R & B that are very appealing to me.

I'll post another puzzler soon.

All best,
Johnm   

[waxwing]

Thanks, Johnm, for explaining about that bVII chord. I did wonder about it, and it did occur to me that it worked because it was the IV of the IV. Are you aware if this is a phenomenon that occurs with some regularity in R&B or any other form of pop music like Tin Pan Alley or something of that sort? Just curious. It's a great structural piece to be aware of.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi Wax,
I don't think of the rock from the IV to the IV of IV as having a particular stylistic affiliation--rather, it shows up all over the place.  I wouldn't be surprised if it showed up first in hymns.  It's a very natural sort of thing to do, especially when driven by the melody.  And if the same rocking motion has already happened between I and IV, it's especially natural to do the rock from IV to the IV of IV (bVII) chord.  In both instances, you keep the root of the chord you're rocking from, which is also the fifth of the chord you're rocking to, and resolve the upper two voices up by half-step and whole step.  So I, consisting of the I-III-V notes of the scale rocks to IV, which consists of I-IV-VI, and IV, which consists of IV-VI-I rocks to IV of IV, which consists of IV-bVII-II.
The rock from I to IV and then from IV to the IV of IV can be found in Jesse Wadley's "Alabama Prison Blues", which was discussed earlier in this thread at:  http://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=10188.msg88043#msg88043 .  The move is implied by the melody of Ma Rainey's "Booze and Blues" and Charlie Patton's covers of that song, "High Sheriff Blues" and "Tom Rushen Blues", as well as Robert Johnson's "From Four Until Late".  I think it also shows up in Marvin Gaye's version of "Can I Get A Witness", and is a staple of pedal steel guitar players in Country music.
All best,
Johnm

[waxwing]

Thanks for the detailed info, Johnm. I guess I glossed over that reference in the Alabama Prison Blues discussion. You're right, tho', the voicing with the A and D chords in standard is particularly catchy, even uplifting, coming after the I-vi. I can hear how it would work well in spirituals and gospel. I'll keep my ear open for it.

Wax

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I've got a new puzzler for you.  The song is "Poor And Ain't Got A Dime" as played by Floyd Council, yet another really fine East Coast Blues musician.

 


The questions about Floyd Council's performance are as follows:
   * What playing position/tuning did he use to play "Poor And Ain't Got a Dime"?
   * Where is he fretting the chord he plays at :05--:07?
   * Where does he fret the run he plays in triplets from :13--:15?
   * Where does he fret his turn-around at :24--:26?
   * Where is he fretting what he plays in the treble from 1:00--1:04?

SOLO

Say, I was layin' upstairs, layin' on my cold iron bed
Say, I was layin' upstairs, layin' on my cold iron bed
When I received the news, the woman I love was dead

I didn't have no money, then I could not go home
I didn't have no money, then I could not go home
Then I walked to my window, and I dropped my head to moan

Lord, Lord, woman I love is dead and gone
Lord, Lord, woman I love is dead and gone
Yeah, I am broke and hungry, five hundred miles from home

Yeah, hoo-yeah, uh-huh
Yeah, hee-yeah-ah
Yeah, hee-yeah, uh-huh

I'm going down to the river, fall on my bended knee
I'm going down to the river, fall on my bended knee
I'm going to ask the Good Lord to help me if he please

Please use only your ears and instruments in figuring out your answers, and please don't post any answers until Friday, September 26, so that plenty of folks will have a chance to listen to the tune and come up with their own answers.  Thanks for participating.
All best,
Johnm 

[mr mando]

* Where does he fret the run he plays in triplets from :24--:26?

I hear a turnaround at time position 0:24--0:26. Is it possible you're talking about the run from 0:13 to 0:15?

[Johnm]

Oops, thanks for the catch mr mando.  The quiz works a lot better if I post the questions I intended to post!  I will edit the post to reflect the questions that I intended to ask, and they'll match up better with the descriptions and times.  Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Because I stiffed the questions on the Floyd Council tune in my initial post, and also because there have been no responses thus far, let's extend the response period on the tune, and I can post the answers on Sunday night, if there have been some responses by then.
All best,
Johnm

[mr mando]

Q: What playing position/tuning did he use to play "Poor And Ain't Got a Dime"?
A: Sounds like std. tuning / G Position to me. The turnarounds, the C7 shaped V chord and the sound of the first chord (see next answer) don't indicate an open tuning to my ears.
Q: Where is he fretting the chord he plays at :05--:07?
A: I hear this as x-2-3-(o)-3-1, which is a G7 voicing I've never used or even thought about so far.
Q: Where does he fret the run he plays in triplets from :13--:15?
A: first position, starting on the G string: 0-2-3, then B string 0-1-2, then B string 3, E string o, B string 1, then G string 3, B string o, G string o.
Q: Where does he fret his turn-around at :24--:26?
A: That's the Blind Blake turnaround on the top four strings: 3-o-o-3, 2-o-1-3, 1-o-2-3, o-o-(o-3)
Q: Where is he fretting what he plays in the treble from 1:00--1:04?
A: That was the toughest question for me and took me some time to come up with an answer that I'm pretty sure of: the first bar of the form (1:00 - 1:02) was easy: 4-3 on the G & B strings. for the second bar, he's sliding the two fingers down one fret and adds the ring finger on the high E string 3rd fret but hits just the first and second strings (mainly) for a partial Gdim chord.

I actually wanted to avoid being the first one again to answer another puzzle. But I missed a couple in the last weeks, so I hope nobody's too angry with me for breaking the ice. That's one of my favorite tracks in this thread, btw, so thanks johnm for chosing it.