Originally Published April 1995
Contributed by: Ben Ford
In my last article I talked about the dominant seventh chord and its strong tendency to move back to the root or tonic chord. This 5-1 motion (down a fifth, or up a fourth) is so important to all types of Western music, that I thought we ought to look at the big picture.
It just so happens that if you start at any note, and go down a fifth (or up a fourth) to the next note, and continue to move down a fifth or up a fourth, eventually you get right back to where you started from! For example, if
you start on a C, you would move through a sequence of notes like this:
C F Bb/A# Eb/D# Ab/G# Db/C# Gb/F# B E A D G C
Why this sequence occurs is a topic for a dissertation in Physics and Math. What matters to us is that we can use the Circle of Fifths to figure out the chords to many tunes.
Let’s say we are playing a tune in the Key of G. Notice that on the Circle, the G note is surrounded by C and D, which are the names of the 4th and 5th chords, respectively, for G major! It works exactly the same for each key: E is surrounded by A (4th or subdominant) and B (5th or dominant). Now it’s easy to see why the 4th chord is called the subdominant; it’s a fifth below the root, while the dominant is a fifth above the root.
Enough of this technical mumbo-jumbo; let’s go for a ride on the Circle of Fifths! Very often in various styles of music (especially ragtime), we can go on a little excursion outside the home key of the piece, and use the Circle to bring us back home. Example: Alabama Jubilee, in the key of C major.
The key of C major?!?! That usually means NO sharps or flats. But the first chord is A, which has the notes A-C#-E. Right out of the starting gate, we have jumped outside the key of C major. This adds variety and excitement to the piece, and even if you never before understood what was happening, chances are your ears at least told you that something unusual was going on.
How can we find our way back to C? By riding the Circle of Fifths!
The A7 chord is a dominant seventh chord, and pulls us clockwise around the Circle to D. By simply making the D chord a dominant seventh as well, we continue our momentum around the Circle to G. As expected, the G chord takes us home to C, a little breathless but none the worse for wear.
You’ll find this sort of trick used in all styles of music, but probably most often in ragtime tunes. The second part of Stone’s Rag uses the exact same chord pattern, A – D – G – C. The first part of Dill Pickle Rag is very similar;
the next time you play it, watch how it moves around the Circle of Fifths.
Music theory seems as dry as a desert to most folks, but a basic understanding of a song’s chord structure can really help you learn it more easily. It can also help you figure out how to play back up, harmonies or variations on the melody, or even to write your own music! I will talk about these topics in future articles, but for now, experiment
and have fun. Remember, as Pete Wernick says, “If it sounds good, it must be good!”
Appalachians and other places in the southern U.S., based partly on tunes from the British Isles and on the rhythm of the banjo, which was developed from a West African instrument. Old-time music predates bluegrass. It’s the original early-recorded “country music” of the 1920s and 1930s, played by ordinary working people in communities, before travel was easy and before recordings could be heard on the radio. Old-time was the name given to this rural music by one of the first record companies to discover it and produce recordings.
OT fiddlers seldom use more than two fingers of their left hand, and uses tunings that maximize the number of open strings played. BG fiddlers study 7th position fingering patterns with Isaac Stern, and take pride in never playing an open string.
Contributed by Mike Deniz
The most difficult part was finding the right cigar box. I combed all the smoke shops in greater Rochester looking for one that was the right size and construction. All these places sell empty boxes for around $3 each. A full size violin is about 24” long, with the body being about 14”L and only 4.75” W at the narrowest point to accommodate the angling of the bow; very few cigar boxes are this long and squat. I had to settle for one that was 11”L x 8”W, which meant I had to plan for the neck being proportionately longer to compensate. This changes the point on the body where the bridge will be mounted, and where the f-holes will eventually need to be cut.
The thing to remember is that the back of the cigar box will be the top of the fiddle. Onto it I traced f-holes using a template printed from Google Images, then cut them out with a small hand-held sabre saw. I then drilled a hole in the “front” of the cigar box such that there was a 1” distance between the top of the fiddle and the top of the hole. The dowel was inserted and passed through the entire interior length, then secured to the inside back wall with glue and the large screw eye, which was screwed through from the outside (the screw eye would eventually become the anchor for the tailpiece gut cord).
I recently attended a workshop on caring for musical instruments during Rochester area winters. While much of the information may be common sense to some people, I found it really helpful for protecting instruments. As they say, “Instruments still think they’re trees,” though they are not, so they need special care in maintaining the wood and lacquer. Plus, the effects of the cold can affect the sound.
Dave Stutzman of Stutzman’s Guitar Center was the workshop speaker. This information is intended as a summary of “need to know” points:
What is bluegrass music? Opinions vary some, but here is one. It is produced by musical instruments that are stringed and acoustic, and singing. To have an authentic bluegrass sound you must have a five-stringed banjo, played “Scruggs” style. The style is played using picks attached to the thumb and first two fingers producing a rhythmic “roll.” The other one or two fingers rest lightly on the banjo head to provide a reference point for a smooth rhythm.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the “Cakewalk” was a dance sensation that swept the country. It was a couples’ dance that very often took the form of a contest. Couples would form a large square with the men on the outside and the women on the inside and strut around the square in cadence to a lively tune. Judges considered the elegance, grace and inventiveness of the dancers and would eliminate couples one by one. The last couple remaining was awarded a large, highly decorated cake which had been in plain sight throughout the contest. Today the term “cakewalk” usually implies something that is very easy. The dance itself, however, could be physically demanding but always considered an enjoyable recreation. The common expression “takes the cake” also comes directly from this activity.