irishbanjos - Posted - 01/05/2011:  07:37:16

Hey there folks!

I wanted to ask you if you could tell me some chords, scales or picking patterns I could use when going to an Irish music or bluegrass jam session.

I'm playing in an Irish/bluegrass duo with a fiddler friend and sometimes he wants to improvise something, and I'm awful at that... I think that with some advice on chords/scales advice it'd be easier for me.

Thanks y'all!

mandoteacher - Posted - 01/05/2011:  11:13:41

My advice is to learn the Circle of Fifths. From that you will know all the notes of all the chords and all the scales.

In terms of scales most commonly used in Bluegrass, I recommend G, C, D, A and their relative minors (e,a,b,f#)

Scales most commonly used in Irish are the above plus the following modes: Mixolydian, Aeolian

Have fun!

irishbanjos - Posted - 01/05/2011:  12:43:22

Thanks, mandoteacher!

I haven't understood the Mixolydian and Aeolian thing (about these terms, I only know the Mixolydian and Aeolian dulcimer tunings), could you explain it to me?

And what is the Circle of Fifths?

I know very little about mando terms, I just know how to play tunes and improvise some chords sequences, and maybe some kind of picking, though not much...

kennyb - Posted - 01/05/2011:  14:32:23

It's been my experience that bluegrass jams and Irish sessions are played differently. Bluegrass jams usually have players taking turns playing lead, or melody, or a break with everyone else backing up the lead, and Irish sessions have most players playing melody, with only a couple of backers.
If you learn a scale, then the relative minor of that key is the same scale, just starting on the 6th note. Also the Aeolian mode is the same scale as the root scale, just centered around the 6th note.
Irish music typically uses the root mode, second, or Dorian (centered around the ii chord, or minor chord named for the second note of the major scale), or the fifth, or Mixolydian mode (centered around the 5th chord of the major scale, typically uses the V and IV chords only). I haven't encountered Irish tunes in other modes than these.

Edited by - kennyb on 01/05/2011 15:12:36

mandognome - Posted - 01/05/2011:  17:50:13

This is a chart showing the circle of fifths. It shows common relationships between chords. It also shows the relative minors in the inner ring. While I have an decent understanding of how these relationships work, I don't really know how to explain it to someone else... I got this image from a topic over on BHO, but I couldn't find the original thread to give credit to the poster.

irishbanjos - Posted - 01/05/2011:  23:45:21

quote:

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Originally posted by mandognome

This is a chart showing the circle of fifths.

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Montana - Posted - 01/06/2011:  10:01:44

Check out John McGann's DVD on playing backup. It covers how to play in any style.