| Pacific Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Society |
- Home
- Old-Time Music
At the club, we offer an open, monthly jam night dedicated to old-time music. For the first 90 minutes, the jam is led by experienced PBOMS members who introduce tunes, go over chords, and discuss contextual aspects of the music. This helps provide an on-ramp for players new to old-time music and also offers new tunes and ideas for more experienced players. After 9pm, there is an "open" style old-time jam driven by attendees, with tunes played at a faster pace. Both jams follow old-time music tradition where tunes are played (and learned) by ear - no sheet music!
Check the schedule on our front page to confirm, but the old-time jam is generally the third Monday of each month from Sept-June at the Anza Club and every Monday July-August at Trout Lake (weather permitting).
WHAT IS OLD-TIME MUSIC?
Old-time music and the associated community, as the PBOMS name suggests, is an important part of our society! At the club, we tend to play folk and stringband music primarily from Appalachian and Midwest American music traditions. This style of "old-time" is often considered the basis for much of the bluegrass tradition. At the very least, they are close family members with plenty of overlap in tunes and songs! A wide range of music falls under the old-time umbrella, including hoedowns, waltzes, rags, marches, airs, songs and ballads. Music styles and tune selections tend to be regional and local, as each old-time community has its own set of 'common' tunes (including our own club!).
Old-time jams are mostly instrumental tunes with fiddles and banjos leading, and all acoustic melody instruments playing in unison (more or less!). A strong chord foundation and rhythm is provided by guitars and sometimes bass. If you are new to an old-time jam, you'll notice a few differences relative to bluegrass. It is common to stay in one key (typically G, D, A or C) for a long time - this aspect is necessary for instruments that have tuned to that particular key. It also allows a player to discover different creative angles and more nuance by playing in the same key. Another major difference is the lack of "breaks" and other forms of solo-playing. Old-time jams travel together, with everyone playing the same melody. There are ways for a player to vary a tune, such as adding chording, playing in a different octave, walking a bass line, or adding some ornamentation, but noodling or going "off piste" are generally not done in a group jam.
PBOMS OLD-TIME JAM REPERTOIRE STARTER PACK
There are many (.. like... 1000's..) of old-time tunes. The PBOMS community maintains a list of commonly played tunes at PBOMS jams (thanks to Athena!). Chords, keys and sources for the tunes are included here:
| Starter G Tunes |
|---|
|
The following tunes can also be found in the Vancouver Old-Time Tune Archive.
|
| Starter D Tunes |
|
The following tunes can also be found in the Vancouver Old-Time Tune Archive.
|
| Starter A Tunes |
|
The following tunes can also be found in the Vancouver Old-Time Tune Archive.
|
OTHER RESOURCES
Want to read more on old time? Check out a discussion by Mike Seeger. Wikipedia also has some good background information. For tunes and chords, try Slippery Hill and Tater Joes (both supported by public donations).
As well, all of the tunes from the Archive have been entered into http://strummachine.com. This site/app is an excellent resources for playalong tracks - backing tracks with multiple instruments can be played at any speed and in any key. Many of the tunes we play are already in Strum Machine and we have added the rest. This is a great reference for chord charts, and an invaluable practice tool for learning old-time tunes. You can use the lists as chords references for free. A modest monthly subscription is required to use the play-along features.
You can access the tunes lists (below). They can be saved as read-only to your own Strum Machine account if you have one:
Key of A: https://strummachine.com/app/lists/zhe9rzX5bmDzwKGsk
Key of C: https://strummachine.com/app/lists/wc4XXWTRYHmvin6qz
Key of D: https://strummachine.com/app/lists/T4iGRfqkR9qLCFodH
Key of G: https://strummachine.com/app/lists/8tcpyj6hc4YxzX2BN
- chords are an interpretation of harmony and some players may prefer different chord progressions than the ones listed
- in some cases multiple "standard" progressions may exist
- the chords are entered manually by volunteer elves and are a work in progress -- let us know if you find mistakes!
Please note that PBOMS has no financial interest in Strum Machine. Luke Abbot who runs it has been extremely helpful and friendly to us and we encourage people to support him if you find Strum Machine useful.