Soldier's Joy

Soldier's Joy is a fun tune I'm looking to learn the melody to.

Here is the melody (from a Bluegrass Jam led by Jason Homey):





Here is a link to a free fiddle lesson on Soldier's Joy from Matt Hartz at MyTalentForge.com:
Soldier's Joy Lesson at MyTalentForge.com

Chords:
D D D D
D D D D
D D D D
D G D D

D D G G
D D A A
D D G G
D A D D

There are actually various chord progressions used on this song.  Here's a texas backup chord progression:

D D    D D
D D#o  A A/c#
D D/f# G G#o
D A    D D

D D/f# G G#o
D D#o  A A/c#
D D/f# G G#o
D A    D D

Durang's Hornpipe

Here is some sheet music for the tune:
Durang's Hornpipe Sheet Music

Here's a video of Daniel Carwile playing Durang's Hornipe


And here's an audio recording of Tony Ludiker playing it in 1988:
Tony Ludiker playing Durang's Hornpipe

The texas backup chord progression (We usually play this as AABBAA):
D D/f# G G#o
D D/f# A A/c#
D D/f# G G#o
A walk D D/f#

D A/c# Bm Bm/f#
G G#o  A  A/c#
D D/f# G  G#o
A walk D D/f#

Rosebud of Allenvale - Waltz 3/4

Here's a link to the melody:
http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=www.alfwarnock.info/alfs/abc/accw03/0065

And here is Robyn and Grace playing it at the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest in 2012



The chords:
A  E7   A  A/c#
D  A    E7 E/g#
A  A/c# D  D#o
A  E7   A  A
----------
A7 A7    D  D/f#
B7 B7/f# E7 E/g#
A  A/c#  D  D#o
A  E7    A  A

Grey Eagle - Standard A progression

Grey Eagle uses a very standard fiddle tune progression

Here's my daughter Robyn playing Grey Eagle at the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest in 2012:



This video has her entire round, so it also includes Grey Eagle, Chancellor's Waltz, and Beaumont Rag.

Here are the basic chords:
A A D D 
A A E E
A A D D 
E E E A

And

Texas Style chord progression:
A A/c# D D#o
A A/c# E E/b
A A/c# D D#o
E E/b walk A

where the walk would be (f#, g#)

Whiskey Before Breakfast

Whiskey Before Breakfast is a fiddle tune in the key of D.

Here is a link to some audio and sheet music for it:
http://www.nationalfiddlerhalloffame.org/Education/LessonSheetMusic.html

The basic chord progression is (slightly different from the one in the sheet music I referenced):
DDGD  GDEmA  DDGD  GDAD
DDDD EmEmGA DAGD GDAD

The Texas style backup that I learned for this tune is:

And here's a higher version of part A for variety:

Whoa Mule - Fiddle Contest Hoedown Tune

Whoa Mule is a fiddle contest tune. There are two parts (A and B), and we usually play it as AABB or AABBAA. The basic chord progression is:

(Each chord is half a measure in 4/4)
A: GGCC GGDD GGCC DDGG
B: EmEmCC GGDD EmEmCC DDGG

However, in a fiddle contest setting, the backup for this tune is typically done in a Texas style backup. In this style, there is a walking bass line beneath the chords, and frequently the chord will change every half-measure.

The chord progression using Texas Backup:
A: G6 G7 C C#o G6 G7 D7 D7/A G6 G7 C C#o D7 D7/A D7/G# G6
B: Em G C C#o G6 G7 D7 D7/A Em G C C#o D7 D7/A D7/G# G6

I'm including chord diagrams so you can see the bass line walk. Note that the X in the chord charts is the bass note that will be picked. Then the rest of the notes will be strummed on the next beat. (boom-CHUCK, boom-CHUCK, boom-CHUCK, boom-CHUCK).

You'll probably want to use the chord charts attached to understand what's going on better. It does take some work to learn some of these new chord shapes, but I think it makes playing backup a lot more fun. Try it out!

Also note that part A is a pretty standard G progression, so there will be other songs that will use this same progression.  Also, since most of the chords are closed chords (no open strings), the same progression can be played with little additional effort by just starting two frets higher on an A6 instead of a G6.