Re: [Harp-L] bluegrass at SPAH

[Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

Sweet Georgia Brown has a circle-of-fifths  six-two-five-one chord pattern.  The second ending has 4 bars in the related minor key.  The chromatic melody includes the sharped first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees.  

It doesn't seem to belong to the bluegrass tradition.
Wikipedia: "In 1925 Ben Bernie and his orchestra did the first recording of Sweet Georgia Brown. Bernie was the co-composer of this jazz standard, which became the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters."  It is usually jazzy, swingy, and syncopated. 

However, these guys play it at as bluegrass in F.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1hSDnCw9c 
That requiresF, F#, Bb, Bn, C and C# all on the same harmonica.  Wouldn't that be very challenging (especially at this tempo) on a  diatonic?

Vern

On Jul 19, 2011, at 1:19 PM, Doug H wrote:

> Well, now if you think about it carefully, all of the issues that make 'key'
> so hard to pin down, apply to the concept of 'chord' too.   My definition of
> 'chord' is very likely not the same as yours.  Do you have a good
> definition?
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: sheltraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 1:47 PM
> To: harp-l
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] bluegrass at SPAH
> 
> The tune Sweet Georgia Brown is in the AB format. So if somebody familiar
> with the tune as played in bluegrass jams were to tell me what the first
> chord of the A section is that would suffice.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
>> Providing an appropriate response is a challenge without getting some idea
>> of what your definition of 'key' is.
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: sheltraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 12:45 PM
>> To: harp-l
>> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] bluegrass at SPAH
>> 
>> In what "key" is Sweet Georgia Brown usually played at bluegrass? What's
>> the first chord?
>> 
>> 
> 
>