Three chord songs

Subject: Three chord songs
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 19 Dec 02 - 08:07 PM

Hi Mudcatters,

I'm starting to teach a beginners Folk Music class in my home and am looking for easy three chord songs, preferably traditional and singable. I am researching all the songbooks etc. but would appreciate please any ideas you might have. There are many songs that I might not have thought of that you would undoubtably know.

I believe that the next Folk Revival starts in the living room, and maybe not on the concert stage.

Thanks in advance,

Frank

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Dec 02 - 08:19 PM

What have you decided on so far?

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Alice
Date: 19 Dec 02 - 10:59 PM

Frank there is an older thread called Three-Chord Songs that I refreshed for you. There are over a hundred messages on it.

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=14219


Alice

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 12:21 AM

I have a friend, Marge Lev, who is very proud that she took a guitar class from Frank thirty or forty years ago. It was a high point in her very interesting life.
Wish I could take your class, Frank.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 10:49 AM

Alice, clicked on the blue clicky and got something on Christie Moore.Please advise.

Joe, I remember Marge. Nice memory of her. Thanks. And thanks for the lovely compliment.

Cluin:

This Land Is Your Land
Goodnight Irene
Down in the Valley
Skip to my Lou
I'll Fly Away
Worried Man Blues
Bright Mornin' Stars
Home in that Rock
I Saw the Light
Tumbalalaika
Havah Nagilah
Satisfied Mind
I Walk the Line
Sweet Georgia Mountains
John Henry
Columbus Stockade
Korobushka
Bil Them Cabbages Down
Har Ain't it Hard
New Rive Train
Little Old Log Cabin In the Lane
Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss
Cindy
Old Joe Clark
Cripple Creek
Come and Dine
Crawdad Song
Midnight Special
]Gold Watch and Chain
Suli Ram
Take Me Back to Tulsa
Marching Through Georgia
Old Dan Tucker
Black Eyed Susie
Ramblin' Boy
Go to Sleep you Weary Hobo
Red River Valley
You Are My Sunshine
Old Blue
Me and Bobby Magee
Good News Chariot's A-Comin'
Turtle Dove
Sourwood Mountain
Tom Dooley
Careless Love
Done Laid Around
Little Maggie
Trouble in Mind
How Long Blues
Buffalo Gals
Roll IN My Sweet Baby's Arms
Molly Malone
Blue Tailed Fly
Blow The Man Down
Paper of Pins
Soldier Won't you Marry Me
Buffalo Boy
Er-i-e
Drill Ye Tarrier
Old Maid's Song
Devil and the Farmer's Wife
Buddy Won't you Roll Down That Line
900 Miles
I Ride an Old Pain
Poor Howard
White House Blues
.......................for starters.

Any more titles would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks.

Frank

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Alice
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 11:34 AM

Sorry, this should link to thread 14219, not 1421.

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=14219
Click on the number of messages to open the thread into pages.
It is over 120 messages now.

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: M.Ted
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 03:06 PM

I used to start my beginners on two chord songs, using Old Blue and Tom Dooley, which you have, and Iko Iko, Dream Baby and Okie from Muskogee, which you don't have, so they could understand the movement from Tonic to Dominant, also made it easy for them to concentrate on the picking and strumming, instead of getting all bogged down worrying about chord changes--

There are a fair number of two chord pop songs(and many, many three chorders) , as well, but most of them are not worth learning, since most of them are second rate re-writes of old songs anyway, and tend to be forgotten quickly--

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 05:50 PM

Alice, thank you. Checked the discussion but it's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the titles of songs that use three chords that are mostly traditional to add to the list.

M.Ted, I'd like to stay away from the more pop type tunes and focus on the traditional such as Tom Dooley as you have suggested.

I realize that there are a lot of three chorders that are pop-oriented such as Louie Louie or Wild Thing. I'm looking for Carter Family songs such as "Keep on the Sunny Side" or blues tunes..."How Long Blues", "Trouble In Mind" .....this kind of thing. Even gospel type tunes such as "I'll Fly Away", "Saints Go Marchin' In", "Give Me That Old Time Religion".

There are probably countless tunes but I would like to hear some of your ideas on titles. They might be familiar such as:

On Top Of Old Smoky
Jimmy Crack Corn

or more unusual such as:

Little Moses
Little Mohee
Go To Sleep You Weary Hobo
At My Window Sad and Lonely

Thanks for your help.

Frank

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 06:21 PM

Well, there are songs which need more than three chords, obviously, even some folk songs. But by and large most of the songs people are likely to know or want to know can be managed pretty well with just three - and they aren't necessarily any better for putting in more than that, to my ears anyway.

The implication of that is, just pick the songs because they are the ones the people learning know or want to know, and they'll almost certainly be three-chorders.

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 09:05 PM

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Neighmond
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 09:23 PM

How's about: "It'll aggrevate your Soul"

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Bobert
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 09:48 PM

Three chords? Hmmmmmm? 90% of all folk, country or blues songs. Two chords, 20%, one chord 10%.

The field is purdy open here...

Bobert

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: M.Ted
Date: 20 Dec 02 - 09:51 PM

Frank,

I love your list, and taught many of the songs you've listed students in my guitar classes with very good luck--I even taught "Go to Sleep, You Weary Hobo" once, but the folks in the class knew the song--familiarity was the most important, at least in the beginning, because it meant that they had one less thing to think about--I think that I might take the lists you've put together and go over it with your students the first time you get together to find out which ones they know, and which ones they like--

About fifteen years ago, I was hired to teach beginning and advanced guitar classes at a community arts center--the course was to emphasize contemporary popular music, so I bought a stack of the latest records and found the ones that could be played and sung easily then worked up the term's lesson plan--First class session, I found that most of the students didn't know any of the songs, and the ones that did didn't want to learn them--the wanted to learn to play folk songs!

Best to find out what they are familiar with, you may be surprised by it--In the Pines, for instance, was recorded by Nirvana, so a lot of young people know it--Bud and Travis were featured a lot on the TV show "Northern Exposure", and now people are listening to them again--"Man of Constant Sorrow" is bound to be familiar to a lot of people because of "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" as are some of the other tunes--

The Weavers tunes are always a big hit with beginning guitar players, because virtually everyone knows them, and my beginners were always delighted that they had learned "The Midnight Special" because it seemed like such a real song(it has a driving beat and it's about prison and trains--you can't get any more real than that!)--(I think someone even asked to learn "The Frozen Logger" once)

House of the Rising Sun seems to be universally known, and beginners are often amazed to know that it is possible for them to learn it--

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Cluin
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 02:21 AM

Looks pretty comprehensive there, Frank. If you want some more maybe I'd throw in the 2 chorder "Jambalaya" (in a nice 2-step Cajun rhythm), Blue Moon of Kentucky, maybe "Guantanamera", "Show Me the Way To Go Home" (could introduce 2 more chords to them later in this one, the II-7th and the VI-m), 3 chord versions of "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" for the season. Like Bobert said, lots to choose from.

As far as people's familiarity with the songs goes, I don't think I know any more. I've launched into "Four Strong Winds" at sing-a-longs only to be met with blank looks. I thought everybody knew it around my neck-of-the-woods. They did when I was young, either from Ian & Sylvia or else Neil Young. And a couple of years ago I had a 13 year-old kid I was teaching mandolin lessons too. Was showing him as a primer "Doggie In the Window" because I figured he'd know how it should go. He looked at me and said he'd never heard the song before. I couldn't believe it. Figured EVERYBODY sang that as a kid. WE did, along with "Don't Fence Me In" and "Swing On a Star" and "High Hopes" Even though I grew up with Folk, Bluegrass, Country and Celtic. There were certain songs just everybody knew. Now it's just the Christmas Carols.

By the way, how does "I Ride an Old Pain" go? ;)

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: open mike
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 03:12 AM

why are there 2 threads by this name??

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 06:10 AM

There really should be three...

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: Alice
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 10:49 AM

Barbara Allan
Give My Love To Nell
Lightly Row
Yankee Doodle
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Home Sweet Home
Long Long Ago
Flow Gently Sweet Afton
Loch Lomond
Auld Lang Syne
Comin' Thro The Rye
Annie Laurie
All Through The Night
Love's Old Sweet Song
When You And I Were Young Maggie
Baa Baa Black Sheep
The Farmer In The Dell
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Santa Lucia (I think that can be three)
Good Night Ladies
Three Blind Mice
My Bonnie
Are You Sleeping
The Lakes Of Pontchartrain
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Alice

Subject: RE: Three chord songs
From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton
Date: 21 Dec 02 - 12:42 PM

Hi McGrath,
Ostensibly there are a lot of three-chorders but really contain more.

Neighmond,
don't know "It'll Aggravate Your Soul"...is it a folk song?

M.Ted:
I want to teach this class to introduce people to folk music.
Much of that they may or may not know but the purpose is to teach them to learn the songs. Your suggestions, "In The Pines" and "Man of Constant Sorrow" are excellent. Thank you.

The Weavers material I'm very familiar with. Many of them work. Some are more than three chords. But still a great suggestion.

Open Mike, I'm looking for song titles. The other one is about something else. It's a coincidence.

Cluin, excellent suggestions and I will include them in the list. Thanks so much.

Alice, thank you so much for your list. Really appreciated!
Give My Love To Nell (Don't know this one.)
Lightly Row   (I've seen it in beginning instruction books for instruments)
When Johnny Comes Marching Home (more than three chords)
Annie Laurie (in the bridge more than three chords)
All Through The Night (beautiful tune but more than three
Love's Old Sweet Song (more than three?)
Santa Lucia (I think that can be three) Yes!
The Lakes Of Pontchartrain (not sure about this one. Seems to me that there's some modal harmonies going on but I'll check on it.)

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I'm looking for.

Any more suggestions would be gratefully received. Particularly if it's associated with American Folk Music....Carter Family, Spirituals, etc.

Thanks so much everyone.

Frank






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