“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Key of C, Part 1: Transposing to C

from: Folk and Bluegrass Songs for Fiddle with Lauren Rioux

This lesson is part of the course Folk and Bluegrass Songs for Fiddle with Lauren Rioux.

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Learn to craft your own fiddle solos to folk and bluegrass songs by creating melodic and rhythmic interest using pickups, double stops, licks, and fills. You’ll work through each song in multiple keys so you can become comfortable with transposition on the fly, a crucial component for successful jamming.

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“Worried Man Blues” Key of D

One of the ways you can start embellishing melodies is by varying the pickups to lines of the melody. In “Worried Man Blues” the vocal pickup is just one word/note: “it.” In this video, Lauren shows you how you can start varying the pickup rhythmically and melodically.

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The Folk and Bluegrass Songs for Fiddle Subscription Includes:

An in-depth method for creating solos to folk and bluegrass songs by using pickups, fills, blues notes, double stops, and more
Solos to popular folk and bluegrass songs like “Worried Man Blues,” “Bury Me Beneath the Willow,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and more
All songs taught in four different keys
Detailed notation for all lessons
Slow and fast Play-Along Tracks in multiple keys for each song
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“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Key of C

“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Key of C, Part 1: Transposing to C

“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Key of C, Part 2: Run Through

“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” Key of C, Part 1: Transposing to C

Lauren guides you through transposing “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” to the key of C, showing you that the hand shape in the lower octave feels like the higher octave in the key of D. You can immediately move what you already know to this location on your fiddle. That means adding pickups, blues notes, double stops, fiddle fills, and end licks to create a solo in this key. The upper octave provides opportunities to shift at the end of the second phrase. Playing the melody (not the solo) with the play-along track in this new upper octave/hand shape/location is a useful way to practice the closed hand shape. Once you’re feeling comfortable, you can start adding all the “extras,” and Lauren offers suggestions of fingerings for this new landscape.

“Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” Key of C, Notation PDF Download (Available to subscribers)

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