5 progressions (8-bar country I-IV-V, Wagon Wheel folk axis, ragtime
I-VI7-II7-V7 circle, Rising Sun 6/8 climb with corrected changes,
bluegrass I-IV-I-V) x 2 plays: open G/C-family boom-chick sets with
capo strategy, anchor-finger folk grips, barre fallbacks. Comping
documents boom-chick, Carter bass runs, Travis picking, train beat,
waltz. Sourced Lester Flatt G-run licks. Research corrections honoured
(Rising Sun is i-III-IV-VI, not Andalusian; ragtime is the full VI7
circle). Validator and build green.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
'In a folk circle you accompany the singer; in a bluegrass jam you ARE the drums — bass notes on 1 and 3 (kick), crisp strums on 2 and 4 (snare), bass runs announcing every change, and the capo moving your open shapes to whatever key the singer holds up fingers for.',
comping:[
{
label:'Boom-chick (alternating bass)',
rhythm:'B . X . B . X . — root bass, strum, 5th bass, strum',
description:'The engine: picked bass note (root on 1, fifth on 3 — each open chord has its alternation map), down-strum chick between. Add an up-strum after each chick for "boom chick-a".',
},
{
label:'Carter bass runs',
rhythm:'runs replace beats 3–4 before a change',
description:'G→C: walk G–A–B into the C. C→G: walk back down. G→D: G–A–B–C♯. The run tells the whole circle the change is coming — in bluegrass it\'s practically mandatory.',
},
{
label:'Travis picking',
rhythm:'thumb: steady quarters on alternating bass; fingers: syncopated treble',
description:'Thumb never stops (the §boom-chick map), index/middle pick G and B strings between, pinch on beat 1. Freight Train is the curriculum.',
},
{
label:'Train beat (Cash)',
rhythm:'D D U D U D U with accents on 2 & 4, half-muted',
description:'Strings damped just enough to fake a snare; keep the boom note clean, mute only the chicks. Folsom Prison at any tempo.',
},
{
label:'Waltz boom-chick-chick',
rhythm:'3/4: B X X — bass, strum, strum',
description:'Bass note on 1, two strums after, alternating root/5th by bar. Tennessee Waltz, Amazing Grace — every jam has them.',
},
],
plays:{
'country-145':[
{
label:'Open G-family, boom-chick',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'I — bass alternates low-E G / open-D D'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_C,extensions:[],note:'IV — bass: A-string C / low-E G'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'walk back down C–B–A–G'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_D7,note:'V7 — bass: open D / open A'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'home, G-run on the phrase end'},
],
tips:'This is the key-of-G home position; for the singer\'s key, move the capo, not the shapes (A = capo 2, B♭ = capo 3, B = capo 4 — the G-run survives the capo, a barre kills it).',
},
{
label:'Barre shapes (capo-proof)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'I'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:'IV — same fret, next string'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_DOM7_5,note:'V7 — two frets up from the IV'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
],
tips:'For keys where no capo position gives you open strings. You lose the ringing folk voice — keep the alternating-bass right hand so you don\'t lose the genre.',
},
],
'country-folk-axis':[
{
label:'Anchor-finger folk set',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'I — ring+pinky stay planted on the top two strings'},
{shape:OPEN_D,note:'V'},
{shape:OPEN_EM7,extensions:['b7'],note:'vi as Em7 — two fingers move, anchors hold'},
{shape:OPEN_CADD9,extensions:['9'],note:'IV as Cadd9 — same anchors again'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_D,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_CADD9,extensions:['9'],note:''},
{shape:OPEN_CADD9,extensions:['9'],note:'two bars of IV — let it ring'},
],
tips:'The modern-folk G-family sound: the top two strings drone through every chord while two fingers do the changes. Wagon Wheel is capo 2 with exactly these grips.',
},
{
label:'Barre version',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'I'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:'V'},
{shape:BARRE_MIN_6,note:'vi'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:'IV'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:''},
],
tips:'When the song lands in a capo-hostile key. Lighten the left hand between strums — folk barres should breathe, not sustain like rock.',
{shape:OPEN_A7,note:'VI7 — the ragtime surprise'},
{shape:OPEN_D7,note:'II7'},
{shape:OPEN_G7,note:'V7 — and the sled arrives home'},
],
tips:'Each dominant pulls into the next — lean on the bass notes (C→A→D→G is itself a circle of fifths) and the progression plays itself. Capo 2 = the Alice\'s Restaurant recording.',
},
{
label:'Barre circle',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'I'},
{shape:BARRE_DOM7_5,note:'VI7'},
{shape:BARRE_DOM7_6,note:'II7'},
{shape:BARRE_DOM7_5,note:'V7'},
],
tips:'Roots alternate 6th and 5th strings around the circle, so the hand barely travels. Swing the strums — this family is ragtime\'s grandchild.',
},
],
'country-rising-sun':[
{
label:'The Animals grips (6/8 arpeggios)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:OPEN_AM,note:'i — arpeggiate low to high, one sweep per bar'},
{shape:OPEN_C,note:'III'},
{shape:OPEN_D,note:'IV — the borrowed Dorian colour'},
{shape:OPEN_F,note:'VI'},
{shape:OPEN_AM,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_E,note:'V — the harmonic-minor pull home'},
],
tips:'Six chords, one arpeggio pattern: bass note then climb the strings in 6/8. The D major is the chord that makes it haunting — don\'t flatten it to Dm.',
},
{
label:'Barre version',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:BARRE_MIN_6,note:'i'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'III'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_5,note:'IV'},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'VI'},
{shape:BARRE_MIN_6,note:''},
{shape:BARRE_MAJ_6,note:'V'},
],
tips:'Keeps the climb available in any key — arpeggiate the barres rather than strumming them or the 6/8 lilt disappears.',
},
],
'country-bluegrass-cycle':[
{
label:'G shapes, jam-circle standard',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'I'},
{shape:OPEN_C,note:'IV — walk up G–A–B into it'},
{shape:OPEN_G_FOLK,note:'walk back down'},
{shape:OPEN_D,note:'V — chromatic walk G–A–B–C♯ if you\'re feeling it'},
],
tips:'Bluegrass keys are called in fiddle terms: A = capo 2, B = capo 4, all G shapes. Bass on 1 & 3 locks with the upright; your 2 & 4 strums ARE the snare — there is no drummer.',
},
{
label:'C shapes (for keys C, D via capo)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:OPEN_C,note:'I'},
{shape:OPEN_F,note:'IV — small F, top four strings'},
{shape:OPEN_C,note:''},
{shape:OPEN_G7,extensions:['b7'],note:'V played as V7 — the bluegrass default'},
],
tips:'The C family gives different bass runs (C–D–E into F) — worth owning both families so the capo choice is about the singer, not your habits.',
},
],
},
improv:{
scales:[
{over:'I / major vamps',scale:'major',why:'Major pentatonic is the country default — the Don Rich/Buck Owens sweetness.'},
{over:'I with attitude',scale:'mixolydian',why:'The "country composite": major pentatonic + the ♭3 blue note, always resolved up to the major 3rd.'},
{over:'i (minor folk)',scale:'minor',why:'Natural minor with the harmonic-minor leading tone saved for when the V chord arrives.'},
{over:'V7 / II7 (ragtime circle)',scale:'mixolydian',why:'Each dominant gets its own Mixolydian; target the 3rd of each as the circle turns.'},
],
targetNotes:
'Country fills are double-stops: 3rds on the G+B pair, 6ths on G+e (hybrid-picked for the snap), slid or hammered into chord tones on the beat. End phrases with the G-run — it is the genre\'s punctuation mark.',
licks:[
{
over:'country-bluegrass-cycle',
description:'THE G-run (Lester Flatt): the canonical bluegrass phrase-ending tag — hammer through the blue note and land on the open G chord on the downbeat.',
tab:'e|----------------------------3--\nB|----------------------------0--\nG|---------------------0------0--\nD|---------------0--2---------0--\nA|--0--h1--2------------------2--\nE|----------------------------3--\n A A# B D E G (G chord on 1)',
source:'hvbluegrass.org "The Truth About the Lester Flatt G Run"; artistworks.com essential bluegrass licks',
},
{
over:'country-bluegrass-cycle',
description:'The original two-note Flatt run for flying tempos: E up to G at the phrase end — "an exclamation point at the end of a paragraph."',
character:'Open strings, alternating bass, and the capo as a transposition machine: the guitar is the band\'s kick drum and snare, and every chord change gets announced by a bass run.',
songs:['Will the Circle Be Unbroken','Ring of Fire — Johnny Cash'],
tip:'The placement is the convention: IV arrives mid-phrase, V7 on the last line pulling home. Learn where the changes BREATHE, not just what they are.',
songs:['Wagon Wheel — Old Crow Medicine Show (G shapes, capo 2)'],
tip:'The pop axis loop in folk clothes — note the second half lands on IV–IV instead of vi–IV. Capo 2 with G shapes is the canonical version.',
},
{
id:'country-ragtime',
name:'Ragtime circle (I–VI7–II7–V7)',
rn:['I','VI7','II7','V7'],
degrees:[0,9,2,7],
qualities:['maj','dom7','dom7','dom7'],
bars:[2,2,2,2],
mode:'major',
songs:['Salty Dog Blues — Flatt & Scruggs',"Alice's Restaurant — Arlo Guthrie",'Tennessee Waltz (bridge)'],
tip:'Every chord is the dominant of the next — a circle-of-fifths sled ride home. The truncated I–II7–V–I ("Hey, Good Lookin\'") is the same device minus the VI7.',
},
{
id:'country-rising-sun',
name:'Rising Sun (6/8 minor climb)',
rn:['i','III','IV','VI','i','V'],
degrees:[0,3,5,8,0,7],
qualities:['min','maj','maj','maj','min','maj'],
bars:[1,1,1,1,1,1],
mode:'minor',
songs:['House of the Rising Sun — The Animals'],
tip:'Not the Andalusian descent people assume: it CLIMBS, and the major IV is borrowed Dorian colour. 6/8 time, arpeggiated, every chord one sweep of the arm.',
},
{
id:'country-bluegrass-cycle',
name:'Bluegrass cycle (I–IV–I–V)',
rn:['I','IV','I','V'],
degrees:[0,5,0,7],
qualities:['maj','maj','maj','maj'],
bars:[1,1,1,1],
mode:'major',
songs:['Nine Pound Hammer — Merle Travis'],
tip:'The jam-circle workhorse: back to I between every excursion. Kick it off with the last line of the chorus, end every phrase with a G-run.',
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