How Many Bluegrass Songs Use Only 3 Chords? We Counted 324
Oct 08, 2026
Two out of three. We charted every song in four well-known bluegrass songbooks, 324 songs in all, and 220 of them (68%) use only the 1, 4 and 5 chords: G, C and D in the key of G. Even the songs that add a chord spend most of their time on those three, so across all 324 songs, 94% of the music sits on the 1, 4 or 5 chord.
That's the short answer. Below you'll find how we counted, the next four chords that cover almost everything else, the 38 songs you can play with only two chords, and the full list of all 324 songs so you can see exactly which is which.
Why we counted
Ask anyone how to get into bluegrass and you'll hear some version of "learn three chords and you can play most of it." I've said it myself. Last year, in Unlock the Banjo in Three Easy Chord Shapes, I guessed that more than 75% of bluegrass songs use only major chords.
A guess isn't a number, so we went to the books. (For the record: 270 of the 324 songs, 83%, have no minor chord in them at all. The guess held up.)
What do "1, 4 and 5" mean?
Count up the scale from the key you're in. In the key of G: G is 1, A is 2, B is 3, C is 4, D is 5. So the 1-4-5 chords in G are G, C and D. The numbers work the same way in every key:
| Key | 1 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| G | G | C | D |
| D | D | G | A |
| C | C | F | G |
| A | A | D | E |
Thinking in numbers is how bluegrass players talk at a jam ("it goes to the 4"), and it means a song you know in G is the same song in D. 81% of the songs in these books are in G, which is why banjo players think "G, C, D." Most of the rest are in D or C, and a capo turns those into the same shapes. If that's new to you, how to play banjo in different keys using a capo walks you through it.
How we counted
- The books: four bluegrass songbooks off my shelf: Bluegrass Strummer's Songbook (Ben "Gitty" Baker), Bluegrass Fakebook (Bert Casey), Bluegrass Songbook (Peter Wernick) and the song section of Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo.
- Every song, once: we read 468 versions. Plenty of songs appear in more than one book, so each song counts once, which leaves 324 unique songs. (Six were left out because no chords were printed or a page was missing.)
- Measures, not chord changes: eight bars of G and a one-beat passing chord shouldn't count the same, so every chord is weighted by how many measures it lasts.
- 7th chords count as their chord: D7 is still the 5. But A or A7 in the key of G (the "Salty Dog" chord) is not counted as 1-4-5.
- Minor-key songs (there are only 7) count the 1 minor, 4 and 5 as their 1-4-5.
The headline numbers
| Out of 324 bluegrass songs | Result |
|---|---|
| Songs that use ONLY the 1, 4 and 5 chords | 220 (68%) |
| Songs that use only TWO chords, the 1 and 5 | 38 (12%) |
| Share of all the music (by measures) on 1, 4 or 5 | 94% |
| Songs that are at least 90% 1-4-5 | 267 (82%) |
| Songs that add a chord: time still spent on 1-4-5 | 85% on average |
| Songs that are mostly not 1-4-5 | only 3 |
| Songs in the key of G | 263 (81%) |
Those three outliers, if you're curious: Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, Bluegrass Express, and Silver Dagger (in the Fakebook's modal arrangement). Each is just under half 1-4-5.
What chords come after G, C and D?
Here's the most useful thing the count turned up. If you add chords one at a time in the order they show up most, this is how many songs you can play all the way through:
| Chords you know (key of G) | Songs you can play start to finish |
|---|---|
| G and D (the 1 and 5) | 38 (12%) |
| G, C and D (the 1, 4 and 5) | 220 (68%) |
| + A or A7 (the 2) | 245 (76%) |
| + Em (the 6 minor) | 265 (82%) |
| + F (the flat 7) | 284 (88%) |
| + Am (the 2 minor) | 296 (91%) |
Seven chords, and nine out of ten songs in these books are open to you. Everything else (B7 the 3, E7 the 6, Bm the 3 minor, Bโญ the flat 3, and a few rarer ones) shows up in fewer than 3% of songs each. Here's what each of the four "extra" chords does:
A or A7 (the 2), the "Salty Dog" chord (41 songs). It's a major chord built on the second note of the scale, and it almost never stays put: in 40 of the 41 songs that use it, it goes straight to the 5 (D), then home to the 1 (G). So learn A7 โ D7 โ G, the 2 โ 5 โ 1, as one move, not three chords. You'll hear it in Salty Dog Blues, Don't Let Your Deal Go Down, Amazing Grace and Arkansas Traveler.
Em (the 6 minor), the relative minor (38 songs). It holds more measures than any other chord outside the 1, 4 and 5, and gospel songs lean on it. The most famous example is the 1-to-6-minor move (G to Em) in Foggy Mountain Breakdown; you'll also find it in Rocky Top, Sitting on Top of the World and I Never Will Marry.
F (the flat 7), the mountain sound (28 songs). The flat 7 sits a whole step below the 1, and it gives a song that old, modal, high-lonesome color. Old Joe Clark, Little Maggie, Cluck Old Hen and Rocky Top all use it. For a tune that lives in that modal world almost entirely, read Searching for Little Sadie.
Am (the 2 minor, 19 songs). Usually a soft step on the way to the 5 (D). You'll meet it in Ballad of Jed Clampett, Home on the Range and Friend of the Devil.
Start with the three that matter most. The chord lessons in the free Bluegrass Beginner Skills course take you through the 1, 4 and 5 (G, C and D7) and the changes between them, and the first song you learn there, Bile 'Em Cabbage Down, is a pure 1-4-5 song. It's all in the free Banjo Mountain app, along with a tuner, a metronome and a practice tracker that keeps your streak going.
Get the free Banjo Mountain app (free to download, free to join)
The two-chord songs: your first bluegrass songs
Thirty-eight songs in these books use nothing but the 1 and the 5: G and D in the key of G (in the minor-key Oh Death, the 1 minor and the 5). If you can switch cleanly between two chords, you can play every one of these:
Black-Eyed Susie ยท Cumberland Gap ยท Darling Corey ยท Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan ยท Down in the Valley ยท Get In Line Brother ยท Give Me Your Hand ยท God Moves In A Wind Storm ยท Ground Hog ยท Handsome Molly ยท He's Got The Whole World ยท Hot Corn, Cold Corn ยท Jacob's Vision ยท Jimmy Brown the Newsboy ยท John Henry ยท Katy Daley ยท The Legend Of The Rebel Soldier ยท Little Bessie ยท Little Birdie ยท My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains ยท New Freedom Bell ยท Oh Death ยท Old Paint ยท Pretty Polly ยท Reuben's Train ยท Sally Goodwin ยท Shady Grove ยท Shoo Fly (Don't Bother Me) ยท Shortnin' Bread ยท Standing In the Need of Prayer ยท Streets of Laredo ยท Tom Dooley ยท Train Number Forty-Five ยท The Train That Carried My Girl From Town ยท Walking In My Sleep ยท Where the Soul Never Dies ยท Working on a Building ยท You Bake Right with Martha White
Tom Dooley, Shady Grove, John Henry and Reuben's Train are the ones you're most likely to hear called at a jam.
Do instrumentals use more chords?
Yes, noticeably. 70% of the vocal songs are pure 1-4-5, but only 48% of the instrumentals are. Most of the instrumentals here come from the Scruggs book, and Earl's tunes (Foggy Mountain Breakdown, Earl's Breakdown, Foggy Mountain Chimes, Bleeker Street Rag) lean on those extra chords. So if a jam calls an Earl Scruggs tune, expect a fourth chord.
What about the songs people actually call at jams?
We checked our own 25 Essential Jam Songs To Know on Banjo. Nineteen of them are in these four books, and 12 of those 19 use only G, C and D: Banks of the Ohio, Big Ball in Boston, Blue Ridge Cabin Home, Boil Them Cabbage Down, Bury Me Beneath the Willows, Long Journey Home, Mountain Dew, New River Train, Nine Pound Hammer, Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms, Way Downtown and Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
The other seven use exactly the extra chords above:
| Jam song | Extra chord(s) in G |
|---|---|
| Salty Dog Blues | E7 (the 6), A7 (the 2) |
| Don't Let Your Deal Go Down | E7 (the 6), A7 (the 2) |
| Old Home Place | B7 (the 3), A7 (the 2) |
| Rocky Top | Em (the 6 minor), F (the flat 7) |
| Foggy Mountain Breakdown | Em (the 6 minor) |
| Old Joe Clark | F (the flat 7) |
| Little Maggie | F (the flat 7) |
So the jam-ready kit is the 1, 4 and 5 (G, C, D7), then the 2 (A7), the 6 minor (Em) and the flat 7 (F), which is the same order the whole count points to.
Does it change from songbook to songbook?
A little. Share of each book's songs that are pure 1-4-5:
| Songbook | Pure 1-4-5 |
|---|---|
| Bluegrass Strummer's Songbook (Baker) | 76% |
| Bluegrass Songbook (Wernick) | 72% |
| Bluegrass Fakebook (Casey) | 69% |
| Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo | 62% |
The beginner-friendly books lean simplest and the Scruggs book, built around his instrumentals, is the most adventurous. Even there, 92% of all the measures are on 1, 4 or 5.
How to use this in your practice
- Make the 1, 4 and 5 (G, C and D7) automatic. Practice the changes until you don't look at your hand. Every other chord builds on these.
- Learn a two-chord song (1 and 5) first, then a three-chord song (1, 4 and 5). Pick one from the lists below. A finished song does more for your motivation than a page of exercises.
- Add the 2 (A7), and hear it go to the 5 (D7). Then the 6 minor (Em), then the flat 7 (F). Learn each one inside a song that uses it, not on its own.
- Learn songs in groups. Songs with the same chords reinforce each other; practice buckets is how I'd organize them.
- Then take the shapes up the neck. The three moveable chord shapes let you play these same chords anywhere on the fretboard.
If you're mapping out the bigger picture, How to Learn Bluegrass Banjo in 10 Easy Steps lays out the whole path, and How Long Does It Take to Learn Banjo? sets honest expectations.
The full list: all 324 bluegrass songs we counted
Songs are A to Z, ignoring "The" and "A." A โ marks the 38 two-chord songs.
The 220 songs that use only the 1, 4 and 5 chords
A: Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow ยท All the Good Times Are Past and Gone ยท American Made โ World Played ยท Angel Band ยท Angeline the Baker (Version 1) ยท Angels Rejoice ยท Are You Washed in the Blood ยท Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party
B: Banks of the Ohio ยท Battle of New Orleans ยท A Beautiful Life ยท Before I Met You ยท Big Ball in Boston ยท Black-Eyed Susie โ ยท Blue Ridge Cabin Home ยท Blue Ridge Mountain Blues ยท Blue-Tailed Fly ยท The Bluebirds Are Singing for Me ยท Boil Them Cabbage Down ยท Born to Be with You ยท Bound to Ride ยท Brand New Shoes ยท Brown's Ferry Blues ยท Buffalo Gals ยท Bury Me Beneath the Willows
C: Camptown Races ยท Careless Love ยท Carolina Traveler ยท Children Go Where I Send Thee ยท Church in the Wildwood ยท Cindy ยท Close By ยท Columbus Stockade Blues ยท Cotton-Eyed Joe ยท Crawdad Hole ยท Cripple Creek ยท Crying Holy ยท Cumberland Gap โ
D: Daddy Sang Bass ยท Dark Hollow ยท Darling Corey โ ยท Darling Nellie Gray ยท Deep Elem Blues ยท Do Lord ยท Don't Put Her Down, You Helped Put Her There ยท Don't This Road Look Rough and Rocky ยท Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan โ ยท Dooley ยท Down in the River to Pray ยท Down in the Valley โ ยท Drifting Too Far from the Shore
E: East Virginia Blues
F: Flint Hill Special ยท Foggy Mountain Top ยท Footprints in the Snow ยท Freeborn Man
G: Get In Line Brother โ ยท Git Along Little Dogies ยท Give Me Your Hand โ ยท God Moves In A Wind Storm โ ยท Going Down That Road Feeling Bad ยท Goodnight, Irene ยท Gospel Train ยท The Great Speckled Bird ยท Green Pastures ยท Ground Hog โ ยท Ground Speed
H: Hallelujah I'm Ready ยท Hand Me Down My Walking Cane ยท Handsome Molly โ ยท Hard Times Come Again No More ยท He Said If I Be Lifted Up ยท He's Got The Whole World โ ยท Heaven ยท Hello City Limits ยท Highway of Regret ยท Hills of Roane County ยท Home Sweet Home ยท Hot Corn, Cold Corn โ ยท How Mountain Girls Can Love
I: I Ain't Broke (But I'm Badly Bent) ยท I Am A Pilgrim ยท I'll Fly Away ยท If I Lose ยท In The Pines ยท It Won't Work This Time
J: Jacob's Vision โ ยท Jesse James ยท Jimmy Brown the Newsboy โ ยท John Hardy ยท John Henry โ ยท Just Over in the Glory Land
K: Katy Cline ยท Katy Daley โ ยท Keep on the Sunny Side ยท Knockin' On Your Door
L: Last Train From Poor Valley ยท The Legend Of The Rebel Soldier โ ยท Let Me Rest at the End of My Journey ยท Li'l Liza Jane ยท Little Bessie โ ยท Little Birdie โ ยท Little Darling Pal of Mine ยท The Little Girl and the Dreadful Snake ยท Little Glass of Wine ยท Little Joe ยท Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane ยท Little Rosewood Casket ยท The Lonesome River ยท Lonesome Valley ยท Long Black Veil ยท Long Journey Home ยท Lord, I'm Coming Home ยท Lost & I'll Never Find the Way
M: Mama Don't 'Low ยท Man of Constant Sorrow ยท Maple on the Hill ยท Memories of Mother and Dad ยท The Memory of Your Smile ยท Methodist Pie ยท Midnight on the Stormy Deep ยท Midnight Train ยท Milwaukee Blues ยท Model Church ยท Molly and Tenbrooks ยท Mountain Dew ยท Mr. Engineer ยท My Better Years ยท My Cabin in Caroline ยท My Dying Bed ยท My Home's Across the Smoky Mountains โ
N: New Freedom Bell โ ยท New River Train ยท Nine Pound Hammer ยท Nobody's Business
O: Oh Death โ ยท Oh, Susannah ยท Old Dan Tucker ยท Old Folks ยท The Old Gray Mare ยท Old Paint โ ยท Old-Time Religion ยท Ole Slewfoot ยท On the Jericho Road
P: Paradise ยท Paul and Silas ยท Pick Along ยท Pig in a Pen ยท Poor Ellen Smith ยท Precious Memories ยท Pretty Polly โ
R: Rabbit in the Log (Feast Here Tonight) ยท Railroad Bill ยท Rain and Snow ยท Rank Stranger to Me ยท Red River Valley ยท Reuben's Train โ ยท Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms ยท Roll On Buddy ยท Roller Coaster ยท Roses in the Snow ยท Roving Gambler
S: Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea ยท Sally Ann ยท Sally Goodwin โ ยท Satan's Jewel Crown ยท Satisfied Mind ยท Shady Grove โ ยท (She Left Me) Standing on the Mountain ยท Shoo Fly (Don't Bother Me) โ ยท Shortnin' Bread โ ยท Shuckin' the Corn ยท Standing In the Need of Prayer โ ยท Steppin' Stones ยท Stone Walls and Steel Bars ยท Streets of Laredo โ ยท Sugar Hill ยท Sweet Little Miss Blue Eyes ยท Sweet Sunny South ยท Swing Low Sweet Chariot
T: Take Me in Your Lifeboat ยท Take This Hammer ยท (The Children Are Crying And) Calling Your Name ยท There's More Pretty Girls Than One ยท Things in Life ยท Think of What You've Done ยท This Train Is Bound For Glory ยท Tom Dooley โ ยท Tragic Romance ยท Train Number Forty-Five โ ยท The Train That Carried My Girl From Town โ ยท The Train They Call the Cannonball ยท Troubles Up and Down the Road ยท Turkey In the Straw ยท Turn Your Radio On
U: Uncloudy Day
W: Wabash Cannonball ยท Walking In My Sleep โ ยท Way Downtown ยท We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus ยท Wear a Red Rose ยท Were You There ยท When the Golden Leaves Begin to Fall ยท When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder ยท When the Saints Go Marching In ยท When the Work's All Done This Fall ยท When You Go Walking ยท Where the Soul Never Dies โ ยท White House Blues ยท Widow Maker ยท Wild Bill Jones ยท Wildwood Flower ยท Will the Circle Be Unbroken ยท Working on a Building โ ยท Worried Man Blues ยท Wreck of the Old 97
Y: Y'All Come ยท You Bake Right with Martha White โ ยท You Go to Your Church (And I'll Go to Mine) ยท Your Love Is Like a Flower
The 104 songs that add a chord
"% on 1-4-5" is how much of the song (by measures) sits on the 1, 4 or 5 chord. Extra chords are named in the song's printed key, with their number in that key in parentheses (6m = 6 minor, โญ7 = flat 7). 7ths aren't shown, so "A" may be A7 in the book.
| Song | Key | % on 1-4-5 | Extra chord(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing Grace | G | 88% | A (2), Em (6m) |
| Arkansas Traveler | G | 97% | A (2) |
| The Ballad of Casey Jones | G | 95% | Am (2m), A (2) |
| Ballad of Jed Clampett | G | 88% | Am (2m), Cโฏ (โฏ4) |
| The Battle Hymn of the Republic | G | 81% | Em (6m), Am (2m) |
| Bleeker Street Rag | C | 79% | Am (6m) |
| Bluegrass Express | G | 49% | Eโญ (โญ6), F (โญ7), E (6), B (3), A (2) |
| Bringing Mary Home | G | 95% | A (2) |
| Broad River | C | 94% | Fm (4m) |
| Carolina Boogie | G | 92% | Eโญ (โญ6) |
| Cluck Old Hen | G | 59% | F (โญ7) |
| Dancing with the Angels | G | 94% | A (2), Em (6m) |
| Daniel Prayed | G | 95% | A (2) |
| Dear Old Dixie | G | 81% | A (2), B (3), E (6) |
| Detroit City | D | 91% | E (2) |
| Don't Let Your Deal Go Down | G | 48% | E (6), A (2) |
| Down in the Willow Garden | G | 74% | Em (6m) |
| Down the Road | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| Dry Run Creek | E | 85% | D (โญ7) |
| Earl's Breakdown | G | 97% | A (2) |
| Eating Out of Your Hand | G | 88% | A (2) |
| The Erie Canal | G | 62% | Em (6m), Am (2m), B (3) |
| Every Time You Say Goodbye | E | 79% | Cโฏm (6m), Gโฏ (3), Fโฏ (2), Fโฏm (2m) |
| Face Lost in the Crowd | G | 91% | F (โญ7) |
| Fair and Tender Ladies | G | 73% | Am (2m) |
| Find Me Out on a Mountain Top | G | 64% | Em (6m), Bm (3m), Fโฏm (7m), Am (2m) |
| Foggy Mountain Breakdown | G | 64% | Em (6m) |
| Foggy Mountain Chimes | G | 90% | A (2) |
| Freight Train | G | 87% | B (3) |
| Friend of the Devil | G | 81% | Am (2m) |
| Ginseng Sullivan | C | 86% | Dm (2m), Am (6m), Bโญ (โญ7) |
| Glendale Train | G | 94% | A (2) |
| Gone At Last | C | 93% | Am (6m) |
| A Good Woman's Love | D | 76% | Bm (6m), Fโฏm (3m), E (2) |
| He Was a Friend of Mine | G | 92% | Em (6m) |
| He Will Set Your Fields On Fire | G | 89% | A (2), E (6) |
| High On A Mountain | G | 90% | F (โญ7) |
| Hobo Song | G | 54% | Em (6m), Am (2m), F (โญ7), B (3) |
| Home on the Range | G | 81% | Am (2m), A (2), Em (6m) |
| Honey in the Rock | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| I Know You're Married But I Love You Still | G | 98% | A (2) |
| I Never Will Marry | G | 90% | Em (6m), Am (2m) |
| I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers | G | 94% | F (โญ7) |
| I'm Using My Bible for a Roadmap | G | 94% | A (2) |
| Instrumental in D Minor | Dm | 86% | F (โญ3) |
| It's in My Mind to Ramble | G | 89% | F (โญ7) |
| John Brown's Body | G | 94% | Em (6m) |
| Jordan | A | 97% | B (2) |
| Kneel Down And Pray Up | G | 96% | A (2) |
| Knoxville Girl | G | 94% | A (2) |
| The Last Song | G | 93% | Em (6m) |
| Life Is Like A Mountain Railway | G | 96% | A (2) |
| Like A Train | G | 83% | Am (2m), F (โญ7) |
| Listening to the Rain | G | 93% | F (โญ7) |
| Little Maggie | G | 75% | F (โญ7) |
| Little White Church | G | 96% | A (2) |
| Loraderojost III Breakdown | G | 68% | Em (6m), Am (2m), A (2) |
| Love, Please Come Home | G | 93% | F (โญ7) |
| Making Plans | G | 93% | A (2) |
| Matterhorn | D | 68% | Bm (6m) |
| Midnight Flyer | C | 84% | Am (6m), Dm (2m) |
| Milwaukee Here I Come | G | 94% | A (2) |
| Moonlight Midnight | A | 71% | Bm (2m), G (โญ7), Fโฏm (6m) |
| My Old Kentucky Home | G | 99% | Em (6m) |
| Nashville Blues | Dm | 82% | F (โญ3), D (1) |
| Nine Hundred Miles | Em | 92% | D (โญ7) |
| Old Home Place | G | 84% | B (3), A (2) |
| Old Joe Clark | G | 94% | F (โญ7) |
| The Old Old House | G | 90% | F (โญ7) |
| Old Train | D | 89% | C (โญ7), E (2) |
| One Way Track | G | 88% | Bโญ (โญ3) |
| Out on the Ocean | G | 96% | F (โญ7) |
| Pallet on Your Floor | G | 94% | B (3) |
| Panama Red | C | 81% | Am (6m), Dm (2m), Em (3m) |
| Pedal to the Metal | G | 75% | Em (6m), Am (2m) |
| Poor Wayfaring Stranger | Em | 81% | C (โญ6), G (โญ3) |
| Rider | C | 74% | Bโญ (โญ7), Eโญ (โญ3) |
| Rocky Top | G | 78% | Em (6m), F (โญ7) |
| Roll Muddy River | G | 92% | F (โญ7) |
| Salty Dog Blues | G | 65% | E (6), A (2) |
| Shenandoah | G | 81% | Em (6m), Bm (3m) |
| Short Life of Trouble | G | 93% | Em (6m) |
| Silver Dagger | D | 49% | Em (2m), C (โญ7), Am (5m) |
| Silver Eagle | G | 83% | Em (6m) |
| Silver Threads Among the Gold | G | 97% | A (2) |
| Singing All Day and Dinner on the Ground | G | 95% | A (2) |
| Sitting on Top of the World | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| Somebody Touched Me | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| Station Break | D | 67% | Bm (6m) |
| String Bender | D | 72% | Bm (6m), Fโฏm (3m), E (2) |
| Teardrops in My Eyes | G | 94% | A (2) |
| Tennessee | G | 97% | A (2) |
| Tennessee Stud | D | 72% | C (โญ7), Am (5m), F (โญ3) |
| That's How I Can Count on You | G | 91% | A (2) |
| This Is the Girl I Love | G | 97% | F (โญ7) |
| This World Is Not My Home | G | 94% | A (2) |
| Train, Train | C | 79% | Bโญ (โญ7) |
| Two Little Boys | G | 91% | A (2) |
| Victim to the Tomb | G | 97% | F (โญ7) |
| Walk In Jerusalem Just Like John | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| When I Lay My Burden Down | G | 88% | Em (6m) |
| When the Storm Is Over | G | 88% | Em (6m), Bm (3m) |
| When You And I Were Young, Maggie | G | 96% | A (2) |
| With Care From Someone | D | 61% | Dm (1m), F (โญ3), Bโญ (โญ6), Gm (4m), C (โญ7), E (2) |
Frequently asked questions
How many bluegrass songs use only three chords?
In our count of 324 songs from four bluegrass songbooks, 220 (68%) use only the 1, 4 and 5 chords. About 94% of all the music in those songs is on one of those three chords.
What are the three chords in bluegrass?
The 1, 4 and 5 chords of the key. In G, the most common bluegrass key, that's G, C and D (often D7).
What chord should I learn after G, C and D?
The 2 chord: A or A7 in the key of G. It's the most common chord outside the 1, 4 and 5 and almost always leads straight to the 5 (D). After that, the 6 minor (Em) and then the flat 7 (F).
What is a 1-4-5 chord progression?
It's a song built on the first, fourth and fifth chords of its key. Count up the scale from the key note: in G, the 4 is C and the 5 is D.
Are there bluegrass songs with only two chords?
Yes. 38 of the 324 songs we counted use only the 1 and 5 chords (G and D in G), including Tom Dooley, Shady Grove, John Henry and Reuben's Train.
Keep reading
- Unlock the Banjo in Three Easy Chord Shapes: play G, C and D anywhere on the neck.
- The 25 Essential Jam Songs To Know on Banjo: what to learn next once you've got the chords.
- How to Play Banjo in Different Keys Using a Capo: use your G-key shapes for songs in D and C.
Your next step
You now know the three chords that carry two out of three bluegrass songs. The quickest way to make them yours is to play them every day, a little at a time. The free Banjo Mountain app gives you the Beginner Skills chord lessons and your first song, a tuner and metronome, Song Review to keep your songs in rotation, and a practice tracker that counts your streak so you can see the days add up.
Get the free Banjo Mountain app
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