After five minutes of hearty laughter on the part of the Native Americans, the pilgrims offered to settle for a small plot of land that is now the site of a Friendly’s restaurant in Braintree, MA. The pilgrims, who also had no idea what they were, took them along to the New World, where they attempted to sell them to the Indians in exchange for what is now Massachusetts. He liked it so much, he made 100 of them, but still had no idea what they were (nor did his wife, who left him for the local farrier later that year). The capo was originally made by accident by a drunk welder in 17th century England, who was attempting to make a hair clip for his wife. We who play bluegrass music need it more than people in other genres of music because of our heavy use of the capo.įor those who are new to the music, or who may have arrived at Bluegrass by an erroneous link that was supposed to direct them to, a little explanation and history of the capo may be in order: The capo is a device, usually metallic (the cloth capos that were experimented with in the 1970s were a spectacular failure), that is used to raise the pitch of a stringed instrument, enabling the player to use open-stringed chords further up the neck.
The number system is something everyone needs to know. It’s harder to do than you think, when you’re also trying to remember what happened after you “ran away to Charlottesville.” By the time I had shouted out “D Flat!” I was already working in a sawmill and it was time for the chorus (with the bass player starting that chorus with a big sour D flat instead of an F).
I was a little reluctant to deal with this subject because it brings back some painful memories of trying to remember what a “3” chord is in the key of B flat, so I could cue the bass player, who not only didn’t know the number system, but who also apparently had never heard Old Home Place.
I have recently been asked to address the issue of the number system, or as it’s sometimes called, “The Nashville Number System” (note that in Knoxville, it’s always referred to as “The Knoxville Number System”).