Thirteen songs, four weekend classes — each room designed from the song's own world.
Every room holds one song: its story, the verified history of the record, the official recording to listen to, and a lab where you can map the words. Chord charts join each room as we teach them — this songbook grows all weekend.
Her first record: “Puppy Love”, 1959, on Goldband Records — recorded at thirteen after a thirty-hour bus ride to Lake Charles with her grandmother, written with her uncle Bill Owens. First album: Hello, I'm Dolly (1967). First solo #1: “Joshua”, February 1971.
Her hands: she played guitar, banjo, autoharp, dulcimer, fiddle and piano, and wrote mostly on guitar — the famous acrylic nails pushed her to open tunings, and on “9 to 5” the nails ARE the instrument. Her classic records were mostly played by ace session bands; the lovely exception is “Applejack”, where the banjo is her own.
Her last original: “If You Hadn't Been There” (March 2025), written for her husband Carl days after he died. Her last recording: an all-star “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” (January 2026) — with David Foster at the piano, nearly fifty years after he played “Here You Come Again”. And one final song, “My Place in History”, is sealed in a vault at Dollywood — to be opened in 2045.
A woman speaks straight to her beautiful rival — not angry, pleading. She admits Jolene is lovelier, and simply begs her not to take her man. Dolly traced it to a flirty bank teller, and borrowed the name from a young fan she met at a show.
The lesson: a song sung TO someone. Second person plus a name is instant drama — and the tight minor vamp never resolves, because the pleading never does.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Saturday 6:30 AM — The Minor Three · by ear — the riff, notated at Friday prep
The record — verified
Recorded 22 May 1973 at RCA Studio B, Nashville.
That thumb-picked riff is session guitarist Chip Young — Wayne Moss joins with a second guitar at the second refrain.
The name came from a young red-haired fan who asked for an autograph; the jealousy came from a bank teller who flirted with her husband.
C# minor110-112 BPM
The 1973 record is in C# minor; guitarists play it with a capo on fret 4 using A minor shapes (Am, C, G), and some published charts print it in plain A minor or transpose it to D minor for lower voices.
How to learn this one
Learn it as a loop, not as a song
The whole song rides one four-bar loop: the minor home chord, the bright chord a third above it, then the one a step below home. Get that loop under your hands and you already have every verse and every chorus.
Play it as block chords until the changes are automatic. Only then add the strum or the left-hand pattern.
Notice it never really resolves upward — it keeps falling back to the minor. That refusal to brighten is the whole feeling of the song.
The riff is learned last, and by ear from the record: two notes at a time, slowed right down.
The scale — C# minor
C#1D#2E3F#4G#5A6B7
Natural minor. The gap between step 2 and step 3 is what gives the whole song its shade — that half step is the sound you are hearing.
The chords available in this key
iC#mC# · E · G#right hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:C# (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
C#m
C#m
C#m
C#m
The famous riff sits entirely on the C# minor tonic - there is no chord change until the voice enters.
Verse
C#m E
B C#m
B
C#m
C#m
The whole song runs on this same five-bar loop; each three-line stanza is one pass.
Chorus
C#m E
B C#m
B
C#m
C#m
C#m E
B C#m
B
C#m
C#m
Two passes of the verse loop - the four-syllable hook fills the first two bars, the answering line fills bars three to five.
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A farewell with zero blame: she's leaving, she wishes them everything good, and the love survives the leaving. Written to say goodbye to her mentor Porter Wagoner — and in 1992 Whitney Houston carried it to the entire planet.
The lesson: blessing, not bitterness — the rarest breakup angle there is. The melody has to soar exactly where the words let go, and the famous late key-lift is that soaring made of harmony.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Sunday 5:15 PM — The Tribute · the closing verse — melody notated at Friday prep
The record — verified
Written as her farewell to Porter Wagoner — and it hit #1 country twice, in 1974 and again in 1982.
Elvis wanted to record it, but Colonel Parker demanded half the publishing. Dolly said no — and later said Whitney's version earned enough to buy Graceland.
Nashville's A-team played the record — Hargus “Pig” Robbins on piano, Chip Young among the guitars.
A major67-68 BPM
Dolly's own 1974 single is in A major with no key change - the Whitney Houston version is a different arrangement in A moving up to B.
How to learn this one
The song everybody sings — so play it small
Everything here comes from one scale; nothing is borrowed. Learn the verse chords and keep the accompaniment tiny — you are supporting a room full of voices.
In the chorus the chords move twice as fast as in the verse, every two beats. Practise the chorus alone until that turnover is comfortable.
Find the silence before the final chorus and honour it. Do not fill it.
Learn the spoken section as chords held under speech, not as a played passage.
The scale — A major
A1B2C#3D4E5F#6G#7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
VEE · G# · Bright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
viF#mF# · A · C#right hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°G#dimG# · B · Dright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:A (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Verse
A
A E
F#m A
D E
A
A E
F#m A
D E
Used for all three verses, including the quiet spoken-feel one late in the song.
Chorus
A F#m
D E
A F#m
D E
A D
A
Six bars, with the chords moving every two beats.
Outro
A F#m
D E
A
The final chorus is extended by one more pass of its last line.
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The whole lyric runs on work-day motion — the coffee, the commute, the ladder you're never allowed to climb. She wrote it on the film set, clicking her acrylic nails like a typewriter. The rhythm IS the office.
The lesson: let the groove play the subject. When a song is about routine, the rhythm should feel like the routine — we turn that typewriter into a left-hand pattern.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Sunday 8:30 AM — The Piano Songs · the groove, played on the record by Larry Knechtel · melody notated at Friday prep
The record — verified
The piano riff is Larry Knechtel of the Wrecking Crew; Jeff “Skunk” Baxter and Marty Walsh on guitars.
The typewriter sound is her acrylic nails — the credits literally read “lead vocals, nails.”
G major104 BPM
The record sounds in F# major, a half step below the commonly published key of G major, so a student playing our chart along with the 1980 recording will be a semitone high - transpose down one, or pitch the track up.
How to learn this one
Rhythm first — this is a groove song wearing a melody
Clap the riff's rhythm before you play a note of it. If the rhythm is wrong, the right notes will not save it.
The riff sits on the home chord the whole way while the bass walks up underneath it — practise that walk on its own.
Build it four bars at a time with a metronome, slowly.
The chords are simple on purpose. Your only job is to keep that engine running under the vocal.
The scale — G major
G1A2B3C4D5E6F#7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
The chords available in this key
IGG · B · Dright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiAmA · C · Eright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiiBmB · D · F#right hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
IVCC · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
viEmE · G · Bright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°F#dimF# · A · Cright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:G (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
G
G
G
G
The signature riff sits on G the whole way - a two-bar figure played twice, with a chromatic bass walk E - F - F# underneath. Chords only; we have not notated the riff.
Verse
G
C
G
D
G
C
G D
G
Last bar is often left open (no chord) before the chorus.
Chorus 1
C
C
G
G
C
C
Am
D
Chorus 2
C
C
G
G
C
C
Am
D
The eight-bar chorus unit is played twice; the closing D leads back to the G riff.
Turnaround
G
G
G
G
Instrumental break returns to the intro riff on G.
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A mother sews a coat from rag-box scraps, telling the Joseph story stitch by stitch. The kids at school laugh — and the child feels rich anyway. Dolly always called this her own favourite of everything she wrote.
The lesson: concrete beats abstract. One real object — the coat — holds poverty, love and pride at once. No adjective could do that job. This is the theory class's dictation song.
youtube.com/watch?v=KFbYFHaigSk · Dolly Parton (official)
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Sunday 5:15 PM — The Tribute · hold → oom-pah → walk → arpeggios
The record — verified
Written in 1969 on the back of a dry-cleaning receipt from Porter Wagoner's suit — he framed it.
Added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2011.
Hear Jason play it
His full recorded performance — the three method stages back to back, replayed live by this page.
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What to steal — the whole country-piano method in one song
Stage 1 · Held chords + oom-pah (0:00). Left hand plays the root, then the chord — plain patchwork. Learn the song here first.
Stage 2 · Walking bass (0:58). Same three chords, but now the left hand walks step by step between them.
Stage 3 · Right-hand arpeggios (1:27). The right hand breaks the chords open and rolls them while the left keeps walking.
The lift. At 1:44 the whole song rises a step — Bb up to C — and the same three shapes simply slide up with it. Climb the three stages in Bb, then take them up to C.
Bb major85-86 BPM
The 1971 RCA master sits in Bb major and lifts a whole step to C major straight after the first chorus; guitarists usually play G shapes with a capo on 3.
How to learn this one
The four-stage country-piano ladder
Stage one: hold the chords — left hand plays the root, then the chord. Learn the whole song this way first.
Stage two: oom-pah — root on beat one, chord on the off beats.
Stage three: walk the bass between the chords instead of jumping to them.
Stage four: break the right hand into rolled arpeggios while the left hand keeps walking.
Two details from the record worth teaching: the opening verse uses only two chords — the five chord never appears until later — and after the first chorus the whole song lifts a whole step. Same shapes, moved up.
The scale — Bb major
Bb1C2D3Eb4F5G6A7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
The chords available in this key
IBbBb · D · Fright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°AdimA · C · Ebright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
Chords from outside the key
CG
These are the ones that don’t belong to the scale above — either the song has changed key by this point, or the chord is borrowed for colour. They are the moments worth stopping on in class: play the “expected” chord from the scale first, then the real one, and let the room hear the difference.
The chart
Play it in another key:Bb (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Verse 1
Bb
Bb
Bb
Eb
Bb
Bb
Bb
Eb
Opening verse only - it uses no F chord at all, just Bb and Eb.
Verse 2
Bb
Bb
Bb
F
Bb
Eb
Bb
F Bb
The main verse shape, used for the second and third verses.
Chorus 1
Eb
Bb
Eb
Bb F
Bb
Eb
Bb
F Bb
Verse 3
C
C
C
G
C
F
C
G C
Same verse shape after the whole-step key change to C major - two verses here.
Chorus 2
F
C
F
C G
C
F
C
G C
The chorus in the new key of C major.
Outro
F
C
Two-bar tag on the last line, let the C ring.
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Two lovers as islands, the world as the water around them — the duet with Kenny Rogers. One image sustained for the whole song, two voices completing each other's lines.
The lesson: pick one metaphor and stay. Amateur lyrics change image every line; hits commit. And as a duet, it's the class's arrangement study — who sings what, and why.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Saturday 2:15 PM — The Concept Class (90 min) · every filler, and the lift
The record — verified
Written by all three Bee Gees — Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb — in an R&B style, reportedly first meant for Diana Ross.
Produced by Barry Gibb's team; it topped the pop AND country charts.
Hear Jason play it
His full recorded performance — the piano is his own playing, replayed live by this page.
Chord now
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0:003:56
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What to steal — the five fillers
Crush notes everywhere. Tiny grace notes leaning into the chord tone a half-step late — that's the sparkle on almost every right-hand figure.
The blue b3. One borrowed blues note — Eb rubbed against the C chord (and its cousin in the Ab half) — never a whole scale, just the one note.
The Fm borrow. At 0:51 the F chord turns minor — the IV borrowed from C minor. The saddest, warmest colour in the song; loop the Chorus (C) and wait for it.
Left-hand walk-downs. The bass walks stepwise between chords instead of jumping — listen going into every chorus.
The E-major flash. Deep in the Ab half (2:52) a sudden E major blazes for a bar and slides home. Total outsider chord, totally intentional.
C major, modulating to Ab major102 BPM
The 1983 record starts in C major and DOES modulate - down a major third (up a minor sixth) to Ab major immediately after the first chorus, at about 1:32, and stays there to the end.
How to learn this one
One song, and a complete accompaniment toolkit
Stage one: the bare chords in time, nothing else. Play the whole song this way before you decorate anything.
Stage two: add the push that makes it move. Clap the groove before you play it.
Stage three: the fillers, one at a time — learn one, use it for an entire verse, then add the next.
Stage four: the key change. Right after the first chorus the whole song moves to a new key — down a major third — and stays there to the end. It is the same shapes moved, and it sounds far harder than it is.
One thing to count carefully: the chorus is eleven bars, not the twelve your hands will expect. Count it out loud the first few times.
The scale — C major
C1D2E3F4G5A6B7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
The chords available in this key
ICC · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiDmD · F · Aright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiiEmE · G · Bright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
IVFF · A · Cright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
VGG · B · Dright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
viAmA · C · Eright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°BdimB · D · Fright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
Chords from outside the key
FmAbDbDbmBbmE
These are the ones that don’t belong to the scale above — either the song has changed key by this point, or the chord is borrowed for colour. They are the moments worth stopping on in class: play the “expected” chord from the scale first, then the real one, and let the room hear the difference.
The chart
Play it in another key:C (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
C
F/A C
C
F/A C
The F/A is a light passing chord on the first half of bars two and four.
Verse 1
C
C
C
C
F
F
C
F/A C
C
C
C
C
F
F
C
F/A C
Two identical eight-bar halves - four bars of C, two of F, then back to C.
Bridge 1
Fmaj7
Fmaj7
Fm
Fm
C
C
C
C
The pre-chorus - the F to Fm borrowed minor iv is the hinge of the song.
Chorus 1
C
F
Dm
Dm
C
F
C
C
Dm
C
C
Eleven bars, not twelve - the last phrase is three bars, which is why it feels like it comes round early.
Verse 2
Ab
Ab
Ab
Ab
Db
Db
Ab
Db/F Ab
Ab
Ab
Ab
Ab
Db
Db
Ab
Db/F Ab
After the key change - Dolly's verse, the same sixteen bars a major third lower.
Bridge 2
Dbmaj7
Dbmaj7
Dbm
Dbm
Ab
Ab
Ab
Ab
The pre-chorus in the new key.
Chorus 2
Ab
Db
Bbm
Bbm
Ab
Db
Ab
Ab
Bbm
Ab
Ab
The same eleven bars in Ab; every remaining chorus is this one.
Turnaround
Db
E
Ab
Ab
Db
E
Ab
Ab
The 'sail away' lift - E major is a chromatic flat-VI in Ab and is genuinely there on the record.
Outro
Ab
Db
Bbm
Bbm
Ab
Db
Ab
Ab
Bbm
Ab
Ab
Chorus repeated to the fade, still in Ab.
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An ex walks back in, and every defence she built melts on cue. The title word "again" does all the work — this has happened before, and it will happen again. One she didn't write: a lesson in choosing material like a writer. The piano was played by David Foster — Rhodes doubled with acoustic piano — and the same man later produced Whitney Houston's “I Will Always Love You”.
The lesson: repetition as inevitability — plus that sparkling piano intro hook, which is exactly why this one belongs on the piano channel.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Sunday 8:30 AM — The Piano Songs · the piano hook, melody notated at Friday prep
The record — verified
Written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil — first pitched to Brenda Lee.
David Foster played the famous part on Fender Rhodes, then doubled it exactly on acoustic piano — a blend players nicknamed “Fosterized.”
A tape error erased about 20 seconds of the master; an earlier take was spliced in to save it.
Dolly insisted on adding Al Perkins' steel guitar — so she could prove it was still country. Her first gold single, and her first Grammy.
F# major106 BPM
The published sheet spells it Gb major - same sounding key. Wikipedia and the official Musicnotes piano/vocal/guitar edition both put the record in Gb major; we chart it as F# major so students never meet Cb or Fb, and guitar sites commonly print it in E major shapes with capo 2, which sounds the same Gb/F#.
How to learn this one
The intro figure first, then the song
The piano figure is the hook. Learn it hands separately at half speed before you play a single chord of the verse.
The colour under it is the major-seventh chord — hold the plain chord, then add the seventh, and hear how the whole thing softens.
This song does not stay in one key: it climbs through five of them. Learn each section in its own key rather than hunting for one home note.
The key looks frightening written down. Put the shape under your fingers first and read the key name afterwards.
The scale — F# major
F#1G#2A#3B4C#5D#6E#7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
This song changes key more than once
The scale above is the key it starts in. Each later section moves to a new key, and the chart is written in the key of whichever section you are playing. Learn each section in its own key rather than hunting for one home note through the whole song — and use the transpose buttons to bring a section back into a key that suits your hands or your voice.
The chart
Play it in another key:F# (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
F#
F#maj7
B
Bmaj7
This four-bar figure is played twice; it is the harmony under the famous piano lick, chords only.
Verse 1
F#
F#maj7
B
Bmaj7
D#m
G#m
D#m
G#m
G#m7
C#
B
C#
The G#m7 is often coloured as G#m11 before the C#.
Verse 2
F#
F#maj7
B
Bmaj7
D#m
G#m
D#m
G#m
G#m7
C#
B
C#
Second verse stays in the same key; the first modulation comes after it.
Bridge 1
F#m7
C#m
Gmaj7
B7sus4
F#m7
E E/D#
C#m C#m/B
F# B7sus4
The song lifts to A major here; the Gmaj7 is the flat-seventh colour chord.
Verse 3
G
Gmaj7
C
Cmaj7
Em
Am
Em
Am
Am7
D
C
D
Third verse drops to G major - the same verse shape, one whole step below the opening.
Bridge 2
Gm7
Dm
Abmaj7
C7sus4
Gm7
F F/E
Dm Dm/C
G C7sus4
Second bridge is the same bridge shape in Bb major.
Verse 4
Ab
Abmaj7
Db
Dbmaj7
Fm
Bbm
Fm
Bbm
Bbm7
Eb
Db
Eb
Final verse in Ab major.
Outro
Ab
Abmaj7
Db
Dbmaj7
Repeats and fades in Ab major.
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No plot at all — her childhood home in the Smoky Mountains, painted one porch scene at a time, like a camera panning slowly. Proof that a song can be a photograph instead of a story.
The lesson: one scene per verse. The class exercise writes itself — every student drafts a verse about their own home, using her scene-by-scene camera.
Verified chart: lands here after Friday prep · Sing & Play video: after Saturday's shoot · Class: Sunday 5:15 PM — The Tribute · apply the method · the Super Easy pack
The record — verified
Written about the real family home of her east-Tennessee childhood.
The record carries Nashville's A-team — Pete Drake's steel, Pig Robbins' piano, Charlie McCoy's harmonica.
C major88-89 BPM
The 1973 recording is in C major throughout; note that the Hal Leonard sheet is published a fourth higher in F major.
How to learn this one
Three chords, played like a photograph
Every chord in this song comes from its own scale — there is nothing borrowed and nothing to catch you out. That makes it the safest place in the weekend to start.
So the work here is touch, not fingering. Play it far softer than feels natural.
The one change to hear is the five chord arriving as a seventh in the chorus — it leans home harder than the verse does.
Change chords exactly on the downbeat, never early. That steadiness is the storytelling.
The scale — C major
C1D2E3F4G5A6B7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
The chords available in this key
ICC · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiDmD · F · Aright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiiEmE · G · Bright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
IVFF · A · Cright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
VGG · B · Dright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
viAmA · C · Eright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°BdimB · D · Fright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:C (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Verse
C
F
C
G C
C
F
C
G C
Chorus
C
F
C
G7 C
C
F
C
G7 C
Same shape as the verse but the V chord is played as G7.
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Her life offered up as a second-hand shop — used things, still worth having. A number one she wrote herself, so frank that some radio stations refused to play it, hearing something she never meant.
The lesson: the two-chord minor vamp with a surprisingly bright IV chord — minor, but warmer than “Jolene”. Put them side by side and students HEAR the difference between plain minor and that brighter shade. Exact chart verified by ear at prep.
Chart at prep · Class: Saturday 6:30 AM — The Minor Three · the by-ear pair with “Jolene”
The record — verified
A #1 she wrote alone in 1975 — even though many country stations refused to play it over one misread line.
A minor94-96 BPM
The 1975 record is in A minor with no capo, and the only other chord is D MAJOR - that raised 6th (F#) is what makes it A Dorian rather than natural minor.
How to learn this one
Two chords, and one of them is the entire lesson
Play the vamp with a MINOR fourth chord first, then with the MAJOR one. The moment the light comes on is the sound you are teaching.
That brightened fourth is what makes this Dorian rather than plain minor — hear it first, name it second.
Keep the vamp running without stopping for eight rounds. This song rewards a steady groove, not busy changes.
Pair it with Jolene in the same sitting: same writer, two years apart, two completely different shades of minor.
The scale — A minor
A1B2C3D4E5F6G7
Natural minor. The gap between step 2 and step 3 is what gives the whole song its shade — that half step is the sound you are hearing.
The chords available in this key
iAmA · C · Eright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
ii°BdimB · D · Fright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
IIICC · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
ivDmD · F · Aright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vEmE · G · Bright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
VIFF · A · Cright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
VIIGG · B · Dright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
Chords from outside the key
D
These are the ones that don’t belong to the scale above — either the song has changed key by this point, or the chord is borrowed for colour. They are the moments worth stopping on in class: play the “expected” chord from the scale first, then the real one, and let the room hear the difference.
The chart
Play it in another key:A (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
Am
Am
Am
Am
A walking bass-run figure played three times over Am, then one more bar of Am into the vocal.
Verse
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Four sung lines, two bars each; the D takes the last two beats of every second bar and falls back to Am on the next downbeat.
Chorus
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Am
Am D
Identical two-bar vamp to the verse - the song never leaves Am and D.
Turnaround
Am
Am
Am
Am
Instrumental break - the intro bass-run figure again, still on Am.
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The mountain sound Jolene came from: a lone voice opening a lament, warning what love can do. From her acclaimed bluegrass years — the oldest music she knows, sung with total command.
The lesson: pure minor-mode melody. Sing it back by ear, no piano — this is where ear training touches the mountains. The closing song of the minor set.
youtube.com/watch?v=0pRXSIfTmQI · Dolly Parton (official)
Chart at prep · Class: Saturday 6:30 AM — The Minor Three · the closer
The record — verified
Not a folk song — her own original, written in the old Appalachian style in 2001.
The album drew “universal acclaim,” with Chris Thile, Jerry Douglas and Alison Krauss among the players.
B minor102-104 BPM
The 2001 record sounds in B minor; guitar charts get there with a capo on fret 2 playing A minor shapes, and the published sheet music is also in B minor.
How to learn this one
Learn it by ear, the way it was handed down
The opening is unaccompanied and out of time. Do not count it — follow the voice.
Take one phrase at a time by ear and sing it back before you touch the keyboard.
This is the ancestor of the sound in Jolene — teach it last so the room hears where that minor colour came from.
When the accompaniment enters, keep it sparse. The space around the voice is the arrangement.
The scale — B minor
B1C#2D3E4F#5G6A7
Natural minor. The gap between step 2 and step 3 is what gives the whole song its shade — that half step is the sound you are hearing.
The chords available in this key
iBmB · D · F#right hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
ii°C#dimC# · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:B (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
free time, voice alone - no chord grid
The opening chorus is sung a cappella and out of tempo; the band enters underneath the final line on Bm (about 14 seconds in), so do not chart bars here.
Verse
Bm
Bm
Em
Bm
Em
Bm
Em
Bm
Bm
Bm
Em
Bm
Em
Bm
Em F#m
Bm
Eight sung lines, two bars each; the F#m is a passing chord into the final Bm.
Chorus
Bm
Bm
Em
Bm
Bm
Bm
Em F#m
Bm
Same two-bar-per-line shape as the verse, half the length.
Turnaround
D
A
Bm
G
D
A
G A
Bm
Fiddle instrumental - the only place the relative major (D) and the flat-VII (A) appear.
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A number one as light as its title, and the source of her lifelong butterfly. It became her television theme — the gentlest thing in the gentle family.
The lesson: the gentle fingerpicked lilt on a handful of chords — one step up from the three-chord songs, the family's perfect next step.
Chart at prep · Class: Sunday 5:15 PM — The Tribute
The record — verified
Her third consecutive country #1.
It became the theme of her 1976 television show — and the butterfly became her lifelong emblem.
Eb major89-90 BPM
The 1974 record is in Eb major - guitarists play D shapes with a capo on the 1st fret; the Hal Leonard sheet is published a tone higher in F major.
How to learn this one
Two chords do all the colouring
Learn the three plain chords first — they carry most of the song.
Then the two that come from outside the key: the flat-seventh chord that is the hook, and the one that pulls hard toward the five chord in the verse. Play the expected chord, then the real one, and let the room hear the difference.
Practise each of those two moves ten times on its own before playing the section they live in.
Keep the right hand light and lifted throughout. This is a dynamics study wearing a melody.
The scale — Eb major
Eb1F2G3Ab4Bb5C6D7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
The chords available in this key
IEbEb · G · Bbright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
iiFmF · Ab · Cright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°DdimD · F · Abright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
Chords from outside the key
DbF
These are the ones that don’t belong to the scale above — either the song has changed key by this point, or the chord is borrowed for colour. They are the moments worth stopping on in class: play the “expected” chord from the scale first, then the real one, and let the room hear the difference.
The chart
Play it in another key:Eb (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Chorus
Eb
Ab Eb
Ab Eb
Db Ab Eb
Eb
Ab Eb
Ab Eb
Db Ab Eb
The song opens on the chorus, and the flat-seventh Db is the hook chord.
Verse
Eb
Ab Eb
Ab Eb
F Bb
Eb
Ab Eb
Ab Eb
Bb Eb
The verse swaps the chorus Db for F going to Bb - a secondary dominant.
Outro
Db Ab Eb
Eb
Repeat of the last chorus line, held on Eb.
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Chart at prep · The Easy Volumes — only if time permits
The record — verified
Her first solo #1 — February 1971 — and her first Grammy nomination.
D majortempo: take it from the record
Every chord chart we found puts the song in D major on three chords - D, G and A - but we found no published sheet music listing or encyclopedic source that states the record's key, so this is transcriber consensus rather than a documented key.
How to learn this one
Three chords you can learn in one sitting
Three chords, and the same shape comes round again and again — learn one cycle and you have the song.
Play the changes as block chords until they are automatic, then take the feel from the record by ear.
The five chord always falls straight back home. Hear that landing and the form teaches itself.
The scale — D major
D1E2F#3G4A5B6C#7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
viBmB · D · F#right hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°C#dimC# · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:D (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Verse 1
D
G
A
D
G
A D
Straight I - IV - V country movement; the A always falls back to D.
Verse 2
D
G
A D
Shorter second half of the verse, same three chords.
Chorus
G D
A D
G D
A D
A D
Chorus leans on the IV and V resolving straight back to D each time.
Outro
A
G
D
Repeated to the fade.
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Heartbreak upstairs, a party two doors down — so she goes. A number one with a wink of the disco era in it, and one of her most instantly likeable grooves.
The lesson: easy chords with a feel-good bounce; the sing-along everyone already half-knows. Volume song number two.
youtube.com/watch?v=9_ez7mtjFqA · Dolly Parton (official)
Chart at prep · The Easy Volumes — only if time permits
The record — verified
The hit single is a 1978 disco-tinged re-record — the album version became a collector's item.
Released as a double A-side with “It's All Wrong, But It's All Right.”
E major92-98 (sources disagree) BPM
Our chart follows the re-recorded 1978 single version, the hit that topped the country chart and reached number 19 pop; the published Musicnotes piano/vocal/guitar edition and the AZChords transcription both put it in E major, and no half-step discrepancy against the record was reported.
How to learn this one
The party song — keep it driving
Three chords again, but the five chord works much harder here — find where it pushes between the other two.
The chords change less often than you expect. Count the bars; do not guess from the singing.
Take the drive from the record by ear, and do not let it sag where the sections join.
The scale — E major
E1F#2G#3A4B5C#6D#7
Major scale. The two half steps sit between steps 3–4 and 7–8; everything else is a whole step. That pattern is why it sounds like home.
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:E (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Intro
E
B
A
B
Lands on E as the verse begins.
Verse
E
B
A
E
E
A
B
E
E
B
A
E
E
A
B
E
Three chords only - I, IV and V.
Chorus
E
B
A
B
E
B
A
B
E
B
A
B
E
A
B
E
Same three chords, but the B is pushed harder between the E and the A.
Outro
E
E
E
E
Vamps on E under the ad-libs and fades.
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Her old-time banjo number — Dolly plays the banjo herself, honouring the mountain man who first put a banjo in her hands. The studio was packed with Nashville's elders for the session.
The lesson: the same three-chord mountain language as the gentle family, but bouncing — the energy lift that ends the gentle set on its feet.
iiiAmA · C · Eright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
IVBbBb · D · Fright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
VCC · E · Gright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
viDmD · F · Aright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
vii°EdimE · G · Bbright hand 1 · 3 · 5 (thumb, middle, little)
Every chord in this song comes from this row. Play the three notes together with the fingering shown; the lowest note is the one you put in the left hand.
The chart
Play it in another key:F (original)
In teach mode: click a bar and type, or tap a chord below. “+ bar” and “delete” change the bar count.
Verse
F
Bb F
F
Bb C7
F
Bb F
F
C7 F
Chorus
F
Bb F
F
C7
F
Bb F
F
C7 F
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