September 13, 2018 by DavidJP 0 comments

Welcome

Welcome to the first in an ongoing series of tutorial blog posts! In this inaugural article I will detail how to play Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. But first, a little history!

“Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”

To any country music fan Johnny Cash needs no introduction. He was born J.R. Cash on February 26th 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. He was one of seven children and grew up impoverished, moving to a “New Deal” colony with his family when he was three years old.

He changed his name to ‘John’ when he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950 as using initials as a first name was not allowed. When he signed to Sun Records (1955) he changed his name again to ‘Johnny’.

His career included singing, songwriting, acting and he was also an author. He sold more than 90 million records worldwide, was inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame, had his own TV show and was an activist for Native Americans.

He found new popularity in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s after signing to American Recordings. Rick Rubin produced many of his later hits. He covered U2’s “One”, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down”, Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” and most notably, Nine Inch Nails “Hurt” (to be featured in a later ‘How To Play” blog post).

He died on September 12th 2003 at 71 years of age. His status as a country music icon is legendary and his achievements as a crossover artist even in his later years are extraordinary.

About The Song

Folsom Prison Blues is one of Johnny Cash’s most recognisable songs. He wrote it in 1953 and recorded it in 1955 for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records.

It reached #1 in the country music charts in 1968 and in 2014 was ranked #51 in Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Country Music Songs Of All Time.

Even today it is recognised by audiences the world over, and you only need to play the first seven notes of the intro for it to be recognised.

Chords

Folsom Prison Blues uses three chords throughout which are detailed below.

The key is E major, the notes of which are E, F#, G#, A, B, C, and D#.

Note number I is E, therefore chord number I is E.

Note number IV is A. Usually chord IV would be A, but in this case you change the chord to A7. This steps outside the key slightly, giving the song a more bluesy feel and when you play the solo you can target the G in the A7 chord which reinforces this.

Note V is B. Usually chord V is B, but in this case we use B7. This is still part of the key, just using the V7 chord instead of the V.

Time And Key Signature

The diagram below details the start of the song and is from the downloadable PDF of the score. you can find the link at the bottom of the post.

You will find the key signature on the staff notation just to the right of the treble clef. The four # signs indicate the key of E major (in conjunction with the chords, but more on that in another post). The sharped notes are (from left to right) F#, C#, G# and D#. Directly to the right of the key signature is the time signature. The 4/4 indicate “four four time” which translates into 4 crotchet beats (or quarter note beats) per measure.

The above diagram also has an “anacrusis”, or “pick-up bar”. This is a bar at the start of a piece that doesn’t rhythmically sum up to 4 beats, and acts as a kind of lead-in to the start of the song.

The Intro

Below is a diagram of the Intro to Folsom Prison Blues, taken from the PDF of the score

Points to note:

At the start of bar 2 the player should play the root note of the E chord followed by a down and up strum. It’s important to use the indicated rhythm as this results in a “boom-chicka” sound which was a hallmark of Cash’s playing. The strumming remains the same throughout the song.
The bend in bar 1 should be very shallow.
The notes before each down and up strum alternate between the root of the chord and the perfect 5th. This is a hallmark of country and folk playing and should be practised until it’s clean, fluent and relaxed.
You use the alternating root-fifth bass note alternation throughout the song on every chord.

The Verses

Here is a diagram of the verses of Folsom Prison Blues:

Points to note:

Although not indicated, the strumming is exactly the same as the intro chords.
The format of the verse is that of a 12 Bar Blues, using the I, IV and V chords in a specific order typified by songs of this blues style.
The bass notes of the A7 chord use the A root followed by the E note. Play the low open E string instead of the D string second fret for this.
The B7 uses the 2nd fret on the A string for it’s root. This is because the B7 chord shape above uses only 5 strings. The middle finger plays the other bass note which shifts from the root to the 2nd fret E string. This lets you get more definition in each note before the strums.
Take care to accent each root note. If you let both bass notes ring this can muddy the sound. You can use the thumb of your fretting hand to do this on the A7, and use the fretting finger to cut the duration of the note on the B7.
Make sure you practise slowly at first and only speed up when you are moderately relaxed and the verse sounds fluent in it’s entirety.
This part is also the rhythm guitar backing for the solo.

The Solo

There are many different versions of solo for this song from the simple to the downright shreddy! The one detailed above is accessible and should be manageable by most levels of player.

Points:

The key is still E major, but the solo steps outside of this from the very first note (G natural instead of the diatonic G#). This lends a more blues feel when combined with the D natural stating in bar 17.
The timing can be tricky. Make sure to count out your rhythm until you have a feel for the phrase, especially in bars 21 and 22.
The solo ends with the intro phrase as a sort of resolution to the motifs.
The numbers beside the notes in the diagrams below indicate suggested left hand fingerings. These are the most efficient, but feel free to use your own, provided the result is still fluent and effective.