I think this is really more of a banjo tune/song. Also it's "modal" rather than strictly "minor."
Here's a good fiddle/banjo version:
slippery-hill.com/content/shady-grove-0
The late Morgan Sexton played a great banjo version of "Shady Grove," but I can't seem to find it online.

Listen to them all and then take your pick.
https://www.slippery-hill.com/tune-search?search_api_fulltext=shady+grove
 

Great Thanks Jon Beckoff Does it for me and i don't even need to transpose!... Shame on me for not checking out Slippery Hill Brilliant site!

Yep Modal Probably Mixolydian/Dorian?

Thanks Again

Here's a site where you can preview Morgan Sexton singing this song, and purchase it if you wish: juneappalrecordings.bandcamp.c...y-grove-7
I still remember when I first heard him play and sing this, and since that time none of the other versions have really held up.

Great version Doug , but i little esoteric for my needs, i just need a good G version, most youtubes seem to be Dm. To play along with a Brit Americana Band that plays and sings it in G, (they call it G minor but as you say it is most likely G Modal Dorian/Mixolydian.

It is esoteric, but I think it really conveys the meaning of the song. I'm surprised that YouTubes are in dminor (well, not so much really - there's a lot of unreliable stuff on YouTube these days) - I've always thought of it as a G or A modal banjo song. Morgan played some of those lonesome old tunes in G modal tuning (2nd string up to C) but with the fifth string tuned down to F, and fingered in F, but this one is in G.

pete - One more and I'll let you go. This is Morgan Sexton's nephew Lee playing his version of "Shady Grove." juneappalrecordings.bandcamp.c...ady-grove
I recorded this one, and may have recorded Morgan too - I recorded a lot of that album, but not all of it.

Yea but i'm just a Brit fiddler trying to learn a version in a G (Ish) sort of tone center, to play along with others who are probably playing what they think of as a G Chord but really only consists of G's And D's with no 3rd and an F (ish) Diad as a cadence to lead back to the G and D diad all very open to interpretation as it should be. basically any thing that goes with a G Drone with an F note as a Cadence. It's so simple it is complicated.

Stick a C chord in there before the F for a bit of Rock Sound and it will amaze the audience...Wow.

Not trying to be a genuine Appalachian person or anything.

I always liked Henry Reed's. It's more fiddly than most I've heard... Nice melodic stuff happening through out. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000106/

I recorded an aggressive fiddly version I learned from Western Maryland fiddler Grover Broadwater in the early 90s. He sawed the hell out if it, and I've never heard anyone fiddle it better... though it was not one he usually played (he usually played a lot of rags and typical tunes). That can be found on my web site.

When I played it on dobro, I played in whatever keys is Em and D. I'm guessing that was E Dorian or E minor. When I see the listings that say G Modal or A Modal, I'm wondering exactly what key/mode they are talking about. I've noticed with folk music in a mode, the listed key is not technically the true key/mode; like I've heard many whistles tunes label just "D" when they are actually in E Dorian.

Chord/Mode wise, Jon Beckoffs version uses G (no 3rd) so major or minor, F and Dm( ?) to my ear, so G Dorian mode (to me). Second mode of F Major.

Melody wise, Most of the tune sits within the F major scale on the D&A strings ("A"part anyway),1st finger on the F and 2nd finger on the G etc. And also utilises the open D&A strings and a few blue notes here and there.In standard tuning.

quote:

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Originally posted by ShawnCraver

I always liked Henry Reed's. It's more fiddly than most I've heard... Nice melodic stuff happening through out. https://www.loc.gov/item/afcreed000106/

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Me too. Been playing this version since about 1974.

I see a lot of musicians new to old time music coming from rock or bluegrass getting hung up on chords... I think it's important to remember that chords are subjective...

Viewing tunes through "progressions" can often whittle down the player's interpretation of the melody.

Thats a whole Nother subject.

I like Jon Beckoffs version because it goes with the chords that the folk i will play it with. And adjust if necessary.

Plus i think it has good drive, and A and B parts

Most folk over here play it very similar to the tune "Matty Groves" an old English tune, which is Dm and C chords (D Dorian).

But the folk i will most likely play it with, play it in Gm Dorian....Gm, (or G no 3rd), and F chords Maybe with a Dsus4 or Dm to take it home again? 

People over there play it similar to "Matty Groves" because someone (I think Martin Carthy) heard Hedy West sing "Shady Grove" at a folk festival in (I think) Greece, and thought the tune would go well for "Matty Groves" and introduced it to the British folk revival. A few years ago I looked and found that of the many traditional versions of "Matty Groves" that had been collected in England, none used that tune.

chords...another subject... but one that was brought up... Henry Reed's could be harmonized with major or minor chords. I don't get hung up on chords and if you're playing with an established ensemble...then yeah play what works.

So I got curious and listened to the Beckoff version for the first time... Different strokes for different folks. My first thought is it's very different type of fiddling/recording/arrangement in comparison to what is the usual for Slippery Hill.

quote:

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Originally posted by DougD

People over there play it similar to "Matty Groves" because someone (I think Martin Carthy) heard Hedy West sing "Shady Grove" at a folk festival in (I think) Greece, and thought the tune would go well for "Matty Groves" and introduced it to the British folk revival. A few years ago I looked and found that of the many traditional versions of "Matty Groves" that had been collected in England, none used that tune.

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Looks to me like you are correct Doug, a recent "mashup" in the British folk revival era. I've come across others like it also. i think the Alan Lomax Connections  have a lot to do with it.Maybe?