One quibble. It's not always a third or a fifth. That only happens when the melody is on the root. If the chord behind the melody is a C and the melody is on the G, then the tenor line will be a fourth above it at C (unless the singer's choosing to go for the seventh tone, in which case it'll probably be a Bb), and the baritone will be a minor third below at E.

Otherwise, you've got a darn good explanation of what's going on

That, and except for when a strong fifth tone's desired, one of the two is either on or heading to the third of the chord, isn't it? That's what makes a good duo so astounding is the way they work it so someone's usually on a third, and the lines don't sound tortured to achieve that.

Different rules seem to apply to bluegrbutt, though, don't they? I've always heard the terms used to delineate relations to the melody, rather than range. This makes it easier for those without solid musical education to join in a trio, because we all know what baritone means, or "high baritone" which of course Doyle Lawson excelled at, but he's no sort of baritone at all. AIUI, for 'grbutt, it seems to run thuswise (from bottom to top);

Bbutt (sings mostly roots and runs, used mainly for gospel quartets, can sing neat lines in the hands of someone so inspired, listen to Mike A. on "Act III's "the old crossroads")

Low tenor (an octave down from the tenor part, or two parts down from the lead, not used all that often, except by the Osbornes and Larry Stephenson, who like the sound of the melody on the top- if the melody's on the root, this will be a 3, if Lead=5, then tenor=root)

Baritone (the first part below the lead, sorta hard to learn to find, but a great deal of fun, since most of the time when you go to the V chord, the melody is on the second degree of the scale-or the fifth of the V chord, giving the baritone the third in the chord to play with, but don't overdo it, even Sonny, Mike and Eddie will sometimes just let it sit there plain and unadorned)

Lead (this is the melody)

Tenor (firsr part up)

High Baritone (an octave above baritone, not often used unless the lead is a low voice, see the Gentlemen, it's hard to get below Charlie when he's singing low, and he likes the lower part of his range)

There's also a part that is an octave above the lead, but I'm not sure of its name, it's only used when they start "stacking" the vocals (a la the country gazette) and should only be used sparingly IMO as an effect.

I've also heard of a "High Tenor" which I've only heard on one song from Reno and Smiley, where Red sang lead way down low, Don sang a high baritone (a fifth-sixth above the lead) and Mac Wiseman, who was the producer on the session, stepped behind the mic to sing a tenor above that, or a tenth-eleventh above the lead (that's an octave plus a third-fourth)

But those parts aren't much at all like what we'd be singing in bluegrbutt, at least not in jam sessions. Those are really intricate parts with lots of nifty contrary motion thingies. Sorta hard to improvise under the awning of the Airstream at 1 AM Sunday morning. It sounds really cool when a band does them, but it takes a good bit of rehearsal to get them down.

Very good info on the structure of hominy.

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Lane Gray Yes, I'm a minion of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial