Annotation:Ladies Fancy (1)

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LADIES FANCY [1]. AKA - "Lady's Fancy." AKA and see "Oh, Say Old Man can You Play the Fiddle? (1)." Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, Southwest. E Major. Standard or EDae tunings (fiddle). ABCC. The title appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. The tune, noted Randolph, is also known as "Rye Straw." It is either a version of, or related to, the southwest reel "Say Old Man can You Play the Fiddle?(1)", although the tonality shifts somewhat from major to minor for the "Say Old Man..." version and stays in major for "Ladies Fancy." Sometimes the 'G' string on the fiddle is tuned down to an 'E' for "Ladies Fancy (1)" to enhance the drone.

Source for notated version: Ardell Christopher (El Paso, Texas & New Mexico), 1951 [Christeson]. Christopher was a square dance fiddler who honed his skill at dances in the El Paso/southern New Mexico area in the years after World War II. Christeson says he learned many of his tunes while stationed in New Mexico from a retired farmer who lived nearby. Christopher won a California state fiddling championship in the early 1950's.

Printed sources: R.P. Christeson (Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1), 1973; pp. 80-81.

Recorded sources:

See also listing at:
Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources [1]

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