Petersburg Ladies
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
PDF Files:
--- choose file type ---
Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
Tune Sheet
American
Play
MIDI
No audio
available
Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Petersburg Ladies" is an American reel in D Major. The parts are played AABBCC.<br> The title refers to the women of Petersburg, Virginia, now a suburb of Richmond.<br> The reel was first printed in George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels, volume II (1839), and enjoyed<br> some popularity as evidenced by its reprinting in a few tune books, such as Volume Second of the<br> Home Circle (Oliver Ditson & Co. 1863) and Blume's Collection of Popular Melodies (1864).<br> Chris Goertzen, in his book George P. Knauff's Virginia Reels and the History of American<br> Fiddling (2017) explains that Petersburg was, at the time of Knauff's publication, Virginia's<br> third-largest city with a population of 8,300 people in the 1830 census. Goertzen points out<br> the Petersburg was located at the fall line of the Appomattox River and the most efficient<br> shipping port for Knauff's musical instrument trade (primarily pianos) located in Farmville.<br> He also sees a balancing juxtaposition of Knauff's tune titles "Richmond Blues" (a militia<br> group) and "Petesburg Ladies" in the pamphlet. <br> The final two measures of the C part in the original (as I received it) require the fiddler<br> to shift to third position, which many traditional fiddlers cannot do. I have transposed these<br> measures down an octave which is easier to play and sounds better to me than the original.<br>
Click
here
for a full page view.