Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle?
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ABC Notation
Mandolin Tablature
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traditional
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Say Old Man Can You Play the Fiddle?", also known as "Say Old Man Can You Play a Fiddle?" or<br> "Ladies Fancy" is an American reel in cut time in<br> E Minor ('A', 'B' and 'E' parts) & E Major or E Mixolydian ('C' and 'D' parts).<br> It is sometimes played in EDae fiddle tuning.<br> The parts are played ABC (Christeson), ABBCC (Brody) or AABBCCDDEE.<br> "Say Old Man can You Play the Fiddle" is known in Texas, Virginia and North Carolina.<br> Joe Burke tells the story that Slim Rutland went looking for interesting musicians in the<br> Dallas area and was pointed to Luke Thomasson, Benny Thomasson’s father.<br> Benny Thomasson referred to the tune as “Lady’s Fancy”.<br> Paul Wells notes a relationship between the ‘A’ part of "Say Old Man" and one of the<br> strains of Kentucky fiddler Luther Strong’s version of<br> "Glory in the Meetinghouse"<br> (recorded for the Library of Congress in 1937).<br> Sometimes the following is sung as a verse:<br> Say old man can you play the fiddle?<br> I don't know, I might play a little.<br> It was printed in<br> Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook (1983),<br> R.P. Christeson's Old Time Fiddlers Repertory, vol. 1 (1973) and<br> Phillips' Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 2 (1995).<br> It was recorded by American Heritage on Poor Richard's Almanac (appears as "Lady's Fancy"),<br> The Mando Mafia on Get Up in the Cool,<br> Eck Robertson on Eck Robertson (Tx): Famous Cowboy Fiddler,<br> Benny Thomasson on Texas Hoedown and Say Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle?,<br> Buddy Spicher on Me and My Heroes,<br> Tommy Hunter on Deep in Tradition (1976),<br> Glen Smith on Say Old Man (1990),<br> Jay Ungar & Lyn Hardy on Songs, Ballads & Fiddle Tunes (1975),<br> Mark O'Conner on National Junior Fiddle Champion,<br> Dan Crary on Lady's Fancy (appears as "Lady's Fancy") and<br> Gene Goforth on Emminence Breakdown (1997).<br> <br> <br>
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