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The Grumbling Old Man And Woman reel

There are 29 other names for this tune.

Also known as Chicaneuse, The Disputant, Disputeuse, Growlin‘ Ol’ Man Growlin‘ Ol’ Woman, Growlin‘ Old Man And Growlin’ Old Woman, Growling And Grumbling, Growling Old Man & Old Woman, Growling Old Man & Woman, Growling Old Man And Cackling Old Woman, Growling Old Man And Grumbling Old Woman, The Growling Old Man And The Cackling Old Lady, The Growling Old Man And The Cackling Old Woman, The Growling Old Man And The Grumbling Old Woman, Growling Old Man And Woman, The Growling Old Man And Woman, Growling Old Man Grumbling Old Woman, Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman, The Growling Old Man, Growly Old Man And Grumbly Old Woman, Grumblin‘ Old Man & Growlin’ Old Woman, Grumbling And Growling Old Man And Woman, Grumbling Old Man, The Grumbling Old Man And The Grumbling Old Woman, La Chicaneuse, LA Disputeuse, La Grondeuse, La Marmotteuse, Le Bonhomme Et La Bonne Femme Chicaneux, The Old Man And The Old Woman.

There are 33 recordings of this tune.
This tune has been recorded together with

The Grumbling Old Man And Woman appears in 1 other tune collection.

The Grumbling Old Man And Woman has been added to 15 tune sets.

The Grumbling Old Man And Woman has been added to 261 tunebooks.

Download ABC

Six settings

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Sheet Music12
Sheet Music
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Sheet MusicAGA
Sheet MusicAGFGA-GA-12

Thirteen comments

This French-Canadian tune is a staple in the New England repertoire. It is most commonly played for contra dancing.

Grumbling old man & …

This tune does turn up every month or so at sessions around me. Can be nice if played with a good swingy rhythm, it can also be a great time to go to the bathroom if it’s played without swing. I guess that’s true of any tune. Beware - this tune is fun & the audience loves it, but it can be a yawn for other musicians if you play it too much. Again - I guess that goes for every other tune, it just seems more-so with this one.

Another version in Amix

Here’s a nice version in Amix, which adds another colour to it altogether.

X: 1
T: The Grumbling Old Man And Woman
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Amix
A,2 CA, EA,CA,|G,2, B,G, DG, B,G,|A,2 CA, EA, CA,|1 B,A,G,B, A,2A,B,:|2 B,A,G,B, A,2z2||
efed cdef|gedc BG Gz |efed cdef|ea{b}a^g a2ef|
=gfed cdef|gedc BGAB|(3=cBA BG AGEF|GFED B,A, A,2||

Another version from PEI

After looking at your first turn, I can see why you might find it a little dull. Try this version, it’s a lot more fun.

X:1 %Music
T:Growling Old Man and Old Woman PEI Version %Tune name
C: %Tune composer
N:Transcribed:K. Dau-Schmidt %Tune infos
Q:1/4=120 %Tempo
V:1 %
%!STAVE 0 ‘’ @
%!INSTR ‘…’ 0 0 @
M:4/4 %Meter
L:1/8 %
K:D
(A,B,) |:A,2 (A,C)EA, CE|DG,B,D GDB,G, |A,2 (A,C) EA, CE |[1
DG, B,D A,2 (A,B,) :|[2DG, B,D A,2 (cd) ::efed cdef |ged=c (BG) G2 |
ef ed cd ec |(ea) (a^g) a2 (ef) |gfed cdef |ged=c (BG) G2 |
=cABG AG ED |[1GE DB, A,2 (cd) :|[2GE DB, A,2 z2 :|
%End of file

I hope this works for you. This is the first time I have tried to export one of my note tunes as an abc file. If it doesn’t work, leave a message and I’ll try again.

Grumbling

Here’s an example of a tune whose name matters: It forces you to hear -and play, of course- in a certain way. Program music has always helped keeping or building the rapport with the audience.

Most of the English titles are bowdlerized / made politically correct and are far too long as a result.

The usual name of the tune in Québec is “La grondeuse” - no men involved. There is a roughly equivalent English tune name, and who knows, “La grondeuse” might be a translation of it: The Scolding Wife.

Re: The Grumbling Old Man And Woman

What’s the usual structure of this tune? X:1 and X:2 show it as having a repeated 4-bar A part and a non-repeated 8-bar B part - 16 bars in all. X:3 and X:4 repeat the B part - making it a 24-bar tune.

Since a lot of dances are based on a 32-bar sequence, would this have a ‘double repeat’ in the A, or would it be played as 16 bars - twice if necessary? 24 bars would be a bit unusual. Any callers out there who can advise?

Re: The Grumbling Old Man And Woman

In the book “Danse ce soir - Fiddle and Accordion Music of Quebec” by Laurie Hart, the French alternative title is Le Bonhomme Et La Bonne Femme Chicaneux, with the English equivalent (printed there) being “The Growling Old Man and the Grumbling Old Woman.”

In my own circles, it’s just known as the “Growling Old Man and Woman,” so it’s shrunk over time.

In that book, there is a notable difference, with the woman’s (high) part being the A section, with the man’s part being the B section.

Source:

https://books.google.com/books?id=wJOT1Gg_o6UC&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=Le+bonhomme+et+la+bonne+femme+chicaneux&source=bl&ots=QuIPBqEvzQ&sig=ACfU3U2cUzmZD6oQ03UPaf6RJDIOAE_lTw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwieyomop57pAhWSrJ4KHSafB_kQ6AEwDnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Le%20bonhomme%20et%20la%20bonne%20femme%20chicaneux&f=false

The Grumbling Old Man And Woman, X:5

Learned this Old Time version at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC, USA, from another student taking a week of Appalachian fiddle. Definitely has a shuffle bowing with double-stop back beats (AE and open GD) in the A part. The last low Cs may be played sliding the C natural up a bit or as much as C#. Is this French Canadian in origin?

Re: The Grumbling Old Man And Woman

I learned it as “Grumbling Old Man and Cackling Old Woman”. It could also be “La Grondeuse et le Grondeur” which gives the “growling” adjective in female and male form, just to be fair. I often just refer to it as “Grumbling”, for brevity.