The Grumbling Old Man And Woman reel

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

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.

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||

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.

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.

Pipe friendly version

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?

Perhaps French-Canadian dances can accommodate 24 bar tunes better.

Have a listen to these recordings, each have this tune on it, so, they may help with your question.

Irish Ceilidh Band:
https://thesession.org/recordings/6725

Contra band:
https://thesession.org/recordings/6401

Scottish Country Dance Band:
https://thesession.org/recordings/6237

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

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?

this is my arrangement of the tune—-a mix of all the ways I’ve heard it. It is an amalgam of old time and contra dance playing.

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.