Tunes – The Grandy Project

Jigs, Marches and Reels were traditionally played for a “three-change” Quadrille set, three square dances done in a row with the same partner: 1st Change (usually jigs), 2nd Change (usually Marches) and Breakdown (usually Reels). Grandy, like most of the older players in his tradition, had no names for most of his tunes, usually just calling them “quadrilles” or sometimes “Old Scotch Reels” or by their dance (1st Change, 2nd Change, or Breakdown). Sometimes, my decision about whether a tune is a March or a Reel is a bit arbitrary, having to do with the number of notes per beat (mostly 2/beat for Marches – “1 and 2 and,” and 4 for Reels – “1 ee and a 2 ee and a”). Playing one tune for one dance was the norm (no medleys). Waltzes are played separately, but Grandy played very few of them. Then there are a few specialty dances, like Drops of Brandy, Red River Jig, Double Gigue, etc. I will note these as they come up.

The following tunes are all of what I have digitized to this point, about 90% of his recorded repertoire (the rest is coming). Just click on the title to hear a recording. Tunes are listed here by keys: A, D, G, C, F, Bb, and then by type: Jigs, Marches (2-Steps are all called Marches here for the sake of simplicity), Reels and Waltzes (there’s only 2 so far, one in A E A C# tuning and one in C). I have noted which tunes are on other CDs, some on my personal recordings (the ones in red): Old Man’s Table (to be released Nov. 12, 2015), Not a Mark in This World, 7 Cats or Fiddlesong, as well as which ones are available on the original set of field recordings: Old Native and Metis Fiddling in Western Manitoba. (Click on the title of the recording for links.)

A E A C# Tunes

Grandy only played 2 tunes in this tuning, a reel and a waltz. In my experience, this and A E A E tuning were both associated with the Devil, but these two are named for him. Though I never heard any stories about it from Grandy himself, Laurence Flett of Ebb and Flow says his grandfather used to tell him “Don’t play those things. . . If you ever play them, he said, the devil will walk in and take the fiddle off you, and maybe you’ll never, ever play a tune again.” The waltz seems to be a version of the American “Drunken Hiccups” and the reel a nice two-part version of the Quebecois “Reel du pendu” (literally, “Hanged man’s reel”, but usually called “Hangman’s” in English – see Fiddler’s Companion for more).
Devil’s Reel

Devil’s Waltz

A E A E Tunes

See above for Devil associations. 1 jig (1st CHnage in the 3-square dance set), 3 Marches (2nd Change in the set) and 8 Reels (breakdowns – 3rd Change).
A Jig – on 7 Cats (1st tune of “Grandy’s Devil Tunes”)

A March #1 – on Old Man’s Table (A Set)

A March #2

A March #3 – British Grenadiers, on Old Man’s Table (A Set)

A Reel #1

A Reel #2 – Devil’s Dream, on Old Man’s Table (A Set, last tune)

A Reel #3 – on Old Man’s Table (A Set, “So-do” tune)

A Reel #4 – on 7 Cats (4th tune of “Grandy’s Devil Tunes”)

A Reel #5

A Reel #6 –on Old Man’s Table (3rd tune of “Key Change Set,” A/C Reel)

A Reel #7

A Reel #8 (Wake up Susan – common U.S. tune, B part like Mason’s Apron)

D Tunes

(often A D A E tuning, but not always)
4 Jigs, 13 Marches, 20 Reels (2 of them modal) and 1 Dm Reel (a version of Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman from Quebec, often played in D Modal or Dm or both in this tradition). This is the biggest group. Many of Grandy’s D tunes I have been able to name although Grandy’s versions may be quite different in form and content.
D Jig #1 – a version of a tune also played in Bacon Ridge/Ebb and Flow Area, sometimes called the Bacon Ridge Jig.

D Jig #2 – possibly related to Haste to the Wedding, but Grandy played Haste in a more recognizable version also (no recording)

D Jig #3 – again, a version of a tune also heard in Ebb and Flow, especially from Walter Flett. On Old Man’s Table (Jig Set)

D Jig #4

D March #1 – the beginning is cut off here. On Old Man’s Table (D March Set, 3rd tune)

D March #2

D March #3 – beginning cut off. On Old Man’s Table (D March Set #1)

D March #4 (Chinese Breakdown)

D March #5 – on Old Man’s Table (D March Set 2nd Tune)

D March #6

D March #7

D March #8

D March #9 – on Old Man’s Table (Polka in 3 Keys). This could be a Ukrainian polka. He plays it in G and C also.

D March #10

D March #11

D March #12

D March #13

D Reel #1 (Modal #1) – on Old Man’s Table (Modal Reel)

D Reel #2 – on Not a Mark in This World (Toronto Volunteers)

D Reel #3

D Reel #4 – on Old Man’s Table (Key Change Reel #1)

D Reel #5 – on Old Native and Metis Fiddling, Volume II

D Reel #6 – Whisky Before Breakfast

D Reel #7 – on Old Man’s Table (Arkansas’s Brother). I think this is an older, evolved version of Arkansas Traveller

D Reel #8 – Arkansas Traveller

D Reel #9 – on Old Man’s Table (Fisher’s Brother – my name). Again, possibly derived from Fisher’s Hornpipe (see #17).

D Reel #10

D Reel #11 (Woodchopper’s Breakdown)

D Reel #12

D Reel #13 ((Modal #2)

D Reel #14 -On Old Man’s Table (Key Change Reels #2). I think it could be derived from the Scottish tune “Lasses of Stewarton”

D Reel #15 – Red River Jig, several versions. “The old way,” and one that is obviously taken from Andy de Jarlis’s version.

D Reel #16 – Duck Dance, again taken from de Jarlis. Grandy sometimes calls it the Tucker Dance.

D Reel #17 – (Fisher’s Hornpipe), usually called La Double Gigue, which is a particular 2 couple step dance. On Old Man’s Table (Double Gigue).

D Reel #18

D Reel #19 (San Antonio Rose)

D Reel #20

G Tunes (standard tuning)
3 Jigs, 3 Marches and 11 Reels, again, some of them known from other sources.
G Jig #1

G Jig #2

G Jig #3 – Grandy says this is the first tune he learned.

G March #1 – on Old Man’s Table (G Set, 2nd Tune)

G March #2 – on Old Man’s Table (Polka in 3 Keys, same is D March #9

G March #3 – version of Jacket Trimmed in Blue, a common tune in this tradition, on Old Man’s Table (G Set #1). Grandy always calls this his Dad’s tune.

G Reel #1 – very Devil’s Dream-like

G Reel #2 – Drops of Brandy, played for the dance, probably evolved in Quebec from the 9/8 pipe tune into a 6/4 reel, and from there into the somewhat crooked versions played in the west. There are several versions here.

G Reel #3 – Evolved from Turkey in the Straw, Grandy calls it The Reel of Washington.

G Reel #4 – another Reel of Washington, according to Grandy.

G Reel #5 (Crooked Stovepipe) – Grandy calls it 4:00 in the Morning.

G Reel #6

G Reel #7 (MacDonald’s Reel)

G Reel #8

G Reel #9 – a wonderful modal reel in G and Bb

G Reel #10

C Tunes

1 Jig, 5 Two-Steps (called Marches for the sake of consistency, but these all sound like newer tunes to me), 4 Reels and a Waltz. Three of the reels Grandy often plays together as a Quadrille set (3-square dance set) and calls them The Three Sisters.
C Jig #1 (Old Box Stove)