Key signature: Gmajor
Submitted on November 2nd 2004 by Will Harmon.
This tune has been added to 43 tunebooks.
Also known as The Absent Minded Woman.
Recordings of a tune by this name:
X: 1
T: Absent-minded Woman, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: reel
K: Gmaj
|:G2 GA BABd|edgd edBA|GFGA ~B3d|(3efg dB AGEF|
~G3A BA (3Bcd|edgd e2 ge|dega bage|1 dBAB G2 (3DEF:|2 dBAB G3e||
|:g2 bg agbg|g/g/g bg aged|g2 bg agbg|gedB AGED|
g2 bg agbg|g/g/g bg aged|gfgd (3efg dB|1 AGAB G3e:|2 AGAB G2 (3DEF||
Absent-minded Woman
This was one of the first reels I learned on fiddle--not the easiest for a beginner--from Linda Danielson, a fiddler and teacher near Eugene, Oregon. Not long after learning it, I was visiting with Liz Carroll after a gig, and she handed me her fiddle and said, "Play us something then." So off I went on this tune. Liz got all excited, saying she hadn't heard this one in years, and oh what was the name of it? I played it three times through, her frustration over the missing name growing, till I was half afraid to tell her the name. We had a good laugh over that.
# Posted on November 2nd 2004 by Will Harmon
Thanks for the tune Will
# Posted on November 3rd 2004 by Dr. Dow
To my ear the high "e" leading into the B part would sound better as a "d". Or a d pushed up into an e on the way to the g.
Great tune and nice anecdote - now Dow is finally happy.
# Posted on November 3rd 2004 by Donough
Sure, d would work, but on fiddle, it's more natural to get the pick up note from the same string you're about to land on, particularly since you're leaping from the 3rd string to first.
# Posted on November 3rd 2004 by Will Harmon
to me, the B part sounds exactly like Lord McDonald's B part ... i found no difference ... although part A i really enjoyed
# Posted on November 4th 2004 by stickson007
Thanks Will for your explanation.
As a guitarist listening out for the harmonic implications in the way a tune is played it's notes like that "e" that can throw me out☺.
My argument is more based on a symmetry of pattern as the last note in the B section bar2 is a "d" and this leads back to the same phrase as the first bar. And again in the last note of the 4th bar it is a "D" this time down an octave, that leads back to the same phrase.
Cheers
Donough
# Posted on November 4th 2004 by Donough
Donough & Will, have you had a look at the O'Neill's version of this? The endings of the parts are really different - they sort of go down and run into the next part.
# Posted on November 4th 2004 by Dr. Dow
Good ol tune
One of the first reels i learned as well. It really does fit nicely on the fiddle. learned it from a wind player who said they got it from a printed source (Maybe Robin Williamson's whistle tutor). haven't thought of this one in awhile. thanks
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by Zug Isle fiddler