Appalachian music. Cluck Old Hen [music transcription]. Note sheet.

Meter: 4/4
Transcribed by Alan Jabbour, from a performance by Henry Reed.
Key: A
Strains: 2 (high-low, 2-2)
Compass: 10
Rendition: 1r-2r-1r-2r-1r-2r-1r-2r
Phrase Structure: AB QR (aba'c qrq'c)
Handwritten: Played 4 times thru. (1st 1 1/2 meas. of 1st time missed). 2nd & 4th times tr. above. Note interesting vars.
"Cluck Old Hen" is a well-known tune and song through the Appalachian South, quite distinct from another barnyard evocation, "Cackling Hen," which is played in G. The song "Cluck Old Hen" consists of a series of playful verses. As an instrumental tune, it is popular on both fiddle and banjo. On the fiddle, one of the tune's special features is the "cluck" made by left-hand picking of the strings. In Henry Reed's second performance (AFS 13703b26), the "cluck" is the open E-string, though other fiddlers use both the E and A-strings, or even the E, A, and D-strings. In this, his first performance, he does not do the left-hand picking, but the set shows interesting variation among the repetitions of the second strain. It seems clear here that the variation is a matter of conscious creative modification, not unconscious changes.