Tab by Bo Parker

This is an excerpt from "Bonaparte's Retreat" as played by fiddler William Stepp, and recorded by Alan Lomax. This then was used by Aaron Copland in the music to the ballet "Rodeo." FWIW, it's now best known as the theme tune for a beef commercial.

There was an article on this on NPR's "All Things Considered" this week, and this inspired me to work out this little snippet, which sits pretty well on guitar and is very recognizable. It may not be exactly right, but it's close.

      __3__
  |   |     |   |     |   |   |   |     |   |   |   |     |   |   |   |
|-------------------|-----------------|-----2-----------|-----------------|
|-3---2-3-2-3-----0-|-3-0-------------|-3-------3-------|-----------------|
|*--------------2---|-----2---------2-|-------------2-0-|-------0--------*|
|*------------------|-------4-2-0-4---|-----------------|-4-0-2---4-0-0--*|
|-------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

  |   |   |   |     |   |   |   |     |   |   |   |     |   |   |   |
|-2---2---5---2---|-0---0-2-3-2-0---|-2---2---5---2---|-0---0-3-2-------|
|---3---3---3---3-|---3-----------3-|---3---3---3---3-|---3-------3-3---|
|*----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------*|
|*----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------*|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|


|   |   |   | marks the passage of quarter notes

__3__
|        is a triplet

*
* is a repeat symbol

Back to FLATPICK-L Members Tablature Page

Back to Main Tablature Page

Back to Flatpick Page