Santa Anna's Retreat


This is loosely based on a twenty-year-old memory of the version played by the Fuzzy Mountain String Band on theirSummer Oaks and Porch album (Rounder 0035). I seem to recall reading somewhere (perhaps on the album liner notes) that this was originally done on the fife, which might be expected of a military air.

The tune is basically mixolydian, but it seems to waver between major and minor in some spots, so I do some sliding from Bb to B (actually C to C#) on the third string. This ambiguity can be extended in the backup by holding a D on the second string when making the G chord, and avoiding the fifth string altogether, as shown below. Also, you could stay on the F(G) in measure 8, instead of going to the Dm(Em).

  G(A)
  |   |   |   |
|---3---3---3---3-|
|---3---3---3---3-|
|---0---0---0---0-|
|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|
|-3-------3-------|
The timing and bar structure are a bit irregular, too. The first bar (and the tenth bar) of Part A is 2/4, while the rest of the tune is in 4/4. Part B is only 8 bars (4 bars repeated).

Since we never go above the fifth fret, the apparent two-digit numbers in the tablature with either _h or _/ above them are actually grace notes followed by a hammer-on or slide into the main note.


Capo on 2 - Medium fast


Part A                                F(G)
  G(A)     _h      _h                _h        _h                        _h
1 |   |   2 |   |   |   |   3 |   |   |   |   4 |   |   |   |   5 |   |   |   |
|---------|-----3-------3---|-------001---1-1-|-----1---0---1-0-|-----------------|
|-----0h1-|13------13-------|-3-1-3-----------|-----------------|-3-1---001---0-1-|
|*0h2-----|-----------------|-----------------|02---------------|-----2-----------|
|*--------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

  G(A)                                Dm(Em)            G(A)
 _h      _h                 F(G)     _/                _/
6 |   |   |   |   7 |   |   |   |   8 |   |   |   |   9 |   |   |   |
|-----3-------3---|-------001---1-3-|35-------1-------|-----------------|
|13------13-------|-3-1-3-----------|-----3-----3-1h3-|34---------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----0---0------*|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------*|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|


Part B                                                  F(G)
  G(A)             _/      _h                          _h  _h   G(A)
19|   |   |   |  20 |   |   |   |  21 |   |   |   |  22 |   |   |   |
|-----------------|-----------------|---------------0-|01---------------|
|-----------------|--------13-------|-0---1---3-1-3---|-----------------|
|*0-2-0-----------|34---0-------0---|-----------------|----02---0------*|
|*------3-0---0-3-|-----------------|-----------------|----------------*|
|-----------3-----|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|





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