Go Tell Aunt Rhody

[from Five Note Melodies, Published by Historical Folk Toys, LLC]:

The origin of the tune used with Go Tell Aunt Rhody is from a 1750 opera by Jean Jacques Rousseau titled "Le Devin du Village." The tune became known as Rousseau's Dream, an Air with Variations for the Piano Forte" and was published in 1881 by J.D. Cramer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The words to Go Tell Aunt Rhody were first published in a Black Americana book, "Play Songs of the Deep South" by Altona Trent-Johns with illustrations by James Porter in 1944 by Associated Publishers. The 15 songs in dialect included in this book feature directions for dancing the folk dances that go with a particular song.

Go Tell Aunt Rhody Additional Lyrics:

The one she was saving(3)

To make a feather bed

The gander is weeping (3)
Because his wife is dead.

The goslings are crying (3)
Because their mama's dead.

She died in the mill-pond (3)
Standing on her head.

Go tell Aunt Rhody (3)

 

Appropriate Age: 
PreK-7
8-10
Scale: 
Do Pentachord
Rhythmic Element: 
Quarter note
Eighth note
Meter: 
4/4
Score: 
Guitar Technique Element: 
Playing on two strings