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left handright handRTAG♯123EFF♯C♯1234123EFF♯G♯upper joint · left handlower joint · right handRTAG♯123EFF♯C♯1234123EFF♯G♯
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SongsFrère Jacques
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Traditional French round, published 1780. Public domain. The low G of “ding, dang, dong” is taken an octave up, where a 17-key has it.

33 notes · E3–C6 written · sounds D3–B♭5 · 33 notes · The clarinet almost everyone plays: band, jazz, school. Sounds a whole step below the part.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is written G3 and they climb a semitone at a time.

ClarinetFree · printable · plays in your browser

Frère Jacques — Clarinet Notes

Frère Jacques, written out for the clarinet as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the B♭ clarinet. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the clarinet waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes32, 6 pitches
  • RangeC4–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo108 bpm · about 18 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a clarinet play Frère Jacques?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • B♭ clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · loaded above
  • A clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • E♭ clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • Bass clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it

The notes here are written pitch, which is what a clarinet player reads. On the B♭ clarinet this sounds in B♭ major.

Frère Jacques: clarinet notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Frère Jacques — clarinet notes (B♭ clarinet) · tonalics.com

The 6 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 6 and you can play the whole tune.

  • CC4×10
  • DD4×2
  • EE4×6
  • FF4×4
  • GG4×8
  • AA4×2

What to expect on a clarinet

  • It runs from C4 to A4, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 8 semitones unused below and 15 above.
  • 65% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to G4, at note 21.
  • It stays below the break, so the register key is never used.

About the tune

A French round first written down around 1780. It is sung in most European languages, and Gustav Mahler used a minor-key version of it as the funeral march in his First Symphony.

Traditional French round, published 1780. Public domain. The low G of “ding, dang, dong” is taken an octave up, where a 17-key has it. More about Frère Jacques →

Frère Jacques on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.

More songs for the clarinet

All 36 clarinet songs · Christmas songs for clarinet · The online clarinet on its own

Playing it on a real clarinet?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The clarinet tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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