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SongsRow, Row, Row Your Boat
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

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Traditional, published 1852. Public domain.

3 strings · D3–D6 · No capo · D · Today’s standard — Mixolydian from the open string, and the tuning every modern tab is written for.

Tap a string, or drag down across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings, melody first.

DulcimerFree · printable · plays in your browser

Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Dulcimer Tab

Row, Row, Row Your Boat, written out for the dulcimer as fret numbers for the melody string and set up above on the DAD. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the dulcimer waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes27, 6 pitches
  • RangeD4–D5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo96 bpm · about 23 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a dulcimer play Row, Row, Row Your Boat?

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.

  • DAD✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–D5 · loaded above
  • DAA✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–D5 · load it

Row, Row, Row Your Boat: dulcimer tab

The large line is the fret, on the melody string unless a string is named; the small line under it is the note. 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

Row, Row, Row Your Boat — dulcimer tab (DAD) · 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.

  • 0D4×7
  • 1E4×3
  • 2F♯4×7
  • 3G4×2
  • 4A4×5
  • 7D5×3

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from D4 to D5, an octave, using 6 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 81% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, D4 to A4, at note 23.
  • It uses 6 fret positions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7.
  • The whole tune is on the melody string, so it can be played with a noter while the other strings drone.

About the tune

An American round, in print by 1852; the tune sung today appeared in 1881 and is usually credited to Eliphalet Oram Lyte. It is written to be sung in up to four parts, each voice entering a line after the one before.

Traditional, published 1852. Public domain. More about Row, Row, Row Your Boat →

Row, Row, Row Your Boat 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 dulcimer

All 35 dulcimer songs · Christmas songs for dulcimer · The online dulcimer on its own

Playing it on a real dulcimer?

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

🎙 Open the Dulcimer Tuner