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

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Traditional, published 1852. Public domain.

2 strings · D4–A4 open · A5 at the octave · D key · 1 = D · A perfect fifth, the same interval a violin uses between neighbours. Those two notes are the entire tuning; everything above them is your hand.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never leaves the strings. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — the inner string is the upper key — hold one and the note holds.

ErhuFree · printable · plays in your browser

Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Erhu Notes

Row, Row, Row Your Boat, written out for the erhu as every note with its string and how far up it. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the erhu 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 erhu play Row, Row, Row Your Boat?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to D5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat: erhu notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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 — erhu notes · 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.

  • DD·0×7
  • ED·2×3
  • F♯D·4×7
  • GD·5×2
  • AA·0×5
  • DA·5×3

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to D5, an octave, using 6 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 7 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 81% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, D4 to A4, at note 23.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 4 times.
  • 12 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 5 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

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 erhu

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

Playing it on a real erhu?

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

🎙 Open the Erhu Tuner