Sakura Sakura — Guitar Tab

• Notes28, 4 pitches
• RangeC4–G4
• Key hereE minor
• Tempo80 bpm · about 26 s
• LevelIntermediate

Can a guitar play Sakura Sakura?

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.

• Acoustic✓ Plays as writtenIn E minor, C4–G4 · loaded above
• Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn E minor, C4–G4 · load it

Sakura Sakura: guitar tab

The large line is the fret — 0 is the open string; the small line under it is the string it is on. 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.

Sakura Sakura guitar tab as text

The same notes as tablature: one line per string, the thin high E on top, and each number the fret to press on that line — 0 is the open string. Read it left to right, one note at a time.

e|-0-0-2--0-0-2--0-2-3-2-0-2-0----0-0-2--0-0-|
B|-----------------------------1-------------|
G|-------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

e|-2--0-2-3-2-0-2-0----|
B|------------------1--|
G|---------------------|
D|---------------------|
A|---------------------|
E|---------------------|

Are there chords for it?

Not on this page. The chords here are chosen by rule — the three chords of the key — and they are only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. This melody has no barred score in its sources to hang chords on. The tab above is the whole tune.

The 4 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 4 and you can play the whole tune.

• 1B×2
• 0High E×14
• 2High E×10
• 3High E×2

What to expect on a guitar

• It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 4 different notes. That leaves 20 semitones unused below and 9 above.
• 89% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major third, E4 to C4, at note 14.
• The whole tune sits in first position: nothing above the 3rd fret, one finger per fret.
• It is played on 2 strings (B and High E), and 14 notes are an open string.
• The picking hand changes string 3 times.

About the tune

A Japanese melody from the Edo period, known as a beginner’s piece for the koto before it was published in the 1880s in a collection for teaching that instrument. It is the tune most often used abroad to stand for Japan.

Japanese traditional, Edo period; first published in the 1880s. Public domain. More about Sakura Sakura →

Sakura Sakura 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.

• Sakura Sakura — kalimbatabs
• Sakura Sakura — pianoletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — ukuleletab
• Sakura Sakura — mbiratabs
• Sakura Sakura — handpantabs
• Sakura Sakura — oudnotes
• Sakura Sakura — violinnotes
• Sakura Sakura — cellonotes
• Sakura Sakura — erhunotes
• Sakura Sakura — dulcimertab
• Sakura Sakura — xylophoneletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — marimbaletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — glockenspielletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — steel drumletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — ocarinanotes
• Sakura Sakura — harmonicatabs
• Sakura Sakura — trumpetnotes
• Sakura Sakura — clarinetnotes
• Sakura Sakura — saxophonenotes
• Sakura Sakura — flutenotes
• Sakura Sakura — recordernotes
• Sakura Sakura — tubanotes
• Sakura Sakura — euphoniumnotes
• Sakura Sakura — trombonenotes
• Sakura Sakura — accordionletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — harpletter notes
• Sakura Sakura — lyretabs

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• When the Saints Go Marching InFolk · fifth
• Amazing GraceFolk · octave
• Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower)Folk · octave and a fourth
• Linstead MarketFolk · minor seventh
• Auld Lang SyneChristmas songs · octave and a whole step
• Hot Cross BunsNursery rhymes · major third

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