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SongsWhen the Saints Go Marching In
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  31. 1,
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  33. 1,

Traditional American spiritual, published 1896. Public domain.

6 strings · E2–E5 · A steel-string acoustic, played with a pick — the guitar most people are handed first.

Tap a string, or tap a chord and drag across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — Q to Y are the six strings, high E first; 1 to 7 hold the chords of the key, Space strums, and 0 lets go.

GuitarFree · printable · plays in your browser

When the Saints Go Marching In — Guitar Tab

When the Saints Go Marching In, written out for the guitar as easy melody tab with the string and fret for every note and set up above on the Acoustic. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the guitar waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes33, 5 pitches
  • RangeG3–D4
  • Key hereG major
  • Tempo124 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a guitar play When the Saints Go Marching In?

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 G major, G3–D4 · loaded above
  • Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–D4 · load it

When the Saints Go Marching In: 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.

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When the Saints Go Marching In — guitar tab (Acoustic) · tonalics.com

When the Saints Go Marching In 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|---------------------------------------------|
B|---0-1-3-----0-1-3-----0-1-3--0-----0------0-|
G|-0---------0---------0-----------0-----2-----|
D|---------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|

e|--------------------------------------------|
B|-0---------0--3-3-3-1---0-1-3--0------------|
G|---2-0---0------------------------0--2--0---|
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 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • 0G×8
  • 2G×3
  • 0B×10
  • 1B×5
  • 3B×7

What to expect on a guitar

  • It runs from G3 to D4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 15 semitones unused below and 14 above.
  • 63% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, D4 to G3, at note 5.
  • The whole tune sits in first position: nothing above the 3rd fret, one finger per fret.
  • It is played on 2 strings (G and B), and 18 notes are an open string.
  • The picking hand changes string 12 times.

About the tune

An American spiritual of uncertain authorship, in print by the 1890s. In New Orleans it was played slowly on the way to a funeral and fast on the way back, and after Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1938 it became one of the best-known tunes in jazz.

Traditional American spiritual, published 1896. Public domain. More about When the Saints Go Marching In →

When the Saints Go Marching In 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 guitar

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

Playing it on a real guitar?

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

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