TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Handpan songs
SongsRow, Row, Row Your Boat
Play a different song (13)

23 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the scale brings some of them into reach.

Play along
  1. 2
  2. 2
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 4
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 8
  12. 8
  13. 8
  14. 6
  15. 6
  16. 6
  17. 4
  18. 4
  19. 4
  20. 2
  21. 2
  22. 2
  23. 6
  24. 5
  25. 4
  26. 3
  27. 2

Traditional, published 1852. Public domain.

8 fields · D3 ding · A3–C5 · D Kurd with the B♭ dropped and a high C added. The missing sixth is what makes it sound open rather than sad.

Tap a field, or drag around the shell to roll across them. On a keyboard the letters on the fields are the ones to press — they run up the scale, so they zigzag across the shell exactly as your hands do.

HandpanFree · printable · plays in your browser

Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Handpan Tabs

Row, Row, Row Your Boat, written out for the handpan as the tone field to strike for every note and set up above on the D Celtic Minor. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the handpan waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes27, 6 pitches
  • RangeC4–C5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo96 bpm · about 23 s
  • LevelEasy

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

2 of the 5 here do. 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.

  • D Kurd✕ Cannot play itNeeds C5, which it does not have
  • D Celtic Minor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–C5 · loaded above
  • D Hijaz✕ Cannot play itNeeds F3, G3, C4, which it does not have
  • E Amara✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–D5 · load it
  • E Equinox✕ Cannot play itNeeds F4, C5, which it does not have

Row, Row, Row Your Boat: handpan tabs

The large line is the tone field, numbered from the lowest; 0 is the ding; the small line under it is its 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 — handpan tabs (D Celtic Minor) · 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.

  • 2C4×7
  • 3D4×3
  • 4E4×7
  • 5F4×2
  • 6G4×5
  • 8C5×3

What to expect on a handpan

  • It runs from C4 to C5, an octave, using 6 different notes. Its top note is the highest this instrument has.
  • 81% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to G4, at note 23.
  • It uses 6 tone fields of this scale’s 8: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.
  • 5 notes fall to the left hand and 22 to the right.

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 handpan

All 14 handpan songs · The online handpan on its own

Playing it on a real handpan?

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

🎙 Open the Handpan Tuner