Lightly Row — Kalimba Tabs

• Notes49, 5 pitches
• RangeC4–G4
• Key hereC major
• Tempo120 bpm · about 32 s
• LevelEasy

Can a kalimba play Lightly Row?

Yes — every size 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.

• 7-note✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
• 8-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
• 10-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
• 17-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · loaded above
• 21-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it

Lightly Row: kalimba tabs

The large line is the number stamped on the tine; the small line under it is its letter name. 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.

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.

• 1C4×5
• 2D4×12
• 3E4×15
• 4F4×6
• 5G4×11

What to expect on a kalimba

• It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 21 semitones of range are left above it.
• 75% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, G4 to C4, at note 24.
• The left thumb plays 18 notes and the right 26, with 5 on the centre tine. 8 times one thumb plays two different tines in a row — those are the spots to slow down for.
• The furthest it reaches from the centre is the 2nd tine out.

About the tune

Lightly Row is the English name for the German children’s song “Hänschen klein”, whose words were written by the Dresden teacher Franz Wiedemann around 1860 to a folk melody already in circulation. The tune travelled further than the words did: it is sung with different texts across Europe, Japan and the Americas.

German folk song “Hänschen klein”, 19th century; the English “Lightly Row” uses the same melody. Public domain. More about Lightly Row →

Lightly Row 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.

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

More songs for the kalimba

• Hot Cross BunsNursery rhymes · major third
• Twinkle Twinkle Little StarNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Mary Had a Little LambNursery rhymes · fifth
• Row, Row, Row Your BoatNursery rhymes · octave
• London BridgeNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Old MacDonaldNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Frère JacquesNursery rhymes · major sixth
• Going Home (New World Largo)Classical melodies · fifth

All 34 kalimba songs · Christmas songs for kalimba · The online kalimba on its own