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SongsYankee Doodle
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Traditional, sung in the American colonies before the Revolution (18th century). Public domain. Written an octave up, so its low notes fit a 17-key.

38 notes · E2–F5 · the pedal B♭1 on the ladder · 38 notes · The B♭ tenor trombone: nine feet of tube and seven positions — the one in every band.

Tap a note, or slide along them to play legato, from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the low F in 6th position, and they climb a semitone at a time.

TromboneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Yankee Doodle — Trombone Notes

Yankee Doodle, written out for the trombone as every note with its slide position and set up above on the Tenor. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the trombone waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes28, 7 pitches
  • RangeF3–E♭4
  • Key hereB♭ major
  • Tempo120 bpm · about 16 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a trombone play Yankee Doodle?

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.

  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–E♭4 · loaded above
  • Tenor + F trigger✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–E♭4 · load it
  • Alto in E♭✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–E♭4 · load it

Yankee Doodle: trombone notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the slide position — T means with the F trigger held. 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

Yankee Doodle — trombone notes (Tenor) · tonalics.com

The 7 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 7 and you can play the whole tune.

  • F1st×2
  • G4th×1
  • A2nd×3
  • B♭1st×11
  • C3rd×5
  • D1st×5
  • E♭3rd×1

What to expect on a trombone

  • It runs from F3 to E♭4, a minor seventh, using 7 different notes. That leaves 13 semitones unused below and 14 above.
  • 78% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to F3, at note 8.
  • It uses 4 slide positions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
  • The longest move between two neighbouring notes is 3 positions.

About the tune

The tune was already old when British troops sang it to mock colonial militia before the American Revolution; the colonists took it up as their own, and it has been a patriotic song ever since. It is the state song of Connecticut.

Traditional, sung in the American colonies before the Revolution (18th century). Public domain. Written an octave up, so its low notes fit a 17-key. More about Yankee Doodle →

Yankee Doodle on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the trombone

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

Playing it on a real trombone?

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

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