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SongsFrère Jacques
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Traditional French round, published 1780. Public domain. The low G of “ding, dang, dong” is taken an octave up, where a 17-key has it.

4 strings · G3–E5 open · E6 at the octave · Perfect fifths all the way up. What every violin in the world is tuned to unless somebody has decided otherwise.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never stops. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they run down the strings, 1 at the top — hold a key and the note holds.

ViolinFree · printable · plays in your browser

Frère Jacques — Violin Notes

Frère Jacques, written out for the violin as every note with its string and how far up it and set up above on the Standard. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the violin waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes32, 6 pitches
  • RangeC4–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo108 bpm · about 18 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a violin play Frère Jacques?

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.

  • Standard✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · loaded above
  • AEAE✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • ADAE✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it
  • GDGD✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–A4 · load it

Frère Jacques: violin notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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

Frère Jacques — violin notes (Standard) · 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.

  • CG·5×10
  • DD·0×2
  • ED·2×6
  • FD·3×4
  • GD·5×8
  • AA·0×2

What to expect on a violin

  • It runs from C4 to A4, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 19 above.
  • 65% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, C4 to G4, at note 21.
  • It is played on 3 strings (G, D and A), crossing between strings 16 times.
  • 4 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 5 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

About the tune

A French round first written down around 1780. It is sung in most European languages, and Gustav Mahler used a minor-key version of it as the funeral march in his First Symphony.

Traditional French round, published 1780. Public domain. The low G of “ding, dang, dong” is taken an octave up, where a 17-key has it. More about Frère Jacques →

Frère Jacques 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 violin

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

Playing it on a real violin?

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

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