Yankee Doodle

• Rangeminor seventh
• Notes28, 7 different
• ScaleMajor, no accidentals
• Length hereabout 16 s

About Yankee Doodle

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.

It is a quick march tune that runs almost entirely by step, and it is written here an octave up so that the notes under its tonic fall on an instrument that starts at middle C.

Play Yankee Doodle on your instrument

25 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 25 play it where the library writes it; the rest move it to another key or octave, and each page says which. Every page has the instrument itself, with the song loaded, above the notes.

• Kalimba tabsas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Piano letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Mbira tabsas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Oud notesas written · G3–F4 · minor seventh
• Violin notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Cello notesas written · G3–F4 · minor seventh
• Erhu notesas written · A4–G5 · minor seventh
• Dulcimer tabas written · A4–G5 · minor seventh
• Xylophone letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Marimba letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · C5–B♭5 · minor seventh
• Ocarina notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Harmonica tabsas written · G5–F6 · minor seventh
• Trumpet notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Clarinet notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Saxophone notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Flute notesas written · D5–C6 · minor seventh
• Recorder notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Tuba notesas written · F2–E♭3 · minor seventh
• Euphonium notesas written · F3–E♭4 · minor seventh
• Trombone notesas written · F3–E♭4 · minor seventh
• Accordion letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Harp letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Lyre tabsas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh

Instruments that cannot play it

• Guzheng — it would need C♯5, G5, which it does not have in any size or key here.
• Handpan — it would need G3, B3, which it does not have in any size or key here.

Yankee Doodle letter notes

Written in C major, from G4 to F5, with each note’s number in the scale under it — the form that transfers to any instrument. A dash holds a note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and each line is one phrase.

Where these notes come from

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.

No lyrics are printed on this page or any other here: these pages are about a melody and how to play it.

More folk & traditional songs

• Happy BirthdayPatty and Mildred Hill, 1893
• When the Saints Go Marching In1896 (in print)
• Amazing Grace1835
• Sakura SakuraEdo period
• Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower)18th century
• Linstead Market1907 (in print)
• Auld Lang Syne18th century