Frère Jacques on the jaw harp: tabs
Frère Jacques is a easy song on the jaw harp: 32 notes over 8 bars in 4/4 at 112 BPM, about 17 seconds. It uses 7 different keys. It is moved 7 semitones up to fit the keys.
Frère Jacques jaw harp tab in numbers
| 8 9 10 8 | 8 9 10 8 | | 10 11 12 - | 10 11 12 - | | 1213 1211 10 8 | 1213 1211 10 8 | | 8 6 8 - | 8 6 8 - |
What to watch for
- The most played key is 8, used for 10 of the 32 notes. The tune goes from 6 up to 13.
- The widest jump is from 8 to 12 (7 semitones): slow down there the first times.
- A note is played again straight after itself 4 times: keep the beat steady rather than rushing the repeats.
How to read this tab
A vertical bar is a bar line. A dash keeps the last note ringing, an r is a silent beat, and notes in brackets are played together. It shows the melody part. The jaw harp page explains the notes in more detail.