About Beautiful Dreamer
Beautiful Dreamer is a folk song in D major — intermediate, running from C♯ to e and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Folk song
- Key
- D major · 9/8
- Range
- C♯ to e · first position
- Notes used
- C♯ D D♯ E F♯ G A B
- Level
- Intermediate
Beautiful Dreamer — sheet music
D major · 9/8
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
d C♯ d A F♯ | E D♯ E B | A C♯ B B A G G F♯ E | F♯ F♯ d C♯ d A F♯ | E D♯ E B | A C♯ B B A G G F♯ E | D D A G E C♯ B | B A F♯ D d | d C♯ d B e d | C♯ d B A d C♯ d A F♯ | E D♯ E B | A C♯ B B A G G F♯ E | F♯ F♯ B C♯ d d A F♯ G F♯ E | D
Beautiful Dreamer — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Beautiful Dreamer — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-4-4-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-0-0-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-----------|-----------|---------0---|---------| A|-0-------2-|-2-0-----5-|-5-4-5-2---5-|-4-5-2-0-| D|---5-2-----|-----4-0---|-------------|---------| G|-------6---|-----------|-------------|---------|
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-4-4-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-------------------|---| A|-2-4-5-5-0---------|---| D|-----------4-5-4-2-|-0-| G|-------------------|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Beautiful Dreamer — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-4-4-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-0-0-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-----------|-----------|---------0---|---------| A|-0-------2-|-2-0-----5-|-5-4-5-2---5-|-4-5-2-0-| D|---5-2-----|-----4-0---|-------------|---------| G|-------6---|-----------|-------------|---------|
E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|-----------5-5-4-2-|-4-4-| G|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
E|-------------------|---| A|-2-4-5-5-0---------|---| D|-----------4-5-4-2-|-0-| G|-------------------|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Beautiful Dreamer — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----| A|-3-2-3-0---|--------1-|-0-2-1-1-0---------|-----| D|---------2-|-1-L1-1---|-----------3-3-2-1-|-2-2-| G|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----|
E|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----| A|-3-2-3-0---|--------1-|-0-2-1-1-0---------|-----| D|---------2-|-1-L1-1---|-----------3-3-2-1-|-0-0-| G|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----|
E|------------|-----------|---------0---|---------| A|-0--------1-|-1-0-----3-|-3-2-3-1---3-|-2-3-1-0-| D|---3-1------|-----2-0---|-------------|---------| G|-------H3---|-----------|-------------|---------|
E|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----| A|-3-2-3-0---|--------1-|-0-2-1-1-0---------|-----| D|---------2-|-1-L1-1---|-----------3-3-2-1-|-2-2-| G|-----------|----------|-------------------|-----|
E|-------------------|---| A|-1-2-3-3-0---------|---| D|-----------2-3-2-1-|-0-| G|-------------------|---|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Beautiful Dreamer — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| B|-3-2-3-----|-------0-|---2-0-0-----------|-----| G|-------2---|---------|-2-------2-0-0-----|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|---------------4-2-|-4-4-| A|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
e|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| B|-3-2-3-----|-------0-|---2-0-0-----------|-----| G|-------2---|---------|-2-------2-0-0-----|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|---------------4-2-|-0-0-| A|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
e|-----------|-----------|---------0---|---------| B|---------0-|-0-------3-|-3-2-3-0---3-|-2-3-0---| G|-2-0-------|---2-------|-------------|-------2-| D|-----2-----|-----4-0---|-------------|---------| A|-------4---|-----------|-------------|---------| E|-----------|-----------|-------------|---------|
e|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| B|-3-2-3-----|-------0-|---2-0-0-----------|-----| G|-------2---|---------|-2-------2-0-0-----|-----| D|---------4-|-2-1-2---|---------------4-2-|-4-4-| A|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----| E|-----------|---------|-------------------|-----|
e|-------------------|---| B|-0-2-3-3-----------|---| G|---------2---0-----|---| D|-----------4---4-2-|-0-| A|-------------------|---| E|-------------------|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Beautiful Dreamer — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| E|---------2-|-0---0---|---------------2-0-|-2-2-| C|-----------|---3-----|-------------------|-----| G|-----------|---------|-----------0-0-----|-----|
A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| E|---------2-|-0---0---|---------------2-0-|-----| C|-----------|---3-----|-------------------|-2-2-| G|-----------|---------|-----------0-0-----|-----|
A|-0-------2-|-2-0-----5-|-5-4-5-2-7-5-|-4-5-2-0-| E|-----0-----|-----2-----|-------------|---------| C|-------1---|-------2---|-------------|---------| G|---0-------|-----------|-------------|---------|
A|-5-4-5-0---|-------2-|-0-4-2-2-0---------|-----| E|---------2-|-0---0---|---------------2-0-|-2-2-| C|-----------|---3-----|-------------------|-----| G|-----------|---------|-----------0-0-----|-----|
A|-2-4-5-5-0---------|---| E|-----------2---2-0-|---| C|-------------------|-2-| G|-------------0-----|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Beautiful Dreamer chords
D major · 9 chords: D, B7, Em, E7, A7, G, Bm, A, D/A
One box per bar, in the same order as the sheet music. A faded chord carries on from the bar before. A slash chord like D/A means play D with A as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Beautiful Dreamer
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Beautiful Dreamer
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Beautiful Dreamer
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More folk songs and tunes like it
This melody comes from The Public Domain Song Anthology (David Berger & Chuck Israels), released CC0. The song is in the public domain. Tabs and letter names worked out by The Music Arcade.