About Bugle Call Rag
Bugle Call Rag is a rag in B♭ major — intermediate, running from F to b♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Rag, each usually played twice
- Key
- B♭ major · 4/4
- Range
- F to b♭ · first position
- Notes used
- C D♭ D F G A♭ A B♭
- Level
- Intermediate
Bugle Call Rag — sheet music
B♭ major · 4/4
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
F F | B♭ F B♭ d B♭ B♭ B♭ | d B♭ d f d B♭ d | f d B♭ A A♭ b♭ | b♭ | b♭ | b♭ b♭ | b♭ | b♭ | b♭ g b♭ g b♭ B♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ d♭ | d♭ C C C | B♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ C | C B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ d♭ | d♭ C C C | B♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ C | C B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭ d♭ B♭ d♭
Bugle Call Rag — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Bugle Call Rag — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----|---------------|-------1-------|-1---------| A|-----|-1---1-5-1-1-1-|-5-1-5---5-1-5-|---5-1-0---| D|-3-3-|---3-----------|---------------|---------6-| G|-----|---------------|---------------|-----------|
E|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-| A|---|---|---|---| D|---|---|---|---| G|---|---|---|---|
E|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-3-6-3-6-| A|---|---|---|-----------| D|---|---|---|-----------| G|---|---|---|-----------|
E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
E|-----------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-| D|-----------| G|-----------|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Bugle Call Rag — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----|---------------|-------1-------|-1---------| A|-----|-1---1-5-1-1-1-|-5-1-5---5-1-5-|---5-1-0---| D|-3-3-|---3-----------|---------------|---------6-| G|-----|---------------|---------------|-----------|
E|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-| A|---|---|---|---| D|---|---|---|---| G|---|---|---|---|
E|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-3-6-3-6-| A|---|---|---|-----------| D|---|---|---|-----------| G|---|---|---|-----------|
E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
E|-----------| A|-1-1-4-1-4-| D|-----------| G|-----------|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Bugle Call Rag — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-------|---------------------|--------L1--------|-L1-----------| A|-------|-L1----L1-3-L1-L1-L1-|-3-L1-3----3-L1-3-|----3-L1-0----| D|-L2-L2-|----L2---------------|------------------|-----------H3-| G|-------|---------------------|------------------|--------------|
E|-H3-|-H3-|-H3-|-H3-| A|----|----|----|----| D|----|----|----|----| G|----|----|----|----|
E|-H3-|-H3-|-H3-|-H3-L2-H3-L2-H3-| A|----|----|----|----------------| D|----|----|----|----------------| G|----|----|----|----------------|
E|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------| A|-L1-L1-2-L1-2-|-2-L2-L2-L2-|-L1-L1-2-L1-L2-|-L2-L1-L1-L1-| D|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------| G|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------|
E|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------| A|-L1-L1-2-L1-2-|-2-L2-L2-L2-|-L1-L1-2-L1-L2-|-L2-L1-L1-L1-| D|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------| G|--------------|------------|---------------|-------------|
E|--------------| A|-L1-L1-2-L1-2-| D|--------------| G|--------------|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Bugle Call Rag — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----|---------------|-------1-------|-1---------| B|-----|-------3-------|-3---3---3---3-|---3-------| G|-----|-3---3---3-3-3-|---3-------3---|-----3-2-1-| D|-3-3-|---3-----------|---------------|-----------| A|-----|---------------|---------------|-----------| E|-----|---------------|---------------|-----------|
e|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-| B|---|---|---|---| G|---|---|---|---| D|---|---|---|---| A|---|---|---|---| E|---|---|---|---|
e|-6-|-6-|-6-|-6-3-6-3-6-| B|---|---|---|-----------| G|---|---|---|-----------| D|---|---|---|-----------| A|---|---|---|-----------| E|---|---|---|-----------|
e|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| B|-----2---2-|-2-1-1-1-|-----2---1-|-1-------| G|-3-3---3---|---------|-3-3---3---|---3-3-3-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
e|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| B|-----2---2-|-2-1-1-1-|-----2---1-|-1-------| G|-3-3---3---|---------|-3-3---3---|---3-3-3-| D|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| A|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
e|-----------| B|-----2---2-| G|-3-3---3---| D|-----------| A|-----------| E|-----------|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Bugle Call Rag — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-----|-1---1-5-1-1-1-|-5-1-5-8-5-1-5-|-8-5-1-0---| E|-1-1-|---1-----------|---------------|-----------| C|-----|---------------|---------------|-----------| G|-----|---------------|---------------|---------1-|
A|-13-|-13-|-13-|-13-| E|----|----|----|----| C|----|----|----|----| G|----|----|----|----|
A|-13-|-13-|-13-|-13-10-13-10-13-| E|----|----|----|----------------| C|----|----|----|----------------| G|----|----|----|----------------|
A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| C|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
A|-1-1-4-1-4-|-4-3-3-3-|-1-1-4-1-3-|-3-1-1-1-| E|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| C|-----------|---------|-----------|---------| G|-----------|---------|-----------|---------|
A|-1-1-4-1-4-| E|-----------| C|-----------| G|-----------|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Bugle Call Rag chords
B♭ major · 7 chords: B♭, B♭7, E♭7, D♭dim, Cm7, Cm7/F, F7
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 Cm7/F means play Cm7 with F as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Bugle Call Rag
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Bugle Call Rag
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Bugle Call Rag
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More rags 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.