About Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore is a spiritual in E♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from E♭ to C and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Spiritual
- Key
- E♭ major · 4/4
- Range
- E♭ to C · first position
- Notes used
- C E♭ F G A♭ B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — sheet music
E♭ 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
E♭ G | B♭ G B♭ C | B♭ G B♭ | C B♭ G B♭ | B♭ G A♭ G | F E♭ F | G F E♭
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----|---------|-------|---| A|-----|-1---1-3-|-1---1-|-3-| D|-1-5-|---5-----|---5---|---| G|-----|---------|-------|---|
E|-------|---------|-------|-----| A|-1---1-|-1-------|-------|-----| D|---5---|---5-6-5-|-3-1-3-|-5-3-| G|-------|---------|-------|-----|
E|---| A|---| D|-1-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----|---------|-------|---| A|-----|-1---1-3-|-1---1-|-3-| D|-1-5-|---5-----|---5---|---| G|-----|---------|-------|---|
E|-------|---------|-------|-----| A|-1---1-|-1-------|-------|-----| D|---5---|---5-6-5-|-3-1-3-|-5-3-| G|-------|---------|-------|-----|
E|---| A|---| D|-1-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|------|------------|---------|----| A|------|-L1---L1-L2-|-L1---L1-|-L2-| D|-L1-3-|----3-------|----3----|----| G|------|------------|---------|----|
E|---------|-----------|----------|------| A|-L1---L1-|-L1--------|----------|------| D|----3----|----3-H3-3-|-L2-L1-L2-|-3-L2-| G|---------|-----------|----------|------|
E|----| A|----| D|-L1-| G|----|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----|---------|-------|---| B|-----|-------1-|-------|-1-| G|---0-|-3-0-3---|-3-0-3-|---| D|-1---|---------|-------|---| A|-----|---------|-------|---| E|-----|---------|-------|---|
e|-------|---------|-------|-----| B|-------|---------|-------|-----| G|-3-0-3-|-3-0-1-0-|-------|-0---| D|-------|---------|-3-1-3-|---3-| A|-------|---------|-------|-----| E|-------|---------|-------|-----|
e|---| B|---| G|---| D|-1-| A|---| E|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-----|-1---1-3-|-1---1-|-3-| E|-----|---------|-------|---| C|-3---|---------|-------|---| G|---0-|---0-----|---0---|---|
A|-1---1-|-1-------|-------|-----| E|-------|---------|-1---1-|---1-| C|-------|---------|---3---|-----| G|---0---|---0-1-0-|-------|-0---|
A|---| E|---| C|-3-| G|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore chords
E♭ major · 9 chords: E♭, A♭, Fm/A♭, Am7♭5, B♭, Bdim, Cm, E♭/B♭, B♭7
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 Fm/A♭ means play Fm with A♭ as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More spirituals 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.