About Rock-a-bye Baby
Rock-a-bye Baby is a nursery rhyme in B♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from D to e♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Nursery rhyme
- Key
- B♭ major · 3/4
- Range
- D to e♭ · first position
- Notes used
- C D E♭ F G A B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Rock-a-bye Baby — sheet music
B♭ major · 3/4
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
D F d | C B♭ | D F d | C F A e♭ | d C | C B♭ G | F D F d | C B♭ | D F B♭ | A G F B♭ e♭ | d B♭ | C G A | B♭
Rock-a-bye Baby — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Rock-a-bye Baby — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----5-|-3-| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|---| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|---0-6-|-5-3-|-3-1---|---| D|-3-----|-----|-----5-|-3-| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
E|-------|-----|-------|-----| A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----1-|-0---| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|---5-| G|-------|-----|-------|-----|
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|---1-6-|-5-1-|-3---0-|-1-| D|-3-----|-----|---5---|---| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Rock-a-bye Baby — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----5-|-3-| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|---| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|---0-6-|-5-3-|-3-1---|---| D|-3-----|-----|-----5-|-3-| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
E|-------|-----|-------|-----| A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----1-|-0---| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|---5-| G|-------|-----|-------|-----|
E|-------|-----|-------|---| A|---1-6-|-5-1-|-3---0-|-1-| D|-3-----|-----|---5---|---| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Rock-a-bye Baby — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|--------|-------|--------|----| A|------3-|-L2-L1-|------3-|-L2-| D|-0-L2---|-------|-0-L2---|----| G|--------|-------|--------|----|
E|---------|------|---------|----| A|----0-H3-|-3-L2-|-L2-L1---|----| D|-L2------|------|-------3-|-L2-| G|---------|------|---------|----|
E|--------|-------|---------|-----| A|------3-|-L2-L1-|------L1-|-0---| D|-0-L2---|-------|-0-L2----|---3-| G|--------|-------|---------|-----|
E|----------|------|--------|----| A|----L1-H3-|-3-L1-|-L2---0-|-L1-| D|-L2-------|------|----3---|----| G|----------|------|--------|----|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Rock-a-bye Baby — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-------|-----|-------|---| B|-----3-|-1---|-----3-|-1-| G|-------|---3-|-------|---| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|---| A|-------|-----|-------|---| E|-------|-----|-------|---|
e|-------|-----|-------|---| B|-----4-|-3-1-|-1-----|---| G|---2---|-----|---3-0-|---| D|-3-----|-----|-------|-3-| A|-------|-----|-------|---| E|-------|-----|-------|---|
e|-------|-----|-------|-----| B|-----3-|-1---|-------|-----| G|-------|---3-|-----3-|-2-0-| D|-0-3---|-----|-0-3---|-----| A|-------|-----|-------|-----| E|-------|-----|-------|-----|
e|-------|-----|-------|---| B|-----4-|-3---|-1-----|---| G|---3---|---3-|---0-2-|-3-| D|-3-----|-----|-------|---| A|-------|-----|-------|---| E|-------|-----|-------|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Rock-a-bye Baby — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----5-|-3-| E|---1---|-----|---1---|---| C|-2-----|-----|-2-----|---| G|-------|-----|-------|---|
A|---0-6-|-5-3-|-3-1---|---| E|-1-----|-----|-------|-1-| C|-------|-----|-------|---| G|-------|-----|-----0-|---|
A|-----5-|-3-1-|-----1-|-0---| E|---1---|-----|---1---|-----| C|-2-----|-----|-2-----|-----| G|-------|-----|-------|---0-|
A|---1-6-|-5-1-|-3---0-|-1-| E|-1-----|-----|-------|---| C|-------|-----|-------|---| G|-------|-----|---0---|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Rock-a-bye Baby chords
B♭ major · 6 chords: B♭, F7, E♭, Am7♭5, Edim, B♭/F
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 B♭/F means play B♭ with F as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Rock-a-bye Baby
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Rock-a-bye Baby
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Rock-a-bye Baby
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More nursery rhymes 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.