About Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Row, Row, Row Your Boat is a nursery rhyme in B♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from B♭, to B♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Nursery rhyme
- Key
- B♭ major · 6/8
- Range
- B♭, to B♭ · first position
- Notes used
- C D E♭ F B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — sheet music
B♭ major · 6/8
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
B♭, B♭, | B♭, C D | D C D E♭ | F B♭ B♭ B♭ F F F | D D D B♭, B♭, B♭, | F E♭ D C | B♭,
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----|-------|---------|---| A|-----|-------|---------|---| D|-----|-----0-|-0---0-1-|-3-| G|-3-3-|-3-5---|---5-----|---|
E|-------------|-------------|---------|---| A|-1-1-1-------|-------------|---------|---| D|-------3-3-3-|-0-0-0-------|-3-1-0---|---| G|-------------|-------3-3-3-|-------5-|-3-|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----|-------|---------|---| A|-----|-------|---------|---| D|-----|-----0-|-0---0-1-|-3-| G|-3-3-|-3-5---|---5-----|---|
E|-------------|-------------|---------|---| A|-1-1-1-------|-------------|---------|---| D|-------3-3-3-|-0-0-0-------|-3-1-0---|---| G|-------------|-------3-3-3-|-------5-|-3-|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-------|--------|----------|----| A|-------|--------|----------|----| D|-------|------0-|-0---0-L1-|-L2-| G|-L2-L2-|-L2-3---|---3------|----|
E|-------------------|----------------|-----------|----| A|-L1-L1-L1----------|----------------|-----------|----| D|----------L2-L2-L2-|-0-0-0----------|-L2-L1-0---|----| G|-------------------|-------L2-L2-L2-|---------3-|-L2-|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----|-------|---------|---| B|-----|-------|---------|---| G|-----|-------|---------|---| D|-----|-----0-|-0---0-1-|-3-| A|-1-1-|-1-3---|---3-----|---| E|-----|-------|---------|---|
e|-------------|-------------|---------|---| B|-------------|-------------|---------|---| G|-3-3-3-------|-------------|---------|---| D|-------3-3-3-|-0-0-0-------|-3-1-0---|---| A|-------------|-------1-1-1-|-------3-|-1-| E|-------------|-------------|---------|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position · played an octave up, as the tune dips below the lowest string
A|-1-1-|-1-3-5-|-5-3-5-6-|-8-| E|-----|-------|---------|---| C|-----|-------|---------|---| G|-----|-------|---------|---|
A|-13-13-13-8-8-8-|-5-5-5-1-1-1-|-8-6-5-3-|-1-| E|----------------|-------------|---------|---| C|----------------|-------------|---------|---| G|----------------|-------------|---------|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat chords
B♭ major · 4 chords: B♭, Gm, Cm7, F7
One box per bar, in the same order as the sheet music. A faded chord carries on from the bar before.
Guitar chords for Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Row, Row, Row Your Boat
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.