About Shim-me-sha-wabble
Shim-me-sha-wabble is a trad jazz tune in E♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from E♭ to d and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Jazz tune
- Key
- E♭ major · 4/4
- Range
- E♭ to d · first position
- Notes used
- C D E♭ F G A♭ A B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Shim-me-sha-wabble — 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
G B♭ B♭ | F C F B♭ | G B♭ B♭ | F C F B♭ G B♭ B♭ A B♭ C | d d d d | d d d d | d d d d G B♭ B♭ | F C F B♭ | G B♭ B♭ | F C F B♭ G B♭ B♭ B♭ A♭ G | B♭ A♭ G B♭ B♭ A♭ A♭ | G F E♭ G G E♭ F | E♭
Shim-me-sha-wabble — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Shim-me-sha-wabble — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-------|---------|-------|---------| A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| D|-5-----|-3---3---|-5-----|-3---3---| G|-------|---------|-------|---------|
E|-------------|---------|---------|---------| A|---1-1-0-1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-| D|-5-----------|---------|---------|---------| G|-------------|---------|---------|---------|
E|-------|---------|-------|---------| A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| D|-5-----|-3---3---|-5-----|-3---3---| G|-------|---------|-------|---------|
E|-------------|---------------|---------------|---| A|---1-1-1-----|-1-----1-1-----|---------------|---| D|-5-------6-5-|---6-5-----6-6-|-5-3-1-5-5-1-3-|-1-| G|-------------|---------------|---------------|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Shim-me-sha-wabble — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-------|---------|-------|---------| A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| D|-5-----|-3---3---|-5-----|-3---3---| G|-------|---------|-------|---------|
E|-------------|---------|---------|---------| A|---1-1-0-1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-| D|-5-----------|---------|---------|---------| G|-------------|---------|---------|---------|
E|-------|---------|-------|---------| A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| D|-5-----|-3---3---|-5-----|-3---3---| G|-------|---------|-------|---------|
E|-------------|---------------|---------------|---| A|---1-1-1-----|-1-----1-1-----|---------------|---| D|-5-------6-5-|---6-5-----6-6-|-5-3-1-5-5-1-3-|-1-| G|-------------|---------------|---------------|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Shim-me-sha-wabble — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|---------|-------------|---------|-------------| A|---L1-L1-|----L2----L1-|---L1-L1-|----L2----L1-| D|-3-------|-L2----L2----|-3-------|-L2----L2----| G|---------|-------------|---------|-------------|
E|-----------------|---------|---------|---------| A|---L1-L1-0-L1-L2-|-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-| D|-3---------------|---------|---------|---------| G|-----------------|---------|---------|---------|
E|---------|-------------|---------|-------------| A|---L1-L1-|----L2----L1-|---L1-L1-|----L2----L1-| D|-3-------|-L2----L2----|-3-------|-L2----L2----| G|---------|-------------|---------|-------------|
E|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------|----| A|---L1-L1-L1------|-L1------L1-L1-------|-------------------|----| D|-3----------H3-3-|----H3-3-------H3-H3-|-3-L2-L1-3-3-L1-L2-|-L1-| G|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------|----|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Shim-me-sha-wabble — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-------|---------|-------|---------| B|-------|---1-----|-------|---1-----| G|-0-3-3-|-------3-|-0-3-3-|-------3-| D|-------|-3---3---|-------|-3---3---| A|-------|---------|-------|---------| E|-------|---------|-------|---------|
e|-------------|---------|---------|---------| B|-----------1-|-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-| G|-0-3-3-2-3---|---------|---------|---------| D|-------------|---------|---------|---------| A|-------------|---------|---------|---------| E|-------------|---------|---------|---------|
e|-------|---------|-------|---------| B|-------|---1-----|-------|---1-----| G|-0-3-3-|-------3-|-0-3-3-|-------3-| D|-------|-3---3---|-------|-3---3---| A|-------|---------|-------|---------| E|-------|---------|-------|---------|
e|-------------|---------------|---------------|---| B|-------------|---------------|---------------|---| G|-0-3-3-3-1-0-|-3-1-0-3-3-1-1-|-0-----0-0-----|---| D|-------------|---------------|---3-1-----1-3-|-1-| A|-------------|---------------|---------------|---| E|-------------|---------------|---------------|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Shim-me-sha-wabble — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| E|-------|-1---1---|-------|-1---1---| C|-------|---------|-------|---------| G|-0-----|---------|-0-----|---------|
A|---1-1-0-1-3-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-| E|-------------|---------|---------|---------| C|-------------|---------|---------|---------| G|-0-----------|---------|---------|---------|
A|---1-1-|---3---1-|---1-1-|---3---1-| E|-------|-1---1---|-------|-1---1---| C|-------|---------|-------|---------| G|-0-----|---------|-0-----|---------|
A|---1-1-1-----|-1-----1-1-----|---------------|---| E|-------------|---------------|---1---------1-|---| C|-------------|---------------|-----3-----3---|-3-| G|-0-------1-0-|---1-0-----1-1-|-0-----0-0-----|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Shim-me-sha-wabble chords
E♭ major · 11 chords: E♭, Cm7, F7, B♭7, Gm, D7, D7/F♯, E♭/D♭, C7, A♭m6/C♭, E♭/B♭
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 D7/F♯ means play D7 with F♯ as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Shim-me-sha-wabble
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Shim-me-sha-wabble
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Shim-me-sha-wabble
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More jazz tunes 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.