About Were You There?
Were You There? is a spiritual in E♭ major — beginner-friendly, running from B♭, to e♭ and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Spiritual
- Key
- E♭ major · 4/4
- Range
- B♭, to e♭ · first position
- Notes used
- C E♭ F G A♭ B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Were You There? — 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
B♭, E♭ | G G G | F E♭ G F | E♭ E♭ E♭ G | B♭ B♭ B♭ | C B♭ B♭ G | F F | B♭ e♭ C | B♭ | C B♭ G G F E♭ E♭ | F E♭ | E♭ E♭ | C B♭, B♭, E♭ A♭ | G G G | F E♭ G F | E♭ E♭
Were You There? — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Were You There? — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|-----|-------|---------|---| A|-----|-------|---------|---| D|---1-|-5-5-5-|-3-1-5-3-|-1-| G|-3---|-------|---------|---|
E|-------|-------|---------|---| A|-------|-1-1-1-|-3-1-1---|---| D|-1-1-5-|-------|-------5-|-3-| G|-------|-------|---------|---|
E|---|-------|---|-------| A|---|-1-6-3-|-1-|-3-1---| D|-3-|-------|---|-----5-| G|---|-------|---|-------|
E|---------|-----|-----|-----| A|---------|-----|-----|-----| D|-5-3-1-1-|-3-1-|-1-1-|-----| G|---------|-----|-----|-5-3-|
E|-------|-------|---------|---| A|-------|-------|---------|---| D|---1-6-|-5-5-5-|-3-1-5-3-|-1-| G|-3-----|-------|---------|---|
E|---| A|---| D|-1-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Were You There? — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|-----|-------|---------|---| A|-----|-------|---------|---| D|---1-|-5-5-5-|-3-1-5-3-|-1-| G|-3---|-------|---------|---|
E|-------|-------|---------|---| A|-------|-1-1-1-|-3-1-1---|---| D|-1-1-5-|-------|-------5-|-3-| G|-------|-------|---------|---|
E|---|-------|---|-------| A|---|-1-6-3-|-1-|-3-1---| D|-3-|-------|---|-----5-| G|---|-------|---|-------|
E|---------|-----|-----|-----| A|---------|-----|-----|-----| D|-5-3-1-1-|-3-1-|-1-1-|-----| G|---------|-----|-----|-5-3-|
E|-------|-------|---------|---| A|-------|-------|---------|---| D|---1-6-|-5-5-5-|-3-1-5-3-|-1-| G|-3-----|-------|---------|---|
E|---| A|---| D|-1-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Were You There? — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-------|-------|------------|----| A|-------|-------|------------|----| D|----L1-|-3-3-3-|-L2-L1-3-L2-|-L1-| G|-L2----|-------|------------|----|
E|---------|----------|------------|----| A|---------|-L1-L1-L1-|-L2-L1-L1---|----| D|-L1-L1-3-|----------|----------3-|-L2-| G|---------|----------|------------|----|
E|----|----------|----|---------| A|----|-L1-H3-L2-|-L1-|-L2-L1---| D|-L2-|----------|----|-------3-| G|----|----------|----|---------|
E|------------|-------|-------|------| A|------------|-------|-------|------| D|-3-L2-L1-L1-|-L2-L1-|-L1-L1-|------| G|------------|-------|-------|-3-L2-|
E|----------|-------|------------|----| A|----------|-------|------------|----| D|----L1-H3-|-3-3-3-|-L2-L1-3-L2-|-L1-| G|-L2-------|-------|------------|----|
E|----| A|----| D|-L1-| G|----|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Were You There? — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|-----|-------|---------|---| B|-----|-------|---------|---| G|-----|-0-0-0-|-----0---|---| D|---1-|-------|-3-1---3-|-1-| A|-1---|-------|---------|---| E|-----|-------|---------|---|
e|-------|-------|---------|---| B|-------|-------|-1-------|---| G|-----0-|-3-3-3-|---3-3-0-|---| D|-1-1---|-------|---------|-3-| A|-------|-------|---------|---| E|-------|-------|---------|---|
e|---|-------|---|-------| B|---|---4-1-|---|-1-----| G|---|-3-----|-3-|---3-0-| D|-3-|-------|---|-------| A|---|-------|---|-------| E|---|-------|---|-------|
e|---------|-----|-----|-----| B|---------|-----|-----|-----| G|-0-------|-----|-----|-----| D|---3-1-1-|-3-1-|-1-1-|-----| A|---------|-----|-----|-3-1-| E|---------|-----|-----|-----|
e|-------|-------|---------|---| B|-------|-------|---------|---| G|-----1-|-0-0-0-|-----0---|---| D|---1---|-------|-3-1---3-|-1-| A|-1-----|-------|---------|---| E|-------|-------|---------|---|
e|---| B|---| G|---| D|-1-| A|---| E|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Were You There? — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position · played an octave up, as the tune dips below the lowest string
A|-1-6-|-10-10-10-|-8-6-10-8-|-6-| E|-----|----------|----------|---| C|-----|----------|----------|---| G|-----|----------|----------|---|
A|-6-6-10-|-13-13-13-|-15-13-13-10-|-8-| E|--------|----------|-------------|---| C|--------|----------|-------------|---| G|--------|----------|-------------|---|
A|-8-|-13-18-15-|-13-|-15-13-10-| E|---|----------|----|----------| C|---|----------|----|----------| G|---|----------|----|----------|
A|-10-8-6-6-|-8-6-|-6-6-|-3-1-| E|----------|-----|-----|-----| C|----------|-----|-----|-----| G|----------|-----|-----|-----|
A|-1-6-11-|-10-10-10-|-8-6-10-8-|-6-| E|--------|----------|----------|---| C|--------|----------|----------|---| G|--------|----------|----------|---|
A|-6-| E|---| C|---| G|---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Were You There? chords
E♭ major · 10 chords: E♭, Fm, B♭7, A♭, B♭, G7, Cm, E♭7, E♭/B♭, Bdim
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 E♭/B♭ means play E♭ with B♭ as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Were You There?
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Were You There?
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Were You There?
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.