La Cucaracha Kalimba Tabs (17-Key)

La Cucaracha kalimba tabs

For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. This tab is the chorus: 34 notes on 9 tines, from G4 up to A5.

newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/cucaracha/

Number tab

The number tab read aloud, one sentence per group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two. 5, 5, 5. high 1, high 3, 5, 5, 5. high 1, high 3. high 1, high 1, 7, 7, 6, 6. 5, 5, 5, 5. 7, high 2, 5, 5, 5. 7, high 2. high 5, high 6, high 5, high 4, high 3, high 2. high 1.

Letter notes

G₄G₄G₄C₅E₅G₄G₄G₄C₅E₅C₅C₅B₄B₄A₄A₄G₄G₄G₄G₄B₄D₅G₄G₄G₄B₄D₅G₅A₅G₅F₅E₅D₅C₅

Tines you need

The long tine in the middle is 1 (C4). Notes climb outward, alternating left and right, so neighbours on the same side are two steps apart.

How to read this tab

Numbers are steps of the scale. 1 is C, 2 is D, up to 7 for B. A dot above a number means one octave higher; two dots, two octaves higher. The song starts 5 5 5 1̇ 3̇ 5 5 5 (G4 G4 G4 C5 E5 G4 G4 G4).
Gaps mark bars. Each group is one bar of music. The tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it; press Listen on the play-along page to hear the rhythm.
Other kalimbas. On an 8-, 10- or 21-key kalimba in C the numbers mean the same notes, as long as the tines you need are there.

About the song

A folk song of Spanish origin that became popular in Mexico in the 1910s, during the Mexican Revolution. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

What it covers. The famous chorus (“La cucaracha, la cucaracha...”).
Key. C major (engraved in F major).
Source. Transcribed from Wikipedia score of the traditional tune (melody line). The song is in Carl Sandburg, The American Songbag (Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1927), p. 290; the third line of the chorus (bars 3 and 4 of this tab) goes differently there.