Frère Jacques kalimba tabs
For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. 32 notes on 7 tines, from G4 up to A5.
Play along on the online kalimba Play it on a kalimba in G
newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/jacques/
Number tab
The number tab read aloud, group by group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two.
- high 1, high 2, high 3, high 1.
- high 1, high 2, high 3, high 1.
- high 3, high 4, high 5.
- high 3, high 4, high 5.
- high 5, high 6, high 5, high 4, high 3, high 1.
- high 5, high 6, high 5, high 4, high 3, high 1.
- high 1, 5, high 1.
- high 1, 5, high 1.
Letter notes
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 C scale, 1 (C) to 7 (B), and each dot above a number means one octave higher; the tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it. Each numbered group is one bar of music, or more than one where a note lasts across a bar line.
About the song
An 18th-century French round, known in English as “Are You Sleeping?”. It works as a round: each new player starts two bars later. The melody is in the public domain.
Also in The Complete Kalimba Songbook, our book with every note’s length marked.