Piper's SongbookHow to play Drunken Sailor on recorder
Drunken Sailor uses 9 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E and high C♯. The first line goes B B B B B B B E G B A A A A A A A D F♯ A. The same tune is used for What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor.
- Notes
- 9: B, A, G, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, high C♯
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 4/4, about 112 beats a minute
- Source
- Traditional sea shanty, described in print in 1839
Drunken Sailor recorder notes with letters
Each box is one note, with its fingering underneath: filled holes are covered, a half-filled hole is half covered or pinched. Wider boxes are longer notes. A ′ mark means the higher octave, so D′ is high D. Bar lines are drawn as thin rules.
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Letters only, for printing or copying
- B B B B B B | B E G B | A A A A A A | A D F♯ A
- B B B B B B | B C♯′ D′ E′ | D′ B A F♯ | E E
- B B B | B E G B | A A A | A D F♯ A
- B B B | B C♯′ D′ E′ | D′ B A F♯ | E E
Sheet music
Written pitch for soprano recorder, which sounds an octave higher. Press play to hear it on a recorder sound; the slow setting plays at 60% speed.
Fingerings for the notes in Drunken Sailor
Hole 0 is the thumb hole on the back. Holes 1 to 3 are for the left hand, 4 to 7 for the right. These are Baroque (English) fingerings.
How to practise it
The second line climbs B, high C♯, high D, high E, one note per beat. Go from B to high C♯ by lifting the thumb and putting down your left middle finger, then lift the index finger for high D, then pinch the thumb and cover holes 1 to 5 for high E.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
Sailors sang it while hauling on a rope as they marched along the deck. The first printed description comes from an account of an 1839 whaling voyage out of New London, Connecticut.
Questions
Is Drunken Sailor easy on recorder?
It suits a player who already knows the notes from low D to high D. It also needs the thumb pinch for the high notes.
What notes do you need for Drunken Sailor on recorder?
B, A, G, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E and high C♯. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯ is fingered differently on a German recorder; the diagrams above are Baroque, and the linked note pages show both. A recorder whose hole 4 is smaller than hole 5 is Baroque.
More recorder songs
Notes checked against The Session, Paul Hardy's tunebook, the Lester Bailey ABC and the score on the German Wikipedia page, in E Dorian. Last checked 6 October 2026.