Piper's SongbookHow to play La Marseillaise on recorder
La Marseillaise uses 11 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, F and B♭. The first line goes D D D G G A A D′ B G G B G E C′ A F♯ G G G A.
- Notes
- 11: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, F, B♭
- Level
- Cross fingerings
- Time
- 4/4, about 100 beats a minute
- Source
- Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, Strasbourg, 1792
La Marseillaise 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
Line 5
Line 6
Line 7
Line 8
Letters only, for printing or copying
- D D D | G G A A | D′ B G G B G | E C′ A F♯ | G (rest) G G A
- B B B C′ B | B A (rest) A A B | C′ C′ C′ D′ C′ | B (rest) D′ D′ D′
- D′ B G D′ B G | D (rest) D D F♯ | A A C′ A F♯ | A G (rest) G F F
- E G G F♯ G | A (rest) A | B♭ B♭ B♭ B♭ C′ D′
- A (rest) B♭ A | G G G B♭ A G | G F♯ (rest)
- D′ | D′ D′ B G | A (rest) D′ | D′ D′ B G | A (rest) D
- G A | B (rest) | C′ D′ E′
- A (rest) E′ | D′ B C′ A | G
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 La Marseillaise
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 march rhythm is built from dotted notes and very short pickups, so count it slowly at first. In the fourth and fifth lines the tune turns minor. F is the thumb, all three left fingers and the right index, ring and little fingers, with the right middle finger lifted. B♭ is the thumb, left index, left ring and right index.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
Rouget de Lisle wrote it in Strasbourg on the night of 25 April 1792 as a war song for the Army of the Rhine. Volunteers from Marseille sang it as they marched into Paris that summer, which gave the song its name, and France adopted it as the national anthem in 1795.
Questions
Is La Marseillaise easy on recorder?
It is an intermediate piece. It uses cross fingerings or half holes, so learn those notes on their own first.
What notes do you need for La Marseillaise on recorder?
B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, low D, high E, F and B♭. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯, F and B♭ are 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 1919 Official French Version in The One Hundred and One Best Songs, compared with Chants de France (1934); in G. Last checked 6 October 2026.