Piper's SongbookHow to play Rock-a-bye Baby on recorder
Rock-a-bye Baby uses 9 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high D, F♯, high E, high G, high C♯ and high F♯. The first line goes F♯ A F♯′ E′ D′ F♯ A D′ C♯′ G A G′ F♯′ E′ E′ D′ B A. The same tune is used for Hush-a-bye Baby.
- Notes
- 9: B, A, G, high D, F♯, high E, high G, high C♯, high F♯
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 6/8, about 100 beats a minute
- Source
- Words printed about 1765; tune published by Effie I. Canning in the 1880s
Rock-a-bye Baby 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
Letters only, for printing or copying
- F♯ A F♯′ E′ D′ | F♯ A D′ C♯′ | G A G′ F♯′ E′ | E′ D′ B A
- F♯ A F♯′ E′ D′ | F♯ A D′ C♯′ B | A D′ G′ F♯′ D′ | E′ B C♯′ D′
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 Rock-a-bye Baby
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
Each line opens with a jump from A up to high F♯, and the third bar jumps from A to high G. Both high notes need the thumb pinch, with the nail leaving a narrow crack in the back hole. For high G keep holes 1, 2 and 3 covered, and blow a little faster than for the low notes.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
The words appeared in Mother Goose's Melody, printed in London around 1765. The tune is usually credited to Effie Crockett, who published it in the 1880s under the name Effie I. Canning, though newspapers of the time also named the Boston composer Charles Dupee Blake.
Questions
Is Rock-a-bye Baby 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 Rock-a-bye Baby on recorder?
B, A, G, high D, F♯, high E, high G, high C♯ and high F♯. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯ and high F♯ 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 Everyday Song Book (1927), a MIDI file on Wikimedia Commons and a Mudcat MIDI, in D. Last checked 6 October 2026.