Piper's SongbookHow to play Shenandoah on recorder
Shenandoah uses 9 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high C, high D, low D, high E, high G and high F♯. The first line goes D G G G A B C′ E′ D′ G′ F♯′ E′ D′ E′ D′ B D′. The same tune is used for Oh Shenandoah and Across the Wide Missouri.
- Notes
- 9: B, A, G, high C, high D, low D, high E, high G, high F♯
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 4/4, about 66 beats a minute
- Source
- American folk song from the early 1800s; printed as "Shanadore" in 1876
Shenandoah 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
- D | G G G A B C′ | E′ D′ G′ F♯′ | E′ D′ E′ D′ | B D′ (rest)
- D′ | E′ E′ E′ B D′ B | A G (rest) G A | B G B E′ | D′ G A B G | 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 Shenandoah
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 first line climbs from G to high G in two bars. The thumb is pinched for high E, open for high D and pinched again for high G and F♯. Between those last two, only the right hand moves: nothing down for G, then hole 5 for F♯.
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 song came from river boatmen on the Missouri and became a sea shanty by the middle of the 1800s. It was printed as "Shanadore" in 1876, and Percy Grainger recorded a sailor singing it in London in 1906.
Questions
Is Shenandoah 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 Shenandoah on recorder?
B, A, G, high C, high D, low D, high E, high G and high F♯. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. high 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 Paul Hardy's tunebook and the musicaviva ABC, in G; the last bar differs slightly between them. Last checked 6 October 2026.