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2All songs / Drunken Sailor (What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor)
Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
Drunken Sailor (What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor)
Free number tabs for Drunken Sailor (What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor) on the steel tongue drum. 28 notes, C Major scale, Easy level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
2
22
23
34
44
44
43
32
22
22
24
43
32
23
32
22
22
23
34
44
44
43
32
24
43
32
22
21–7 scale note• above = higher octave• below = lower octaveabc = key in the app
▶ Play it in Tongue Drum Online
Open the free player on the C Major scale, then tap the petals or press these keyboard keys in order, following the tab above:
234
"What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor" is one of the most famous English and Irish sea shanties, sung by sailors to coordinate heavy work on tall ships. Its driving, minor-key energy translates beautifully onto a steel tongue drum, making each strike feel like a pull on a rope. The short, punchy melody is easy to memorize, offering a satisfying first foray into working-song rhythm on a handpan-style instrument.
How to play Drunken Sailor (What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor) on a tongue drum
The numbers above are the standard tongue-drum number notation. Each digit is a note of the C Major scale, counting up from the lowest tongue. A dot above a number raises it one octave; a dot below lowers it. The small teal letters show the matching key in the Tongue Drum Online player.
Start slowly, one phrase at a time. Let each note ring out fully before striking the next — the long decay is the whole character of the instrument. This is a easy arrangement and a simplified, single-instrument version of Drunken Sailor (What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor).
About this melody
English/Irish sea shanty.