5
5All songs / Leave Her Johnny
Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
Leave Her Johnny
Free number tabs for Leave Her Johnny on the steel tongue drum. 24 notes, C Major scale, Intermediate level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
•1
8•3
0•2
9•1
87
76
65
5•1
8•2
9•3
0•5
W5
5•3
0•2
9•1
87
76
65
55
56
67
7•1
8•1
81–7 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:
580976W
"Leave Her Johnny" is a melancholy English and American pump shanty traditionally sung at the end of a voyage, bidding farewell to a hard ship. Its wistful, arching melody carries genuine emotional weight on a steel tongue drum, the sustain of the instrument amplifying every lingering note. The broader range and flowing phrasing make this a rewarding piece for players ready to explore the more expressive, lyrical side of handpan music.
How to play Leave Her Johnny 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 intermediate arrangement and a simplified, single-instrument version of Leave Her Johnny.
About this melody
English/American pump shanty.