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3All songs / Michael Finnegan
Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
Michael Finnegan
Free number tabs for Michael Finnegan on the steel tongue drum. 25 notes, C Major Pentatonic scale, Beginner level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
3
32
23
35
43
32
21
13
35
46
55
43
33
33
32
23
35
43
31
12
23
35
43
31
11–7 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 Pentatonic scale, then tap the petals or press these keyboard keys in order, following the tab above:
32415
"Michael Finnegan" is a traditional English children's song about an endlessly unfortunate fellow whose chin whiskers keep blowing off in the wind, with the joke looping back on itself forever. On a steel tongue drum the bouncy, repetitive melody is easy to pick up in minutes, making it ideal for young beginners who want to feel successful quickly. The song's infinite-loop structure is also a low-pressure way to practice fluency, since there is always just "one more verse" to go.
How to play Michael Finnegan on a tongue drum
The numbers above are the standard tongue-drum number notation. Each digit is a note of the C Major Pentatonic 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 beginner arrangement and a simplified, single-instrument version of Michael Finnegan.
About this melody
Traditional English children's song.