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Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
Pastime with Good Company
Free number tabs for Pastime with Good Company on the steel tongue drum. 24 notes, C Major scale, Easy level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
5
55
56
67
76
65
5•1
8•2
9•3
0•2
9•1
8•2
9•3
0•2
9•1
87
76
65
56
67
7•1
8•2
95
51–7 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:
567890
Pastime with Good Company is a Renaissance song composed by King Henry VIII of England around 1513 — one of the oldest popular melodies attributable to a known composer. On a steel tongue drum its modal, four-square phrases carry a warm, ancient character, the instrument's overtones naturally evoking the sound world of lute and rebec. A rare and charming piece of living musical history.
How to play Pastime with Good Company 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 Pastime with Good Company.
About this melody
King Henry VIII of England (c.1513).