5
5All songs / It's a Long Way to Tipperary
Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
Free number tabs for It's a Long Way to Tipperary on the steel tongue drum. 33 notes, C Major scale, Easy level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
5
56
65
53
3•1
87
75
55
56
65
53
35
5•1
8•1
87
76
65
53
31
12
21
13
35
53
31
13
35
56
65
53
31
12
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:
5638712
It's a Long Way to Tipperary is the quintessential British World War I marching song, its irrepressibly cheerful melody carrying homesick soldiers down a thousand muddy roads. On the steel tongue drum the bouncy, forward-moving phrases feel warm and nostalgic, the natural sustain of the instrument softening the march into something almost singalong. The straightforward melody and familiar contour make it an easy, satisfying crowd-pleaser.
How to play It's a Long Way to Tipperary 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 It's a Long Way to Tipperary.
About this melody
Jack Judge & Harry Williams, 1912, British WWI.