How to Play Drowsy Maggie on the Tin Whistle

E dorian · 4/4 · 220 BPM · Reel · Intermediate

Drowsy Maggie is a reel you can learn on the tin whistle, set in E dorian (4/4, around 220 beats per minute). It uses 11 distinct notes, ranging from D5 up to A6 — all within the D whistle’s range.

Reel in E dorian — 116 notes, difficulty 3/5.

The tin whistle notes for Drowsy Maggie start E B E D E B E E B E A F# Full sequence below.

The interactive sheet music shows a fingering chart under every note. Press Play this tune to play along while the app listens to your microphone and grades every note, or print a clean copy of the score.

Tin whistle notes

On a D tin whistle, play Drowsy Maggie with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.

E B E D E B E E B E A F# D F# E B E D E B E B A B C# D A F# D D F# D C# E C# D E F# G A F# G E A F# G E F# D E C# B A B C# D A F# D

Sheet music

ABC notation

X:27
T:Drowsy Maggie
R:reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Edorian
|:E2BE dEBE|E2BE AFDF|E2BE dEBE|BABc dAFD:|! d2fd c2ec|defg afge|d2fd c2ec|BABc dAFA|! d2fd c2ec|defg afge|afge fdec|BABc dAFD|
% Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/27 setting 27 (traditional, public domain)

Fingering chart

Drowsy Maggie uses these notes on the D tin whistle: D5, E5, F#5, A5, B5, C#6, D6, E6, F#6, G6, A6.

D5
E5
F#5
A5
B5
C#6
D6
E6
F#6
G6
A6

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