How to Play Jacky Tar on the Tin Whistle

E dorian · 4/4 · 170 BPM · Hornpipe · Beginner

Jacky Tar is a hornpipe you can learn on the tin whistle, set in E dorian (4/4, around 170 beats per minute). It uses 11 distinct notes, ranging from D5 up to G6 — all within the D whistle’s range.

Hornpipe in e dorian (234 notes after repeat-expansion).

The tin whistle notes for Jacky Tar start G A B E E D E E F# E D B 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 Jacky Tar with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.

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

Sheet music

ABC notation

X:2020
T:Jacky Tar
R:hornpipe
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Edorian
GA|:Beed e2ef|edBA BABc|d2dc dfgf|edBG AdBA|! G2GA B2gB|edBd eg3|EFGA BdBA|GEED E2GA:|! |:BGEG BGEG|BGAF ~E3B|AFDF AFDF|AF (3GFE DE (3FED|! G2GA B2gB|edBd eg3|EFGA BdBA|GEED E2GA:|
% Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/2020 setting 2020

Fingering chart

Jacky Tar uses these notes on the D tin whistle: D5, E5, F#5, G5, A5, B5, C#6, D6, E6, F#6, G6.

D5
E5
F#5
G5
A5
B5
C#6
D6
E6
F#6
G6

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