How to Play The Sailor's Bonnet on the Tin Whistle
D major · 4/4 · 220 BPM · Reel · Intermediate
The Sailor's Bonnet is a reel you can learn on the tin whistle, set in D major (4/4, around 220 beats per minute). It uses 9 distinct notes, ranging from D5 up to B6 — all within the D whistle’s range.
Reel in d major (166 notes after repeat-expansion).
The tin whistle notes for The Sailor's Bonnet start A F# A D F# D F# E F# D B A… 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 The Sailor's Bonnet with these notes in order. Same letter in a higher octave uses the same fingering — overblow for the second register.
A F# A D F# D F# E F# D B A F# A D F# E F# D B A F# A D D B D B A F# A D D B F# A F# E D A F# E F# D B A B A F# A D F# E F# D B A F# A D D D B A F# A D D B
Sheet music
ABC notation
X:570 T:The Sailor's Bonnet R:reel M:4/4 L:1/8 K:Dmajor |:A2 FA d~f3|dfef d~B3|A2 FA dfef|1 dBAF ADDB:|2 dBAF ADD2||! |:~a3 a afef|afef d~B3|fb (3bbb bafa|bfaf feef|! b~f3 afed|afef d~B3|(3ABA FA dfef|1 dBAF ADD2:|2 dBAF ADDB|| % Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/570 setting 570
Fingering chart
The Sailor's Bonnet uses these notes on the D tin whistle: D5, F#5, A5, B5, D6, E6, F#6, A6, B6.
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