How to Play The Boy In The Gap on the Tin Whistle

D mixolydian · 4/4 · 220 BPM · Reel · Advanced

The Boy In The Gap is a reel you can learn on the tin whistle, set in D mixolydian (4/4, around 220 beats per minute). It uses 12 distinct notes, ranging from D5 up to G6 — all within the D whistle’s range.

Reel in d mixolydian (176 notes after repeat-expansion).

The tin whistle notes for The Boy In The Gap start D F# A D E D C A G E C E… 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.

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Tin whistle notes

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

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

Sheet music

ABC notation

X:1579
T:The Boy In The Gap
R:reel
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Dmixolydian
|:D2FA dedc|A2GE cEGE|D2FA dedc|1 A2GE ~E2GE:|2 A2GE FDD2||! |:~f3g fedf|(3efg fd ed^cA|A2(3B^cd edcd|eaag eaag|! ~f3g fedf|egfd ed^cA|AB^cd e^cd^c|1 AFGE FDDe:|2 AFGE FAFE||
% Source: https://thesession.org/tunes/1579 setting 1579

Fingering chart

The Boy In The Gap uses these notes on the D tin whistle: D5, E5, F#5, G5, A5, B5, C6, C#6, D6, E6, F#6, G6.

F#5

C#6

F#6

Tin whistle notes

Sheet music

ABC notation

Fingering chart

More tin whistle tunes