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I’ll admit to holding my breath while researching the origins of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?” I usually do at least a little reading before transcribing a song to make sure it’s in the public domain (“If You’re Happy and You Know It” wasn’t) and to see if it has a checkered past (“Turkey in the Straw” was popularized by minstrel shows). But I forgot to do that before transcribing “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”
Luckily, the tune appears to have been written about an actual muffin man who lived on Drury Lane in London in the 19th century. Upstanding households in Victorian London had many of their foodstuffs delivered on a daily basis, so at one point in time, muffin men did in fact roam the streets peddling their wares.
To be clear, these were English muffins, not the miniature cakes we refer to as muffins so we can eat them for breakfast here in the States. The rhyme is found elsewhere around the world as well, with some changes. In the Netherlands, for example, they sing of the “mosselman” who brings fresh seafood from the local harbor markets. I’m betting the muffin man smells a bit better as he walks down the street.
“Do You Know the Muffin Man?” Playing Tips
“Do You Know the Muffin Man?” for low G ukulele is in the key of C and uses the 1, 2, and 5 chords for accompaniment (C, Dm, and G). The main rhythmic device used in the melody, which might be a bit unfamiliar to you, is the pairing of a dotted quarter note and an eighth note, as seen in measures 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.
The rhythm syllable for a dotted-quarter + eighth note pairing is:
TA-I Ti
So the rhythmic pattern for five of the eight measures of the tune is:
TA TA TA-I Ti
For the second playthrough, I switched up the rhythm a bit, replacing the dotted-quarter + eighth note pairings with a quarter note + a pair of eighth notes, resulting in this repeated pattern:
TA TA TA Ti-Ti
A big part of exploring more advanced tunes (especially when playing folk music) is being able to change rhythmic patterns to give a song a different texture for the listener. I didn’t add any new notes or any kind of difficult playing technique, but I still changed the experience of the song for the listener while keeping the core melody identifiable.
Try mixing things up yourself as you practice. Put your own spin on tunes to make them sound fresh while also remaining familiar.
Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.
Don’t have a low G uke? Not a problem. I’ve included a standard (high G) TAB for this song as well. Find the link at the bottom on the post. Happy picking!
“Do You Know the Muffin Man?” Low G Sheet Music Download
“Do You Know the Muffin Man” High G Sheet Music Download
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