“Whiskey Before Breakfast” for Low G Ukulele – FREE TAB

Click here to jump straight to the TAB for “Whiskey Before Breakfast.”

4/10/2025 Update: I’ve uploaded a recording of “Whiskey Before Breakfast.” Click the play button above to give it a listen.

“Whiskey Before Breakfast” sounds like a terrible idea, but it does make for a wonderful fiddle tune. You’ll often see it noted as being an old Scottish or Irish song, and while it does contain several melodic ideas common to those Old World fiddle traditions, the song is actually Canadian in origin.

The first copyright of “Whiskey Before Breakfast” belongs to Canadian fiddler Andy deJarlis in 1957. And while copyright of these old tunes often tells you little about where they came from, “Whiskey” appears to be an exception. DeJarlis was a member of the Métis Nation, one of the recognized indigenous peoples of Canada, and the song most likely originates from within their culture.

The Métis claim an ancestry that is a mix of native Canadian peoples and immigrants from France, Scotland, and England, and their culture includes a deep repertoire of fiddle tunes and dances. While “Whiskey Before Breakfast” sounds like an old European tune and likely does have roots in that area of the world, it is correctly placed in the New World.

“Whiskey Before Breakfast” Playing Tips

The A section of “Whiskey” stays within first position nicely, but the B section is a bit spicier. My index finger travels a lot from measures 9-13. That whole passage is going to depend a lot on your hand size and the size of your uke. Identify the notes where you’ll want to shift your hand and mark them. Here’s how I usually approach it:

• Measure 9: Shift my hand up so that my index finger is on the third fret. I can stay here for measures 9 an 10, stretching my pinky to grab the 7th fret in measure 10.
• Measure 11: Shift up so that my index finger is the 5th fret so I can grab the 8th fret easily in measure 12. But be ready for that descending 8-7-5-3-2 line. I hit the 5, 3, and 2 all with my index finger, sliding it down the neck quickly.
• Measure 13: Shift back up to 3 with my index finger and then grab the 7th fret with my pinky before sliding my index finger down to 2.
• Measure 14/15: Somewhere in here I wind up back in proper first position.

If the B section is too intimidating for you at the moment, I’ve included a “Simplified” TAB for this song that makes things a bit less frenetic. Find the download link below the embedded PDF.

There’s no shortage of renditions of “Whiskey” on YouTube to help get the tune in your head, most of them from the more modern Bluegrass tradition. It’s almost always played as an up-tempo piece with a good bit of bounce. Definitely take the time to get the feel of it down. It’s easy to lose the thread of the melody, especially in the B section, if you don’t know where to put emphasis.

Click the link or the ‘Download’ button below to see the sheet music if your browser doesn’t display the embedded PDF.

“Whiskey Before Breakfast” Low G Sheet Music Download

“Whiskey Before Breakfast (Simplified)” Low G Sheet Music Download