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If you’re a student of history, you will likely enjoy the Wikipedia article (and all of the various cited sources) on “Yankee Doodle.” For those who just want to learn a fun song, I’ll provide a quick summary.
“Yankee Doodle” is based on a tune from Europe (possibly Ireland’s “The Road to Lisdoonvarna”) with English lyrics that seem to have originated, at least in part, among the British soldiers in America during the French and Indian War. They were making fun of their American colonial counterparts, who apparently tried their best to look like proper members of British society but failed rather miserably, thus becoming the “Yankee doodle dandy.”
The seeming nonsense line, “Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni,” is less odd than it may seem on the surface. A “macaroni” was one of those fancy powdered wigs that high-society Europeans wore, so sticking a feather in your hat and thinking that made you look like an aristocrat was a dig – only silly backwoods colonists would think those things were equivalent.
Proving that the American attitude of “sticking it to the man” has deep roots, Americans soldiers during the Revolutionary War took the insult and turned it into a badge of honor. “Yankee Doodle” became an unofficial anthem of the army, and it later became the official state song of Connecticut.
“Yankee Doodle” Playing Tips
You can almost picture colonial soldiers singing this song in time with their march. “Yankee Doodle” is effectively a work song, and like all work songs, it is rhythmically and melodically simple.
Half of the measures (8) consist of four quarter notes, and a quarter (4) consist of two half notes, so you shouldn’t have many problems there.
Three of the remaining measures use a dotted quarter and an eighth note. A dot on any note increases its length by 50%. So if a quarter note is usually 1 beat, a dotted-quarter is 1-and-a-half.
So while the measures with four quarter notes can be translated to rhythm syllables as:
TA TA TA TA
The measures with the dotted notes gain a bit of a swing feel:
TIM-ri TA TA
The measures with the dotted notes give the song its distinctive patriotic swagger, creating a contrast to the steady 1-2-3-4 of the rest of the song. Make sure you get the feel right.
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!
“Yankee Doodle” Low G Sheet Music Download
“Yankee Doodle” High G Sheet Music Download
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