When the Saints Go Marching In - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
"When the Saints Go Marching In" has no known originator, but is became popular in the early 1900s and one of the most famous recordings was done by Louis Armstrong in 1938. Although the song was originally a Christian hymn it has become more associated with gospel and big band jazz.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Melody & full accompaniment
Free tabs and notes plus sound.
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When the Saints Go Marching In guitar tab and notes (pdf)
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When the Saints Go Marching In instrumental guitar (mp3)
When the Saints Go Marching In (full accompaniment)
"When the Saints Go Marching In" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
When the Saints Go Marching In guitar accompaniment
When the Saints Go Marching In (only melody)
"When the Saints Go Marching In" standard and tablature notation for guitar.
Tips on how to learn this song
This guitar version must be considering easy with the whole melody being played on only two strings. Many strings are played open and the hand can stay in first position (covering the first four frets) throughout the song.
The song has a typical 16 bars structure (plus the opening pick-up bar). You should observe some patterns that will help you memorizing the melody, such as the similarities between the 5-8 and 13-16 bars. Finally, the notes in the tablature put in parentheses should not be played (these only indicates that the note value of the previous note is extended).
Lyrics and chords
When the Saints Go Marching In chords in the key of G Oh, when the (G)saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching (D7)in
Oh Lord I (G)want to be in that (C)number
when the (G)saints go (D7)marching (G)in
When the Saints Go Marching In chords in the key of FOh, when the (F)saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching (C7)in
Oh Lord I (F)want to be in that (Bb)number
when the (F)saints go (C7)marching (F)in
The progressions includes only the I, IV and V, which are the central major chords in a musical key.
There are possibilities to change to key further by using a capo. These are the keys that the song would transpose in depending on which fret the capo is put (based on the chords in the G major version):
- Capo 1: G# / Ab major
- Capo 2: A major
- Capo 3: A# / Bb major
- Capo 4: B major
- Capo 5: C major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "When the Saints Go Marching In" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of When the Saints Go Marching In is played in the key of G.
Time signature
The song is played in 4/4 tempo (counted one, two, three, four for each measure)
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 190 for the presented version.