For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow

Traditionnel (France) · Level 2 (Beginner) · traditional · Guitar, sheet music and tablature

The French tune of “Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre” (18th century), sung in English to congratulate someone: “For he’s a jolly good fellow”. Arranged in G major: the tune in first position, with a thumb bass on the first beat of each bar and at each chord change.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Play the basses (strings 6, 5 and 4) with the thumb and the tune with i and m. When a bass and a melody note fall together, pluck them at the same time and let the bass ring. Practise the tune alone first.

More pieces by Traditionnel (France)

• Angels We Have Heard on High (Les anges dans nos campagnes)
• He Is Born, the Holy Child (Il est né, le divin Enfant)
• Sur le pont d’Avignon (On the Bridge of Avignon)
• Ainsi font, font, font (The Little Puppets)
• Dodo, l’enfant do (French Lullaby)
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Ah ! vous dirai-je, maman)
• À la claire fontaine (At the Clear Fountain)
• Auprès de ma blonde (Beside My Fair-Haired Girl)

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après l’air français « Malbrough s’en va-t-en guerre » · Public Domain