My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean on the ocarina

What are the notes for My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean?

On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.

1. 1
   G ·high Ehigh Dhigh C

   high Dhigh CA

   GE

   (hold)restG
2. 2
   high Ehigh Dhigh C

   high CBhigh C

   high D

   (hold)G
3. 3
   high Ehigh Dhigh C

   high Dhigh CA

   GE

   (hold)restG
4. 4
   Ahigh Dhigh C

   BAB

   high C

   (hold)rest
5. 5
   G

   high C

   A

   high C
6. 6
   BBB

   BAB

   high Chigh D

   high E
7. 7
   G

   high C

   A

   high Dhigh C
8. 8
   BBB

   BAB

   high C

   (hold)rest

My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean starts on G and leaps straight up to high E, then falls back through D, C, D, C and A. Here it is in C major, from E up to high E, with no sharps or flats: the verse once, then the chorus. It moves in a slow three to the bar, and the first and third lines of the verse both settle on a long low E.

What is the tricky spot in My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean?

The leap from G up to high E on the second note, which comes back at the start of three of the verse's four lines. On a 12-hole, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean goes from G to high E: you lift the left ring, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb. On a 6-hole, you lift the left index, right index, left thumb and right thumb.

High E is the top note of the song, one step above the high D where many beginner tunes stop, so give it a firmer, quicker breath than the G before it and move all the fingers at once. Practise G to high E slowly, then add the dotted D and the quick C that fall away from it. The chorus has the same jump the other way: after the long high E halfway through, it drops straight back to G.

Where do you breathe in My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean?

The first and third lines of the verse end on a long E followed by a one-beat rest, the easiest places to breathe. In the second line, breathe after the long high D, before the G that starts the next line. In the chorus each of the first four notes lasts a whole bar, so take a full breath before it and a second one after the long high E in the middle.

Which ocarina can play My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean?

A 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D and high E, so play My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean in this key on a 12-hole or 6-hole ocarina in C. On an ocarina in G or F, use the same fingerings: the tune sounds in a different key, which is fine when you play alone. Each linked chart has every fingering for its ocarina, and you can check your notes with a tuner such as our free ocarina tuner.

Who first published My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean?

Nobody knows who made the tune: its origin is uncertain, and in 1881 Charles E. Pratt published it as sheet music, Bring Back My Bonnie to Me, under two pen names. Pratt died in 1902. By 1909 it was a college favourite: the foreword of Heart Songs, a songbook published in Boston that year, says it appeared "equally attractive to various alma maters". Our tabs follow that book's page 179, where it is headed simply "Bonnie" with no author named: the verse line, then the top line of the chorus, which the page sets in four parts. The book writes it in C major starting from low E; we keep the key and move every note up an octave, so it runs from E to high E. One detail of the page we kept: in the fourth bar of the chorus it holds one long C, and only at the same spot in the second half does it step from D down to C. We show the melody only. Music: traditional; first published as sheet music by Charles E. Pratt (1841-1902) in 1881.

What to play next

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  Every note on the 12-holeWith a printable PDF.

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