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PlaysoloistStringsUkuleleSongsWhiskey in the Jar

ukulele song · Strings

Whiskey in the Jar Ukulele Tab

Composer
Traditional
Year
—
Key
C
Time
4/4
Tempo
120 BPM
Difficulty
Beginner · ★
First note
G4

Whiskey in the Jar on ukulele

The full melody, rendered as four-string ukulele tab in re-entrant High-G (gCEA) you can read on screen or print for the stand — free, and never truncated.

Tuning: g C E A (re-entrant High G) · Strum: D DU DU DU

AECgVerseC0C0000000Am002000AECgF00023320CAm0032000C0000000AECgAm00020000F0023320AECgCAm00320000ChorusDmG702202CEm002010AECgF0000231CG700220

Arranged for the standard re-entrant High-G (gCEA) ukulele. On Low G, Baritone or D tuning the app re-fingers the same melody live. Left-handed? The app can mirror the whole tab.

Lyrics

Bar 1 — As I was a-walkin' upon Kilgary Mountain

Bar 4 — I met with Colonel Pepper and his money he was countin'

Bar 6 — I drew up me pistols and I rattled up me saber

Bar 8 — sayin' "Stand and deliver, for I am a bold deceiver"

Bar 10 — Musha ring-um durum dah

Bar 11 — whack fol the daddy-o, whack fol the daddy-o

Bar 13 — there's whiskey in the jar

Trad. Irish, 17th c. — public domain.

How to practise this on ukulele

Whiskey in the Jar is in C and opens on G4. This tab is arranged for the standard re-entrant High-G ukulele: the fourth string (the top of the written tab, marked g) is tuned above the two strings under it, which is why a melody can dip onto the open g and come out sounding high — that's the instrument's signature, not a misprint. If you play Low G, the app re-fingers the same melody for your tuning live.

Pick the melody with alternating thumb and index, or the index alone on slower pieces, and keep your fretting fingers curled so open strings ring clear. Set the metronome under around 120 BPM, watch the tab rather than your hands, and loop the bar your take review grades worst until it comes back clean twice in a row. By the numbers, this setting runs 82 notes across 13 bars, from C4 up to C5 in 4/4 time.

Also playable on

The same melody is graded across 6 Playsoloist instruments. See every version, with difficulty and provenance, on the Whiskey in the Jar cross-instrument hub.

guitarkalimbapianotrumpetviolin

Keep exploring

All ukulele songsWhiskey in the Jar across instrumentsEasy ukulele songsStrumming, explainedAloha ʻOeAlouetteLearn ukulele with Soloist Ukulele

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Play Whiskey in the Jar — and hear every note graded.

Soloist Ukulele reads this four-string ukulele tab in re-entrant High-G (gCEA) under the notation and grades your take on-device, note by note — free on iPhone, no ads, no account.

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