Sheet Music – Pipe and Tabor

These pieces are for the one man band of the Renaissance, a three holed pipe with drum. Generally I’ve included fingering notation for English style tabor pipes. (I play pipes from Susato most often, your fingering may vary slightly if you play instruments from a different maker.) Some pieces have notation for the tabor, others don’t, leaving it up to you to figure out what rhythms work for you. I’ve usually left space for you to make your own rhythm notes.

The Nursery Rhymes were originally set for a class on ornamentation, given at the International Pipe and Tabor Festival in 2001.

The Renaissance Dances, or in fact any of this music, may have been reset from the original key to better fit on tabor pipe.  Sumer is icumin in (the earliest known canon or round, in 2 parts for 6 voices is in two different versions.  One is the original key, which is playable on the tabor pipe, but requires a half hole to get all the notes.  The other is transposed  to fit without needing a half hole, which required altering the lowest note of the piece.  Take your choice.

Pipe and Tabor Class

Intro to Pipe and Tabor
Tabor Dance Rhythms
Fingering Chart

Nursery Rhymes

Frere Jacques
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Renaissance Dances

Horse’s Bransle (Arbeau)
Maltese Bransle
Spagnoletta (Caroso)
Chiara Stella (Caroso)

Country Dances

Sellenger’s Round (Playford)

Morris Dance Tunes

The Queen’s Delight (D)

Other Tunes

Sumer is icumen in (original)
Sumer is icumen in (transposed)
Cantiga 166 Como Poden…
Blow Thy Horn Hunter (William Cornysh) – for 3 tabor pipes in C
Pastime With Good Company (Henry VIII) – for 3 tabor pipes, D/G/G