The verse and the chorus
The sheet has four lines. The first two are the verse, the last two the chorus, and each half ends on a long F (i - - - -).
- Line one rises from middle C (
t) up the notes of the F major chord to the high D (d), the peak of the tune. - Line two comes down again from C5 (
s) and settles through D (y) and C onto F. - Line three starts the chorus from the top,
s - pp i, and climbs back to the high D. - Line four is line two again, closing the song.
Every line but the last ends with a lone d, the pickup that leads into the next line.
The dotted lilt in the spacing
Nearly every bar opens with a long note and a quick one: i - ii, o - io, s - pp. The dash lengthens the first letter and the joined pair makes the second one quick. This dotted rhythm gives the song its gentle swing, so once the notes are known, play along at normal speed and match the bounce.
On New Year’s Eve
The song is sung at midnight, often in a circle with crossed arms. If you are playing for singers, let the piano run through it once at the slow speed so everyone hears the key, then play along. The sheet stays within middle C to D5, which suits most voices; if it sits too low, the + button raises it an octave with the keys still lit.
Burns’s words, Thomson’s tune
Robert Burns first mentioned the song in a letter to Mrs Dunlop on 7 December 1788. His version appeared in 1796 in volume 5 of the Scots Musical Museum, set to a different tune. The melody now sung around the world is the one George Thomson chose when he printed the song in his Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs in 1799, as the University of Glasgow’s “Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century” project describes. The same tune, with Burns’s words, is printed on page 122 of The Most Popular Home Songs (copyright 1908). Words and tune are long in the public domain.
Another five-note folk tune that needs no Shift is Amazing Grace.