Five keys and a lot of waiting
The whole tune lives on the five white keys from middle C to G: t y u i o. What makes it tricky is not the notes but the gaps. The opening call, “Oh when the saints”, is three quick steps up, t u i, and a G (o) that is held for over a bar. Written out, that is eight dashes. When the piano waits for you, the dashes cost nothing; when you play along in time, count them.
Line by line
- and 2. The call, twice: C E F and a long G.
- The call again, this time carrying on down: G, E, C, E, and a long D. That D is the question the last line answers.
- The answer, “Oh Lord, I want to be in that number”: E E D and a long C, then up through E to the two Gs and F, and finally the call once more, closing G E C D C.
The two long notes to watch are the D that ends line three and the C held near the start of line four. Counting them right is what makes the song swing.
Slow hymn or quick march
The tune works at very different speeds. Hear it at Slow first, where it sounds like a hymn, then at Fast, where it becomes a march. Once the melody is secure, clap on beats two and four while the piano plays it, and try to land your own keys on the same pulse.
A song with no known author
When the Saints Go Marching In is a traditional spiritual; no composer is known. One early printing is No. 148 in Voice of Glory, a book of spiritual songs published by R. E. Winsett in Chattanooga in the late 1920s (the copy online carries 1928 copyright notices), where the words and music are credited “Anon & R. E. W.” and the refrain already reads “Dear Lord I want to be in that number”. The melody in this sheet is the one commonly sung and played today.
For another tune that sits on the same five keys, see Jingle Bells.