Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)

About this arrangement

The French round about Brother John sleeping through the morning bells, known since the 1700s. Bars 5 and 6 are the hardest thing so far: “morn-ing bells are” is four quavers (eighth notes) in a row, two to a beat. In the last two bars the tune dips to the G below middle C for “dang”: reach down with the thumb, or let the left hand play that one note. The left hand keeps a steady C chord throughout, because the whole tune is built over one chord, which is what lets it work as a round.

Practice tip: Count “1 and 2 and” in bars 5 and 6. Once it is steady, a second player can start the tune two bars later and it fits.

The words

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, Brother John, Brother John? Morning bells are ringing, morning bells are ringing, ding dang dong, ding dang dong.

A short history

The French round about Brother John, a friar who has slept through the bell for morning prayers, was in print by the 1780s and is probably older. It has been translated into most European languages; in English he is Brother John, in German Bruder Jakob, in Italian Fra Martino.

Because the whole tune sits over one chord, any number of singers can start it two bars apart and the parts fit, which is what makes it the best-known round in the world.

Gustav Mahler turned it into a slow, eerie funeral march in the minor key in the third movement of his First Symphony (1888), one of the strangest uses of a nursery tune in serious music.

Quick facts

Tune

Traditional (French, 18th century)

Key

C major

Time signature

4/4

Length

8 bars

Tempo

Steadily, crotchet = 100

Difficulty

Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 39 of 201)

Type

Round

Hands

Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left

Copyright

Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers