Oh My Darling, Clementine

Folk ballad
First published in 1884
Words by Percy Montrose

First verse:
In a cavern, in a canyon / Excavating for a mine / Dwelt a miner, forty-niner / And his daughter, Clementine

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Oh My Darling, Clementine guitar tab and notes (pdf)

tabs tabs & notes

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Oh My Darling, Clementine instrumental guitar (mp3)

Oh My Darling, Clementine - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics

“Oh My Darling, Clementine” is an American folk song. The originator is not fully known, but the song is often credited to Percy Montrose. The John Ford's 1946 western movie My Darling Clementine, in which Henry Fonda portraits Wyatt Earp, borrowed the title and parts of the song can be heard in the movie. The song has been performed by many artists, among these are Bobby Darin, Bing Crosby and Freddy Quinn.

The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.

Oh My Darling, Clementine (full accompaniment)

"Oh My Darling, Clementine" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.

Oh My Darling, Clementine guitar accompaniment

Oh My Darling Clementine for flute

"Oh My Darling Clementine" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.

Oh My Darling, Clementine flute

Oh My Darling, Clementine for ukelele

"Oh My Darling, Clementine" for ukelele in the C tuning. Free download in pdf-file and audio.

Oh My Darling, Clementine ukelele

Oh My Darling, Clementine (only melody)

"Oh My Darling, Clementine" standard and tablature notation for guitar.

Oh My Darling, Clementine notes and tabs

Tips on how to learn this song

The version of the melody involves only nine bars (if the pick-up bar is counted), which makes it easy to memorize. By playing it in open position in the key of G makes it easy on guitar since many notes are played on open strings. Notice that only three strings are involved for the melody.

The whole melody take place on the first four frets. The four fingers should take care of each of these. In other words, the index fingers play the notes on the first fret, the middle finger play the notes on the second fret and so on. For a bigger challenge, see the full accompaniment version (pdf).

Lyrics and chords

Oh My Darling, Clementine chords in the key of G
Verse:
In a (G)cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a (D)mine,
Dwelt a (D7)miner, forty-(G)niner
And his (D7)daughter, Clemen(G)tine

Chorus:
Oh my (G)darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clemen(D)tine,
You are (D7)lost and gone for(G)ever
Dreadful (D7)sorry, Clemen(G)tine

Oh My Darling, Clementine chords in the key of A
Verse:
In a (A)cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a (E)mine,
Dwelt a (E7)miner, forty-(A)niner
And his (E7)daughter, Clemen(A)tine

Chorus:
Oh my (A)darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clemen(E)tine,
You are (E7)lost and gone for(A)ever
Dreadful (E7)sorry, Clemen(A)tine

The chord progression is simple and is the same in the verse and chorus. It involves only two chords, including an extended dominant version of D major, and follows the typical approach with the I and V chords of the key in leading roles.

These are the keys that the song would transpose in using a capo depending on which fret the capo is put (based on the chords in the A major version):

Oh My Darling, Clementine (in A Major)

This alternative version of "Oh My Darling, Clementine" for guitar in played in the key of A. Free download in pdf-file and audio.

Oh My Darling Clementine accompaniment key A

Key, time, tuning and tempo

Information about "Oh My Darling, Clementine" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.

Key signature music symbol

Key

The presented version of Oh My Darling, Clementine is played in the key of G.

Time signature music symbol

Time signature

The song is played in 3/4 tempo (counted one, two, three for each measure)

Tuning overview

Tuning

The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).

BPM symbol and numbers

Tempo (BPM)

The tempo in beats per minute is 90 for the presented version.

Folk song, Flute, Ukelele