Learn Londonderry Air (Danny Boy) on the Steelpan

The tenor pan of Trinidad & Tobago, synthesized live in your browser. Strike the chrome — or pick a song and follow the lights.

Play like a piano: Z X C … for the low octave, Q W E … for the high oneTap a pad to strike it. Low notes sit on the rim, high notes toward the centre.

Pick a song to practise, or just strike the pan.

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Settings

100 BPM
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How to play Londonderry Air (Danny Boy) on the steelpan

A soaring Irish air with wide, expressive leaps — the showpiece. Irish air, traditional.

Key
F major
Time
4/4
Tempo
66 BPM
Notes
44
Level
Hard
  1. Listen. Press Listen above to hear it at 66 BPM. You can slow it down in Settings.
  2. Play along. Press Play along and the pad to strike lights up. Play it and the next one lights. A wrong note is named, so you know what to change.
  3. Play it from the notes. Once it feels familiar, play it from the sheet below without the lights.

Low notes sit on the rim and high notes toward the centre. Going round the rim, each pad is a fifth above the one before (C, G, D, A …), and the inner ring repeats the same pattern an octave higher.

The notes

Written as note names spelled with flats. A dot (·) is a rest.

  1. E4tiF4doG4reA4miG4reA4miD5laC5soA4miG4reF4doD4laF4doA4miB♭4faC5soD5laC5soA4miF4doA4miG4re·
  2. E4tiF4doG4reA4miG4reA4miD5laC5soA4miG4reF4doD4laE4tiF4doG4reA4miB♭4faA4miG4reF4doG4reF4do