Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon

Aiken Drum is a traditional Scottish folk melody. It tells the funny story of a musician who lives in the moon and plays his music on a ladle.

As the song continues, we find out that his clothes are made of things we eat. He has a cream cheese hat and a roast beef coat. And because this is a Scottish song, he also has breeches made of haggis bags.

Structure
Aiken Drum takes a simple AB form,  one verse followed by a chorus. We can use the A form for the  verses and the choruses to begin with. Later on, when’ we’re more confident, we can learn to use the B form for the choruses. Listen to our opening clip again and see if you can identify each part. Try singing along too. Do you know how the rest of the song goes?

Listen, Sing, Act, Play
When we learn new songs at Harp Academy, we like to follow a simple routine. First we listen to the song. Then we sing it. Next we add actions to the words or move to the rhythm. And finally we play along on our harmonica. Listen to the song a few times and see if you can hum or sing along. Can you think of some actions to go with the words? Can you move to the rhythm? Great! Let’s learn to play it on our harmonica.

And his name was Aiken Drum
It’s time to learn our folk tune on the harmonica. If you haven’t heard Aiken Drum before, ask an adult to help you find it on the internet. You can download and print the arrow tab by clicking the orange link on the right. Purple tab is for 4 hole harmonicas, while orange tab is for 10 hole harmonicas. The numbers tell us which holes to play. D means draw (breathe in) and B means blow (breathe out). Let’s hear the whole piece on the harmonica first, then break everything down into easy to learn chunks.

A form

1B     2B     2B     2B     1B     2D     2D     2D
  4B     5B    5B     5B     4B     5D     5D     5D
There  was     a      man  lived     in      the    moon

 1D     2B     2B     2B     1B     1D     1D     1D
 4D    5B    5B     5B     4B     4D     4D     4D
Lived   in     the   moon,  lived   in    the    moon

1B     2B     2B     2B     1B     2D     2D     2D
  4B     5B    5B     5B     4B     5D     5D     5D
There  was     a      man  lived     in      the    moon

 3B     2D     2B     1B     1D     1D     1B
 6B     5D     5B     4B     4D     3D     4B
And    his    name   was     Aik – en   Drum

B form

2B     2D     3B     3B     3B     4B     3D     3B
  5B     5D    6B     6B     6B     7B      6D    6B
And     he   played   up – on        a       la  –  dle

2D     2B     1B     2B     1D     1D     1D
5D     5B    4B     5B     4D     3D     2D
A        la  –  dle      a        la  –   a  –  dle

3B     2B     3B     3B     4B     3D    3B
6B     5B     5B     5B     7B     6D     6B
He  played   u  –  pon      a       la  –  dle

2D     2B      1B      1D      1D     1B 
 5D     5B     4B      4D     3D     4B
His   name   was      Ai  –  ken  Drum

He played upon a ladle
In the song lyrics, his hat was made of good cream cheese, his coat was made of good roast beef, his buttons were made of penny loaves, his waistcoat was made of crusty pies and his breeches were made of haggis bags. How could we bring the lyrics up to date? Can you make up some different clothing and food items? Perhaps you could play share your ideas with your group and write them down.

And his name was Aiken Drum
When it comes to adding the finishing touches, see if you can work on some harmonies with your Harp Academy teacher. You could play the A and B forms together in parts to see if they fit. You could also try to work out your own harmony notes and write them down.

Key Skills

• Folk music
• AB song structure
• Repeat notes
• Jump notes
• Lyrics and adaptation
• Harmony

Practise Track