The fingerstyle guitar tab (chord melody) for “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is available for download as a PDF.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is a traditional English children’s song, with words commonly credited to Eliphalet Oram Lyte around 1852 and a melody rooted in older folk tradition. Emerging during the Victorian era, it reflects a growing emphasis on early childhood education, moral instruction, and communal singing. Its gentle imagery and repetitive structure made it especially suitable for teaching coordination, memory, and cooperation through music.

The lyrics themselves unfold like a short poem, simple on the surface yet quietly suggestive:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

In just a few lines, the song pairs physical motion with a reflective idea, offering a calm, almost philosophical close beneath its playful tone.

Video

In the video below, I perform the piece as transcribed.

Chord Melody Guitar Tabs

“Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is available for download as a PDF in a bundle with 8 other songs.

Happy Birthday – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Mary Had a Little Lamb – Frère Jacques – Hush, Little Baby – London Bridge is Falling Down – Row, Row, Row Your Boat – Three Blind Mice – This Old Man

Download 9 Nursery Rhymes – Chord Melodies – Guitar Tabs (9 Individual PDF Files)

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