Sheet Music: This Old Man

TitleThis Old Man
Alternate titlesJack Jintle
ComposerTraditional English
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyC major
RangeC5–A5
Time signature2/2
Tempo100 BPM
Performance time0:20
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (43 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (172 kB)
Date added2014-04-12
Last updated2014-04-12
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.8 (average)
Categories
Nursery rhymes, Traditional/Folk

Performances

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Saturday 12 April 2014

Tune of the Day: This Old Man

Traditional English nursery rhyme

The origins of this English-language children's song are obscure. The earliest extant record is a version noted in Anne Gilchrist's Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (1937), learnt from her Welsh nurse in the 1870s under the title “Jack Jintle”. A similar version was included in Cecil Sharp and Sabine Baring-Gould's English Folk-Songs for Schools, published in 1906. It was collected several times in England in the early twentieth century with a variety of lyrics.

Detective Columbo whistles this tune in almost every episode of the famous TV series. It also appears as a motif in the musical score.

Thanks to Steve for suggesting this tune!