When the Saints Go Marching In
An African-American spiritual, and a perfect Stage 2 tune: it opens with a pickup, leans on a dotted rhythm, and holds long notes across bar lines. Only five notes — D, E, F♯, G, A — all on the D and A strings, first position. In D major (two sharps).
Line 1 — "Oh, when the saints…"
How to play it
Start the pickup 'Oh, when the' near the middle of the bow, three small up-down-up strokes — count '2 3 4' leading into the downbeat. Each 'saints' is a whole note: one long, slow, even bow held the full four beats, still counting through it. The quarter rest before each new pickup is your moment to reset the bow toward the frog.
Line 2 — "…go marching in"
How to play it
Straight on from the third pickup: 'saints go marching in' as four half notes and a whole — A–F♯, D–F♯, then E held a whole bar. Half a bow each, smooth crossings from A back to D, and a long even bow on the final E — the first half of the tune settles here.
Line 3 — "Oh Lord, I want to be in that number"
How to play it
A pickup again — a rest on beat 1, then 'Oh Lord I' (F♯ F♯ E) leading into 'want' (D, held). Then 'to be' (F♯–A, two half notes). 'In that' is the dotted figure: 'in' (A) is a quarter, 'that' (G) is a dotted half — struck firmly and held three full beats. Give the dotted G a solid push of bow.
Line 4 — "…when the saints go marching in"
How to play it
Half a bar of rest, then 'num-ber' (F♯–G) as a pickup into the last line. 'When the saints go marching in' is four half notes and a whole: A–F♯, D–E, then home to D. Slow the bow into that final D and let it ring — hold it in tune before you lift.
The one thing this tune is for
Reading rhythm from the page. It has almost every idea from this stage in one short tune — a pickup, whole notes held through bar lines, a full bar of rest, and a dotted half. Count it out loud, all the way through, before you play a note.