John Ryan's Polka — Mandolin Tab

Mandolin tab and sheet music with synced audio · Sean Ryan · Key of D · 132 BPM · 2/4 time · Irish Polka · Beginner

Chords used in this arrangement: D, G, A7.

John Ryan's Polka goes by more names than most musicians can keep track of - "The Keadue Polka," "The Dum Dum Polka," "The Forty Pound Float," even "The Titanic". I originally knew it as 42 pound float! Probably the best story about the song is that the fiddler Josie McDermott recorded it without knowing the title, so it got named after the little village of Keadue, near where he lived. The composer, Seán Ryan of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, wrote it sometime in the 20th century, which also means it couldn't have been played on the actual Titanic, a small historical hiccup that didn't stop James Cameron from featuring it in his 1997 blockbuster anyway.

This page includes mandolin tablature, standard music notation, and a chord chart — printable as PDF and playable in sync with the original recording. Change the key, slow the tempo down, and loop the bars you want to practise.