Pat-a-pan (Willie Take Your Little Drum) for Xylophone

Pat-a-Pan Willie take your little drum free xylophone glockenspiel sheet music

This is a Christmas carol from France, originally written in Burgundian by Bernard de La Monnoye and published in 1720. Its title is onomatopoetic, mimicking the sound of the drums of shepherds gathering around the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Apparently, the same shepherds also play the flute, as indicated in the lyric “tu-re-lu-re-lu”.

On this page you can find a glockenspiel / xylophone tutorial video of the theme and sheet music that you can download for free as a PDF file.

Pat-a-pan (Willie, Take Your Little Drum) Glockenspiel / Xylophone Tutorial Video

Pat-a-pan (Willie, Take Your Little Drum) Glockenspiel / Xylophone Sheet Music and Note Chart
Free Printable PDF with Glockenspiel / Xylophone Music Sheet with Note Chart and Lyrics

Pat-a-pan (Willie, Take Your Little Drum) Glockenspiel / Xylophone Tutorial Video

Pat-a-pan (Willie, Take Your Little Drum) Glockenspiel / Xylophone Sheet Music and Note Chart

Pat-a-pan’s melody consists of the basic chord of the minor scale plus the leading note. We present it here in the D minor key. You can see the notes used in the song on the chart following the sheet music.

Watch the video a couple of times and study each part at your own pace until you get the hang of it. Remember to use both mallets as much as you can. For this purpose avoid using only the hand that is more convenient for you (e.g. the right one if you’re right-handed) as this an important basic technique.