About this arrangement

The pudding-and-pie rhyme, with the tune Alfred Moffat printed in 1911, in a swinging 6/8. The right hand stays in C position with the thumb on middle C and reaches up to A with the little finger in bar 5; every note is under a finger. The rhythm is mostly long-short, a crotchet (quarter note) then a quaver (eighth note). Several words are sung over two notes: “girls”, “boys” and “play”, and both halves of “Geor-gie Por-gie” in bar 7. Bar 5 has a dotted quaver and a semiquaver for “boys”. The left hand plays a bass note and a chord on each big beat, with the chords changing in the middle of some bars.

Practice tip: Bar 7 is the tricky one: D E F, E F D. Play it slowly with fingers 2 3 4 3 4 2 until it runs smoothly, then put it back in the piece.

The words

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie, Kissed the girls and made them cry; When the boys came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away.

A short history

Georgie Porgie is number 19532 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It was printed in The Kentish Coronal in 1841, where it was called an “old ballad” and the name was spelt Georgy Peorgy. In that version the third line was “When the girls came out to play”; “When the boys came out to play” had appeared by 1884, and it is the line Iona and Peter Opie chose for the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes in 1951.

The Opies also listed theories linking Georgie to King George I or to the Duke of Buckingham, but there is no evidence for any of them. Kate Greenaway illustrated the rhyme in 1881.

The tune used here is the one Alfred Moffat harmonised for Our Old Nursery Rhymes (Augener, 1911). James William Elliott (1870) and John Graham (1911) both printed it with different tunes.

Quick facts

Tune
Traditional (English, printed 1841; tune as printed by Alfred Moffat, 1911)
Key
C major, C position
Time signature
6/8
Length
8 bars
Tempo
Cheekily, dotted crotchet = 60
Difficulty
Level 2: Left-hand chords (piece 26 of 201)
Type
Nursery rhyme
Hands
Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
Copyright
Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers

What key is Georgie Porgie in?
C major, in 6/8 time. There are no sharps or flats in the key signature.
How long is it?
C major, 6/8, 8 bars. The tempo marking is Cheekily, dotted crotchet = 60.
Is Georgie Porgie out of copyright?
Yes. The tune is traditional (English, printed 1841; tune as printed by Alfred Moffat, 1911). Our piano arrangement is free for personal and classroom use.
What is the hardest part?
Bar 7 is the tricky one: D E F, E F D. Play it slowly with fingers 2 3 4 3 4 2 until it runs smoothly, then put it back in the piece.
Can I print it?
Yes. Press Print above to put this piece on its own page, or choose Save as PDF as the printer for a file. It prints on A4 paper; if yours is US Letter, choose US Letter in the box beside Print. The notes are the same size as a printed music book.

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