Bonaparte crossing the rocky mountains — Mandolin Tab

Mandolin tab and sheet music with synced audio · Key of Am · 120 BPM · 4/4 time · Old-timey · Beginner

Chords used in this arrangement: Am, C, G, Em, A, D.

There's a great story behind Bonaparte crossing the Rocky Mountains. A Kentucky fiddler known as "Uncle John" used to proudly announce he was playing "Napoleon Crossing the Rocky Mountains," and when a teacher corrected him, pointing out that Napoleon crossed the Alps, not the Rockies — he took it in stride. The next time someone brought it up, he just shrugged and said, "some folks say Napoleon never crossed the Rockies, that he crossed the Alps, but historians differ on that point." That deadpan response pretty much became old-time folklore. The tune itself is actually the same melody as "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine," a march with roots in the British Isles that traveled to Appalachian fiddle tradition and got its geography cheerfully rearranged along the way. In Am it has a nice moody pull to it — keep that march feel steady and let the B-part's C# give you a little lift before it settles back into the minor.

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.