Fife Music

Below you will find some period fife tunes that were arranged and uploaded to this site. The tunes are were very common in the Civil War, and are still performed regularly at Civl War re-enactments by modern-day fifers. Although the versions of these tunes are meant to be played on the fife, it is also possible to play them on any musical instrument.

Northern
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
Yankee Doodle
Southern
Dixie
The Bonnie Blue Flag
Both Sides
Downfall of Paris
Frog in the Well
Garry Owen
H-ll on the Wabash
Jefferson and Liberty
Old 1812 Quickstep
Sisters
The Girl I Left Behind Me
When Johnny Comes Marching Home

These songs can give you a good impression of what many soldiers heard and played around the time of the Civil War. Some of the songs were played primarily by Union bands, others mainly by Confederate bands, but most were played by both.

Most of these tunes can be found in The Drummers' and Fifers' Guide by G.B. Bruce and D.D. Emmett, published in 1862 and reproduced in its entirety on our site.

The lyrics to many of these tunes can be found on the Civil War Songs page.