How to Play Wellerman on a Tremolo Harmonica with 24 Holes

Buy Me a Coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KerinGedge
Check out my Instruments on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/shop/keringedge (paid link)
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Well well welly then, it looks like we are back with another take on the old Sea Shanty - Wellerman. Although this time we’ll be focusing on the Tremolo Harmonica with 24 Holes. Yes, that’s the harmonica that looks like it has 48 holes, two rows on top of and below each other, but don’t pay too much attention to that, it’s actually 24 holes, or rather you should treat them as if they are 24 holes, at least for the purposes of this lesson!
If your harmonica happens to be in a different key to this tutorial, DON’T WORRY, just turn the volume down and follow the finger pointer and arrows, remembering that the red arrow means to blow into your harmonica and the blue arrows means to breathe in through your harmonica, and hopefully, fingers crossed, you should end up with something that sounds like the song we are trying to play here!
If you’re using a diatonic, then go to my playlists and check out the two Wellerman tutorials I’ve already made for Diatonic Harmonica, as well as for Chromatic Harmonica, (the one with the button)… but if you’re waiting for Tremolo 16, Tremolo 20, Kalimba, Tin Whistle, Recorder… you get the idea… they’re definitely on their way.
Soon May the Wellerman Come, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, also known as "Wellerman" is a sea shanty from my very own homeland - New Zealand. The song refers to the "wellermen", supply ships owned by the British Weller brothers who emigrated to New Zealand. In early 2021, versions by British folk music group the #LongestJohns and Scottish singer #NathanEvans became viral hits on the social media site TikTok, leading to a "social media craze" around songs popularly considered sea shanties.
This song is incredibly catchy and will get stuck in your head. My kids are obsessed with it.
If you've ever wondered about the Lyrics, wonder no more for they are:
Verse1
There once was a ship that put to sea
And the name of that ship was the Billy o' Tea
The winds blew hard, her bow dipped down
Blow, me bully boys, blow (Hah!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 2]
She had not been two weeks from shore
When down on her, a right whale bore
The captain called all hands and swore
He'd take that whale in tow (Hah!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 3]
Before the boat had hit the water
The whale's tail came up and caught her
All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her
When she dived down below (Huh!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 4]
No line was cut, no whale was freed
The Captain's mind was not on greed
But he belonged to the whaleman's creed
She took that ship in tow (Huh!)
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 5]
For forty days, or even more
The line went slack, then tight once more
All boats were lost, there were only four
But still that whale did go
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
[Verse 6]
As far as I've heard, the fight's still on
The line's not cut and the whale's not gone
The Wellerman makes his a regular call
To encourage the Captain, crew, and all
[Chorus]
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
Soon may the Wellerman come
To bring us sugar and tea and rum
One day, when the tonguin' is done
We'll take our leave and go
If you've had enough of learning for today and just want to chill, try visiting my newgrounds account and check out the loads of free audio I've uploaded there over the years. It's not all bad. You might find at least one thing there worth listening to https://monkeycat.newgrounds.com/audio/
Or if you feel like scrolling through social media for a few hours you can check out my instagram page https://www.instagram.com/keringedge/ for inspiration and absurdity.
Or maybe you just want to learn the harmonica using TABs, you can check out my TABS Page here https://tunebasics.blogspot.com
And until next time, stay tuned!