# Frère Jacques

"Frère Jacques" is a French nursery round from around 1780 in which a sleeping friar is told to wake and ring the bells for matins; its four phrases share one harmony, so it can be sung as a canon in up to four parts.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Sung in | French |
| Words by | Traditional |
| First known | c. 1780 |
| Best for ages | 2–8 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/frere-jacques/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (fr)

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong.

### English singing version (en)

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John? Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, ding, dong. Ding, ding, dong.

## How to sing it

1. Teach everyone the whole tune first — it is only four short phrases and repeats twice.
2. Split into two groups. The first group starts; the second waits until the first reaches "Dormez-vous?" and then begins from the top.
3. Keep going round; with confident singers you can run three or four groups at two-bar intervals.
4. Agree a finish before you start, or it never ends — usually each group stops after singing the whole song twice.

## Common questions

**What does Frère Jacques mean in English?**

It means "Brother Jacques" — a friar or monk. The song asks whether he is still asleep and tells him to ring the morning bells, so a fair prose translation is: "Brother Jacques, are you sleeping? Ring the morning bells! Ding, ding, dong."

**Why is Frère Jacques sung as a round?**

Because it is built to be. All four phrases use the same underlying harmony, so they still sound right stacked on top of each other. That means singers can start at four different points and the result is pleasant rather than chaotic — which is also what makes it a good first experience of singing in parts.

**What are "les matines"?**

Matins is the first prayer service of the monastic day, held very early in the morning. Ringing the bell to wake the community for matins would have been someone's job — and in this song, Brother Jacques has slept through it.

**Is Brother John a real person?**

There is no evidence for one. Several theories have been proposed over the years, none of them convincing. The likeliest explanation is the dullest: "Jacques" is simply a very common French name, standing in for any monk at all.

## Sources

- Manuscript collection, Bibliothèque nationale de France (c. 1780)
- [Wikipedia — Frère Jacques](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A8re_Jacques)
- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q825728