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SongsHark! The Herald Angels Sing
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Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain.

41 keys · F3–A6 · 41 keys · The standard piano accordion: a 41-key keyboard, the same notes push or pull.

Tap a key, or slide along them to run from note to note on one breath of the bellows. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — A to ' are middle C up to F like a piano's white keys, W E T Y U O P the black ones; Z to / are ten bass notes and 1 to 0 their major chords (Shift for counterbass and minor); Space turns the bellows.

AccordionFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Accordion Letter Notes

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, written out for the accordion as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the Piano keys. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the accordion waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes76, 9 pitches
  • RangeG4–A5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 43 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a accordion play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Piano keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · loaded above
  • Buttons · C-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it
  • Buttons · B-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it
  • Diatonic · one row✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: accordion letter notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is its number in the scale. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — accordion letter notes (Piano keys) · tonalics.com

The 9 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 9 and you can play the whole tune.

  • G5×3
  • A6×1
  • B7×4
  • C1×13
  • D2×11
  • E3×15
  • F4×9
  • G5×14
  • A6×6

What to expect on a accordion

  • It runs from G4 to A5, an octave and a whole step, using 9 different notes. That leaves 14 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 72% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G4 to G5, at note 31.

About the tune

Mendelssohn wrote this melody in 1840 as part of a cantata marking four hundred years of printing, and said he thought it unsuitable for sacred words. In 1855 the English musician William H. Cummings fitted it to Charles Wesley’s carol anyway, and the pairing has been standard ever since.

Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain. The notes follow Sudbury Ancient Fyfe & Drum Companie carol book, transcribed by John Chambers, cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Hark! The Herald Angels Sing →

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, handpan or ocarina, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the accordion

All 36 accordion songs · Christmas songs for accordion · The online accordion on its own

Playing it on a real accordion?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The accordion tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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