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SongsHark! The Herald Angels Sing
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  1. 5,
  2. 1
  3. 1
  4. 7,
  5. 1
  6. 3
  7. 3
  8. 2
  9. 5
  10. 5
  11. 5
  12. 4
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 5,
  17. 1
  18. 1
  19. 7,
  20. 1
  21. 3
  22. 3
  23. 2
  24. 5
  25. 2
  26. 2
  27. 7,
  28. 7,
  29. 6,
  30. 5,
  31. 5
  32. 5
  33. 5
  34. 1
  35. 4
  36. 3
  37. 3
  38. 2
  39. 5
  40. 5
  41. 5
  42. 1
  43. 4
  44. 3
  45. 3
  46. 2
  47. 6
  48. 6
  49. 6
  50. 5
  51. 4
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 2
  55. 3
  56. 4
  57. 5
  58. 1
  59. 1
  60. 2
  61. 3
  62. 6
  63. 6
  64. 6
  65. 5
  66. 4
  67. 3
  68. 4
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 1
  74. 1
  75. 2
  76. 1

Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain.

4 strings · C2–A3 open · E5 up the A string in thumb position · Perfect fifths, exactly an octave below a viola. The C string is the deepest note in a string quartet.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never stops. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they run down the strings, the A at the top — hold a key and the note holds.

CelloFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Cello Notes

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, written out for the cello as every note with its string and how far up it. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the cello waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes76, 9 pitches
  • RangeG3–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 43 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a cello play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the cello, in C major from G3 to A4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: cello notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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 — cello notes · 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.

  • GD·5×3
  • AA·0×1
  • BA·2×4
  • CA·3×13
  • DA·5×11
  • EA·7×15
  • FA·8×9
  • GA·10×14
  • AA·12×6

What to expect on a cello

  • It runs from G3 to A4, an octave and a whole step, using 9 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 7 above.
  • 72% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G3 to G4, at note 31.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 5 times.
  • 1 note is an open string, and the highest stop is 12 semitones above the open string.

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 cello

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

Playing it on a real cello?

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

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