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SongsO Holy Night
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  1. 3,
  2. 3,
  3. 3,
  4. 5,
  5. 5,
  6. 6,
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  34. #4,
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  86. 1
  87. 2
  88. 5,
  89. 3
  90. 2
  91. 1
  92. 7,
  93. 1
  94. 2
  95. 1

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. 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

O Holy Night — Cello Notes

O Holy Night, 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.

  • Notes95, 11 pitches
  • RangeC3–E4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo150 bpm · about 2 min
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a cello play O Holy Night?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the cello, in C major from C3 to E4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

O Holy Night: 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

O Holy Night — cello notes · tonalics.com

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

  • CG·5×2
  • DD·0×4
  • ED·2×12
  • FD·3×4
  • F♯D·4×1
  • GD·5×26
  • AA·0×18
  • BA·2×8
  • CA·3×13
  • DA·5×5
  • EA·7×2

What to expect on a cello

  • It runs from C3 to E4, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, G3 to E4, at note 89.
  • It is played on 3 strings (G, D and A), crossing between strings 39 times.
  • 22 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 7 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

About the tune

Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballet Giselle, wrote it in 1847 as “Cantique de Noël” for a poem by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant in the southern French town of Roquemaure. It is a solo song rather than a congregational carol, and it is written like an aria.

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Holy Night →

O Holy Night on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, harp or lyre, 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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