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SongsSilent Night
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  1. 5,
  2. 6,
  3. 5,
  4. 3,
  5. 5,
  6. 6,
  7. 5,
  8. 3,
  9. 2
  10. 2
  11. 7,
  12. 1
  13. 1
  14. 5,
  15. 6,
  16. 6,
  17. 1
  18. 7,
  19. 6,
  20. 5,
  21. 6,
  22. 5,
  23. 3,
  24. 6,
  25. 6,
  26. 1
  27. 7,
  28. 6,
  29. 5,
  30. 6,
  31. 5,
  32. 3,
  33. 2
  34. 2
  35. 4
  36. 2
  37. 7,
  38. 1
  39. 3
  40. 1
  41. 5,
  42. 3,
  43. 5,
  44. 4,
  45. 2,
  46. 1,

Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818. 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

Silent Night — Cello Notes

Silent 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.

  • Notes46, 11 pitches
  • RangeC3–F4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo150 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a cello play Silent Night?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the cello, in C major from C3 to F4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Silent 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

Silent 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·5×1
  • DD·0×1
  • ED·2×5
  • FD·3×1
  • GD·5×11
  • AA·0×10
  • BA·2×4
  • CA·3×6
  • DA·5×5
  • EA·7×1
  • FA·8×1

What to expect on a cello

  • It runs from C3 to F4, an octave and a fourth, using 11 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 11 above.
  • 53% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor seventh, E3 to D4, at note 9.
  • It is played on 3 strings (G, D and A), crossing between strings 17 times.
  • 11 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 8 semitones above the open string.

About the tune

Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher and organist, wrote the melody on Christmas Eve 1818 for a poem by the young priest Joseph Mohr, and the two sang it that night in the church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf with Mohr accompanying on guitar. It spread through travelling Tyrolean singers and has since been translated into several hundred languages.

Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818. Public domain. The notes follow Wikipedia, “Silent Night” (engraved score), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Silent Night →

Silent Night on other instruments

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