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SongsCarol of the Bells (Shchedryk)
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Mykola Leontovych, “Shchedryk”, 1916. The melody is public domain; the later English lyric is not used here.

33 notes · E3–C6 written · sounds D3–B♭5 · 33 notes · The clarinet almost everyone plays: band, jazz, school. Sounds a whole step below the part.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is written G3 and they climb a semitone at a time.

ClarinetFree · printable · plays in your browser

Carol of the Bells — Clarinet Notes

Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) (the soprano line), written out for the clarinet as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the B♭ clarinet. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the clarinet waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes92, 11 pitches
  • RangeE4–A5
  • Key hereA minor
  • Tempo168 bpm · about 26 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a clarinet play Carol of the Bells?

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.

  • B♭ clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · loaded above
  • A clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it
  • E♭ clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it
  • Bass clarinet✓ Plays as writtenIn A minor, E4–A5 · load it

The notes here are written pitch, which is what a clarinet player reads. On the B♭ clarinet this sounds in G minor.

Carol of the Bells: clarinet notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. 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

Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) — clarinet notes (B♭ clarinet) · 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.

  • EE4×2
  • F♯F♯4×2
  • G♯G♯4×2
  • AA4×16
  • BB4×10
  • CC5×25
  • DD5×14
  • EE5×16
  • FF5×1
  • GG5×1
  • AA5×3

What to expect on a clarinet

  • It runs from E4 to A5, an octave and a fourth, using 11 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 3 above.
  • 69% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 33.
  • It crosses the break 21 times — between B♭4 and B4, where the register key comes in — which is the hard part of this tune on this instrument.

About the tune

The Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych wrote “Shchedryk” for unaccompanied choir, built on a four-note folk chant sung at the New Year; it was first performed in Kyiv in 1916. A touring Ukrainian choir brought it to the United States in the early 1920s, where English words about bells were later written for it. Leontovych died in 1921 and his music is in the public domain; the English lyric is not, and is not used here.

Mykola Leontovych, “Shchedryk”, 1916. The melody is public domain; the later English lyric is not used here. The notes follow Wikipedia, “Shchedryk (song)” (engraved score). More about Carol of the Bells →

Carol of the Bells on other instruments

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

More songs for the clarinet

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

Playing it on a real clarinet?

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

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