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SongsMo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花)
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

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Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain.

3 strings · D3–D6 · No capo · D · Today’s standard — Mixolydian from the open string, and the tuning every modern tab is written for.

Tap a string, or drag down across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings, melody first.

DulcimerFree · printable · plays in your browser

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) — Dulcimer Tab

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花), written out for the dulcimer as fret numbers for the melody string and set up above on the DAD. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the dulcimer waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes67, 8 pitches
  • RangeA3–D5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo84 bpm · about 40 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a dulcimer play Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower)?

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.

  • DAD✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, A3–D5 · loaded above
  • DAA✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, A3–D5 · load it

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower): dulcimer tab

The large line is the fret, on the melody string unless a string is named; the small line under it is the note. 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

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花) — dulcimer tab (DAD) · tonalics.com

The 8 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 8 and you can play the whole tune.

  • A0A3×2
  • A1B3×3
  • 0D4×8
  • 1E4×9
  • 2F♯4×14
  • 4A4×17
  • 5B4×9
  • 7D5×5

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from A3 to D5, an octave and a fourth, using 8 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 62% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, D5 to A4, at note 50.
  • It uses 6 fret positions: 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7.
  • 5 notes fall on another string, so it cannot be played with a noter alone.

About the tune

A folk song from the Jiangsu region dating to the Qianlong era of the 18th century. It was the first Chinese melody to become widely known in Europe, printed in London in 1804 by John Barrow, and Puccini used it throughout his opera Turandot.

Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain. More about Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) →

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) on other instruments

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

More songs for the dulcimer

All 35 dulcimer songs · Christmas songs for dulcimer · The online dulcimer on its own

Playing it on a real dulcimer?

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

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