TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Dulcimer songs
SongsO Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
Play a different song (34)

2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

Play along
  1. 5
  2. 1'
  3. 1'
  4. 1'
  5. 2'
  6. 3'
  7. 3'
  8. 3'
  9. 3'
  10. 2'
  11. 3'
  12. 4'
  13. 7
  14. 2'
  15. 1'
  16. 5
  17. 1'
  18. 1'
  19. 1'
  20. 2'
  21. 3'
  22. 3'
  23. 3'
  24. 3'
  25. 2'
  26. 3'
  27. 4'
  28. 7
  29. 2'
  30. 1'
  31. 5'
  32. 5'
  33. 3'
  34. 6'
  35. 5'
  36. 5'
  37. 4'
  38. 4'
  39. 4'
  40. 4'
  41. 2'
  42. 5'
  43. 4'
  44. 4'
  45. 3'
  46. 3'
  47. 5
  48. 1'
  49. 1'
  50. 1'
  51. 2'
  52. 3'
  53. 3'
  54. 3'
  55. 3'
  56. 2'
  57. 3'
  58. 4'
  59. 7
  60. 2'
  61. 1'

German traditional melody, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since 1824. 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

O Christmas Tree — Dulcimer Tab

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), 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.

  • Notes61, 8 pitches
  • RangeA4–B5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a dulcimer play O Christmas Tree?

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, A4–B5 · loaded above
  • DAA↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: D major, A3–B4 · load it

O Christmas Tree: 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

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — 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.

  • 4A4×3
  • 6½C♯5×3
  • 7D5×12
  • 8E5×10
  • 9F♯5×18
  • 10G5×9
  • 11A5×5
  • 12B5×1

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from A4 to B5, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 3 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, F♯5 to A4, at note 47.
  • It uses 8 fret positions: 4, 6½, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
  • The whole tune is on the melody string, so it can be played with a noter while the other strings drone.
  • It needs the 6½ fret, which dulcimers built before about 1980 often lack.

About the tune

A German folk melody with roots in the 16th century, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since the Leipzig organist Ernst Anschütz wrote the words used today in 1824. The same tune carries several unrelated songs, among them the British labour anthem “The Red Flag” and the state song of Iowa.

German traditional melody, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since 1824. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Christmas Tree →

O Christmas Tree 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 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.

🎙 Open the Dulcimer Tuner