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SongsJingle Bells
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8 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning brings some of them into reach.

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James Lord Pierpont, published 1857 as “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Public domain. The chorus.

2 strings · D4–A4 open · A5 at the octave · D key · 1 = D · A perfect fifth, the same interval a violin uses between neighbours. Those two notes are the entire tuning; everything above them is your hand.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never leaves the strings. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — the inner string is the upper key — hold one and the note holds.

ErhuFree · printable · plays in your browser

Jingle Bells — Erhu Notes

Jingle Bells (the chorus), written out for the erhu 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 erhu waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes51, 5 pitches
  • RangeD4–A4
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a erhu play Jingle Bells?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to A4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Jingle Bells: erhu 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

Jingle Bells — erhu notes · tonalics.com

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • DD·0×3
  • ED·2×6
  • F♯D·4×26
  • GD·5×11
  • AA·0×5

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to A4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 12 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 84% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, A4 to D4, at note 9.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 8 times.
  • 8 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 5 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

About the tune

James Lord Pierpont published it in Boston in 1857 under the title “One Horse Open Sleigh”; it was reissued two years later with the name everyone knows. It is a sleighing song and does not mention Christmas at all, but it has belonged to the season for well over a century.

James Lord Pierpont, published 1857 as “One Horse Open Sleigh”. Public domain. The chorus. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about Jingle Bells →

Jingle Bells on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.

More songs for the erhu

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

Playing it on a real erhu?

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

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