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SongsJoy to the World
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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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The tune “Antioch”, arranged by Lowell Mason in the 1830s. Public domain.

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

Joy to the World — Erhu Notes

Joy to the World, 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.

  • Notes57, 8 pitches
  • RangeD4–D5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo92 bpm · about 25 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a erhu play Joy to the World?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to D5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Joy to the World: 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

Joy to the World — erhu notes · 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.

  • DD·0×3
  • ED·2×7
  • F♯D·4×13
  • GD·5×8
  • AA·0×8
  • BA·2×6
  • C♯A·4×5
  • DA·5×7

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to D5, an octave, using 8 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 7 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 93% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, D4 to D5, at note 49.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 9 times.
  • 11 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

The tune is called “Antioch”. The Boston hymn composer Lowell Mason published it in the 1830s, describing it as “from Handel”; the resemblance is to a few phrases of Messiah rather than to any one piece. It has been sung to Isaac Watts’s 1719 text ever since.

The tune “Antioch”, arranged by Lowell Mason in the 1830s. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Joy to the World →

Joy to the World 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 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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