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SongsO Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
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16 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning brings some of them into reach.

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  59. 7,
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  61. 1

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

2 strings · D4–A4 open · A5 at the octave · G key · 1 = G · 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

O Christmas Tree — Erhu Notes

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), written out for the erhu as every note with its string and how far up it, in G key, an octave lower. 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.

  • Notes61, 8 pitches
  • RangeD4–E5
  • Key hereG major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a erhu play O Christmas Tree?

↕ Plays, moved Not where the library writes it, but it fits in G key, an octave lower: G major, D4 to E5. That is the version loaded above and printed below. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

O Christmas Tree: 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

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — 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
  • F♯D·4×3
  • GD·5×12
  • AA·0×10
  • BA·2×18
  • CA·3×9
  • DA·5×5
  • EA·7×1

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to E5, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 5 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, B4 to D4, at note 47.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 14 times.
  • 13 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 7 semitones above the open string — it never leaves the bottom of the neck.

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 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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