TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Erhu songs
SongsO Holy Night
Play a different song (28)

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

Play along
  1. 3
  2. 3
  3. 3
  4. 5
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 6
  8. 4
  9. 6
  10. 1'
  11. 5
  12. 5
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 1
  16. 3
  17. 4
  18. 5
  19. 4
  20. 2
  21. 1
  22. 3
  23. 3
  24. 3
  25. 5
  26. 5
  27. 6
  28. 6
  29. 4
  30. 6
  31. 1'
  32. 5
  33. 5
  34. #4
  35. 3
  36. 7
  37. 5
  38. 6
  39. 7
  40. 1'
  41. 7
  42. 3
  43. 5
  44. 5
  45. 6
  46. 2
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. 5
  50. 1'
  51. 3
  52. 6
  53. 5
  54. 5
  55. 5
  56. 6
  57. 2
  58. 5
  59. 6
  60. 5
  61. 1'
  62. 3
  63. 5
  64. 1'
  65. 7
  66. 6
  67. 7
  68. 7
  69. 2'
  70. 6
  71. 6
  72. 6
  73. 1'
  74. 1'
  75. 3'
  76. 2'
  77. 5
  78. 1'
  79. 7
  80. 6
  81. 5
  82. 5
  83. 6
  84. 5
  85. 5
  86. 1'
  87. 2'
  88. 5
  89. 3'
  90. 2'
  91. 1'
  92. 7
  93. 1'
  94. 2'
  95. 1'

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. 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

O Holy Night — Erhu Notes

O Holy Night, 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.

  • Notes95, 11 pitches
  • RangeD4–F♯5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo150 bpm · about 2 min
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a erhu play O Holy Night?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to F♯5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

O Holy Night: 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 Holy Night — erhu notes · tonalics.com

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

  • DD·0×2
  • ED·2×4
  • F♯D·4×12
  • GD·5×4
  • G♯D·6×1
  • AA·0×26
  • BA·2×18
  • C♯A·4×8
  • DA·5×13
  • EA·7×5
  • F♯A·9×2

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to F♯5, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 3 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, A4 to F♯5, at note 89.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 21 times.
  • 28 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 9 semitones above the open string.

About the tune

Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballet Giselle, wrote it in 1847 as “Cantique de Noël” for a poem by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant in the southern French town of Roquemaure. It is a solo song rather than a congregational carol, and it is written like an aria.

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Holy Night →

O Holy Night on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, harp or lyre, 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.

🎙 Open the Erhu Tuner