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SongsUp on the Housetop
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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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  1. 5
  2. 5
  3. 6
  4. 5
  5. 3
  6. 2
  7. 1
  8. 3
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 6
  12. 5
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 5
  16. 5
  17. 5
  18. 5
  19. 6
  20. 5
  21. 3
  22. 2
  23. 1
  24. 3
  25. 5
  26. 6
  27. 6
  28. 6
  29. 5
  30. 5
  31. 3
  32. 3
  33. 2
  34. 5
  35. 1
  36. 4
  37. 4
  38. 6
  39. 5
  40. 5
  41. 5
  42. 3
  43. 2
  44. 4
  45. 4
  46. 3
  47. 5
  48. 5
  49. 1
  50. 3
  51. 5
  52. 5
  53. 6
  54. 5
  55. 3
  56. 4
  57. 5
  58. 6
  59. 5
  60. 5
  61. 6
  62. 5
  63. 3
  64. 3
  65. 2
  66. 5
  67. 1

Benjamin Hanby, 1864. 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

Up on the Housetop — Erhu Notes

Up on the Housetop, 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.

  • Notes67, 6 pitches
  • RangeD4–B4
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo126 bpm · about 30 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a erhu play Up on the Housetop?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the erhu, in D major from D4 to B4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Up on the Housetop: 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

Up on the Housetop — erhu notes · tonalics.com

The 6 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 6 and you can play the whole tune.

  • DD·0×5
  • ED·2×6
  • F♯D·4×13
  • GD·5×5
  • AA·0×27
  • BA·2×11

What to expect on a erhu

  • It runs from D4 to B4, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 10 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 65% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, A4 to D4, at note 35.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 19 times.
  • 32 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

Written by Benjamin Hanby in New Paris, Ohio, in 1864. It is usually counted as the first Christmas song to be about Santa Claus.

Benjamin Hanby, 1864. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about Up on the Housetop →

Up on the Housetop 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.

🎙 Open the Erhu Tuner