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left handright handfoot jointB♭T123G♯B♭1D2D♯3E♭C♯Chead joint · left handright hand · foot jointB♭T123G♯B♭1D2D♯3E♭C♯C
C4concert pitch1st octavegentle air: the bottom of the tube
SongsUp on the Housetop
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Benjamin Hanby, 1864. Public domain.

37 notes · C4–C7 · three octaves · 37 notes · The standard concert flute: the foot joint ends at middle C.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the D above middle C and they climb a semitone at a time.

FluteFree · printable · plays in your browser

Up on the Housetop — Flute Notes

Up on the Housetop, written out for the flute as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the C foot. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the flute waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes67, 6 pitches
  • RangeG4–E5
  • Key hereG major
  • Tempo126 bpm · about 30 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a flute play Up on the Housetop?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • C foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–E5 · loaded above
  • B foot✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G4–E5 · load it

Up on the Housetop: flute notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. 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 — flute notes (C foot) · 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.

  • GG4×5
  • AA4×6
  • BB4×13
  • CC5×5
  • DD5×27
  • EE5×11

What to expect on a flute

  • It runs from G4 to E5, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 20 above.
  • 65% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, D5 to G4, at note 35.
  • It is played on gentle air and faster air, and the air speed changes 19 times — a flute’s octaves are a speed of air, not a key.

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 flute

All 36 flute songs · Christmas songs for flute · The online flute on its own

Playing it on a real flute?

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

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