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Top half blows, bottom half draws.

Hold a reed to blow or draw it. To bend, drag a draw note down — or a high blow note up — into the notes marked beside it. On a keyboard, ↓ sets a bend for the keys.

SongsDeck the Halls
Play a different song (34)

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

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  1. 6
  2. -5
  3. 5
  4. -4
  5. 4
  6. -4
  7. 5
  8. 4
  9. -4
  10. 5
  11. -5
  12. -4
  13. 5
  14. -4
  15. 4
  16. -3
  17. 4
  18. 6
  19. -5
  20. 5
  21. -4
  22. 4
  23. -4
  24. 5
  25. 4
  26. -4
  27. 5
  28. -5
  29. -4
  30. 5
  31. -4
  32. 4
  33. -3
  34. 4
  35. -4
  36. 5
  37. -5
  38. -4
  39. 5
  40. -5
  41. 6
  42. -4
  43. 5
  44. -5
  45. 6
  46. -6
  47. -7
  48. 7
  49. -7
  50. -6
  51. 6
  52. 6
  53. -5
  54. 5
  55. -4
  56. 4
  57. -4
  58. 5
  59. 4
  60. -6
  61. -6
  62. -6
  63. -6
  64. 6
  65. -5
  66. 5
  67. -4
  68. 4

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain.

20 reeds · 10 holes · 12 bent notes · C harmonica · Every reed on the piano’s pitch. Melodies sound the way you expect; chords beat a little.

Tap a reed, or slide along the holes to run through the notes in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the reeds are the ones to press — the number row blows holes 1 to 10 and the row under it draws them.

HarmonicaFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Harmonica Tabs

Deck the Halls, written out for the harmonica as hole-by-hole tab with every blow, draw and bend and set up above on the Equal tuning, an octave lower. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the harmonica waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeB4–C6
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a harmonica play Deck the Halls?

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.

  • Equal tuning↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: C major, B4–C6 · loaded above
  • Just tuning↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: C major, B4–C6 · load it

Deck the Halls: harmonica tabs

The large line is the hole — a minus means draw, each apostrophe a semitone of bend; the small line under it is the note it sounds. 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

Deck the Halls — harmonica tabs (Equal tuning) · tonalics.com

The 9 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 9 and you can play the whole tune.

  • -3B4×2
  • 4C5×11
  • -4D5×16
  • 5E5×14
  • -5F5×9
  • 6G5×7
  • -6A5×6
  • -7B5×2
  • 7C6×1

What to expect on a harmonica

  • It runs from B4 to C6, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 11 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 60.
  • 33 of its 68 notes are blown and 35 drawn, in holes 3 to 7.
  • No bends: every note is a plain blow or draw.
  • The breath changes direction 54 times.

About the tune

The tune is the Welsh winter air “Nos Galan” — New Year’s Eve — a dance melody that was sung with improvised verses and a harp answering each line. It was in print by the 1790s, and the English Christmas words were added in 1862.

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Deck the Halls →

Deck the Halls 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 harmonica

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

Playing it on a real harmonica?

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

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