O Holy Night on Harmonica — Tabs, Notes & Play Online

Notes95, 11 pitches
RangeC4–E5
Key hereC major
Tempo150 bpm · about 2 min
LevelIntermediate

Can a harmonica play O Holy Night?

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, C4–E5 · loaded above
Just tuning↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: C major, C4–E5 · load it

O Holy Night: 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

O Holy Night — harmonica tabs (Equal tuning) · tonalics.com

2E4––2E4–2E43G4–×53G4-3’’A4–

-3’’A4-2’’F4–-3’’A44C5–×63G4–3G42E4–

-1D41C4––2E4–-2’’F43G4––-2’’F4–

-1D41C4–×122E4––2E4–2E43G4–×5

3G4-3’’A4–-3’’A4-2’’F4–-3’’A44C5–×6

3G4–3G4-2’F♯4–2E4-3B4––3G4–

-3’’A4-3B4––4C5–-3B42E4–×113G43G4––-3’’A4––-1D4––3G4––

-3’’A4–3G44C5–2E4-3’’A4––3G4–

3G43G4––-3’’A4––-1D4––3G4––-3’’A4–

3G44C5–2E43G4–×64C5–×9-3B4–

-3’’A4-3B4–×9-3B4––-4D5–×8-3’’A4-3’’A4–

-3’’A44C5–×114C55E5–×6-4D5–×53G44C5–×9

-3B4–-3’’A43G4–×83G4-3’’A4–3G43G4–×9

4C5––-4D5–×93G4––5E5–×9-4D5––4C5–×6-3B4––4C5–-4D54C5–×12

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.

1C4×2
-1D4×4
2E4×12
-2’’F4×4
-2’F♯4×1
3G4×26
-3’’A4×18
-3B4×8
4C5×13
-4D5×5
5E5×2

What to expect on a harmonica

It runs from C4 to E5, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 20 semitones of range are left above it.
60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, G4 to E5, at note 89.
55 of its 95 notes are blown and 40 drawn, in holes 1 to 5.
23 notes need a bend (-3’’, -2’’ and -2’), which is the part to practise first.
The breath changes direction 44 times.

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 harmonica

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