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‹ Harmonica songs

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.

SongsUp on the Housetop
Play a different song (34)

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

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

Benjamin Hanby, 1864. 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

Up on the Housetop — Harmonica Tabs

Up on the Housetop, written out for the harmonica as hole-by-hole tab with every blow, draw and bend and set up above on the Equal tuning. 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.

  • Notes67, 6 pitches
  • RangeC5–A5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo126 bpm · about 30 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a harmonica 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.

  • Equal tuning✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C5–A5 · loaded above
  • Just tuning✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C5–A5 · load it

Up on the Housetop: 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

Up on the Housetop — harmonica tabs (Equal tuning) · 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.

  • 4C5×5
  • -4D5×6
  • 5E5×13
  • -5F5×5
  • 6G5×27
  • -6A5×11

What to expect on a harmonica

  • It runs from C5 to A5, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 15 above.
  • 65% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, G5 to C5, at note 35.
  • 45 of its 67 notes are blown and 22 drawn, in holes 4 to 6.
  • No bends: every note is a plain blow or draw.
  • The breath changes direction 30 times.

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 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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