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SongsHark! The Herald Angels Sing
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain.

34 strings · C2–A6 · C major · The floor harp: four and a half octaves down to C2. With every lever down it is C2–A♭6.

Tap a string, or sweep across them for the glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings left to right. Each string has a lever above it that raises that one string a semitone; the key menu is a shortcut for moving several at once.

HarpFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Harp Letter Notes

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, written out for the harp as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the 34-string. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the harp waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes76, 9 pitches
  • RangeG4–A5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 43 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a harp play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

Yes — every size 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.

  • 22-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it
  • 26-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it
  • 34-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · loaded above

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: harp letter notes

The large line is the string’s note; the small line under it is its number in the scale. 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

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — harp letter notes (34-string) · 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.

  • G5×3
  • A6×1
  • B7×4
  • C1×13
  • D2×11
  • E3×15
  • F4×9
  • G5×14
  • A6×6

What to expect on a harp

  • It runs from G4 to A5, an octave and a whole step, using 9 different notes. That leaves 31 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 72% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G4 to G5, at note 31.
  • It is played on strings 19 to 27 of 34, 9 strings in all.
  • Set the levers for C major before you start; nothing has to be flipped mid-tune.

About the tune

Mendelssohn wrote this melody in 1840 as part of a cantata marking four hundred years of printing, and said he thought it unsuitable for sacred words. In 1855 the English musician William H. Cummings fitted it to Charles Wesley’s carol anyway, and the pairing has been standard ever since.

Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain. The notes follow Sudbury Ancient Fyfe & Drum Companie carol book, transcribed by John Chambers, cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Hark! The Herald Angels Sing →

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, handpan or ocarina, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the harp

All 34 harp songs · Christmas songs for harp · The online harp on its own

Playing it on a real harp?

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

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