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SongsMo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花)
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3 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain.

17 tines · C4–E6 · C major · The standard. Almost every tab you find is written for this.

Tap a tine, or drag across them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the tines are the ones to press — they follow the tines left to right.

KalimbaFree · printable · plays in your browser

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) — Kalimba Tabs

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花), written out for the kalimba as number tabs with the letter under every note and set up above on the 17-key, an octave higher. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the kalimba waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes67, 8 pitches
  • RangeG4–C6
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo84 bpm · about 40 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a kalimba play Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower)?

2 of the 5 here do. 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.

  • 7-note✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, A3, C5, which it does not have
  • 8-key✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, A3, which it does not have
  • 10-key✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, A3, which it does not have
  • 17-key↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave higher: C major, G4–C6 · loaded above
  • 21-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G3–C5 · load it

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower): kalimba tabs

The large line is the number stamped on the tine; the small line under it is its letter name. 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

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花) — kalimba tabs (17-key) · tonalics.com

The 8 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 8 and you can play the whole tune.

  • 5G4×2
  • 6A4×3
  • 1•C5×8
  • 2•D5×9
  • 3•E5×14
  • 5•G5×17
  • 6•A5×9
  • 1••C6×5

What to expect on a kalimba

  • It runs from G4 to C6, an octave and a fourth, using 8 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 4 above.
  • 62% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, C6 to G5, at note 50.
  • The left thumb plays 42 notes and the right 25. 22 times one thumb plays two different tines in a row — those are the spots to slow down for.
  • The furthest it reaches from the centre is the 7th tine out.

About the tune

A folk song from the Jiangsu region dating to the Qianlong era of the 18th century. It was the first Chinese melody to become widely known in Europe, printed in London in 1804 by John Barrow, and Puccini used it throughout his opera Turandot.

Chinese traditional, Jiangsu region; the tune dates to the Qianlong era (1735–1796) and was first printed in the West in 1804. Public domain. More about Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) →

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) on other instruments

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

More songs for the kalimba

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

Playing it on a real kalimba?

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

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