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SongsThe First Noel
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4 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Traditional Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and with this tune in 1833. 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

The First Noel — Kalimba Tabs

The First Noel, written out for the kalimba as number tabs with the letter under every note and set up above on the 17-key. 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.

  • Notes72, 8 pitches
  • RangeC4–C5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 42 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a kalimba play The First Noel?

4 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 C5, which it does not have
  • 8-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–C5 · load it
  • 10-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–C5 · load it
  • 17-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–C5 · loaded above
  • 21-key✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–C5 · load it

The First Noel: 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

The First Noel — 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.

  • 1C4×3
  • 2D4×6
  • 3E4×9
  • 4F4×6
  • 5G4×12
  • 6A4×14
  • 7B4×13
  • 1•C5×9

What to expect on a kalimba

  • It runs from C4 to C5, an octave, using 8 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 16 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 93% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, C5 to G4, at note 23.
  • The left thumb plays 35 notes and the right 34, with 3 on the centre tine. The thumbs alternate the whole way through: no thumb ever has to play two different tines in a row.
  • The furthest it reaches from the centre is the 4th tine out.

About the tune

A Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and given with this tune in William Sandys’s collection of 1833. It is unusual among carols in that its verse and its refrain are nearly the same phrase, sung three times over — some scholars think the tune is a descant that outlived the melody it was written against.

Traditional Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and with this tune in 1833. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about The First Noel →

The First Noel 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 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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