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SongsMo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花)
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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.

16 strings · G3–A5 · C major · The common size, and what most lyre tabs assume. Two full octaves and a bit.

Tap a string, or sweep across them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings left to right.

LyreFree · printable · plays in your browser

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) — Lyre Tabs

Mo Li Hua · Jasmine Flower (茉莉花), written out for the lyre as number tabs with the letter under every note and set up above on the 16-string. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the lyre waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes67, 8 pitches
  • RangeG3–C5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo84 bpm · about 40 s
  • LevelIntermediate

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

1 of the 3 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-string✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, A3, C5, which it does not have
  • 10-string✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, which it does not have
  • 16-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G3–C5 · loaded above

Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower): lyre tabs

The large line is the note’s number in the scale; the small line under it is the string to pluck. 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) — lyre tabs (16-string) · 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.

  • 5•str. 1×2
  • 6•str. 2×3
  • 1str. 4×8
  • 2str. 5×9
  • 3str. 6×14
  • 5str. 8×17
  • 6str. 9×9
  • 1•str. 11×5

What to expect on a lyre

  • It runs from G3 to C5, an octave and a fourth, using 8 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 9 semitones of range are left above it.
  • 62% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, C5 to G4, at note 50.
  • It is played on strings 1 to 11 of 16, 8 strings in all.

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 lyre

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

Playing it on a real lyre?

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

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