O Christmas Tree on Lyre — Tabs, Letter Notes & Play Online

Notes61, 8 pitches
RangeG4–A5
Key hereC major
Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
LevelIntermediate

Can a lyre play O Christmas Tree?

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, B3, which it does not have
10-string✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, which it does not have
16-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · loaded above

O Christmas Tree: 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

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — lyre tabs (16-string) · tonalics.com

5str. 81•str. 111•str. 111•str. 112•str. 123•str. 133•str. 133•str. 133•str. 132•str. 123•str. 134•str. 147str. 102•str. 121•str. 115str. 8

1•str. 111•str. 111•str. 112•str. 123•str. 133•str. 133•str. 133•str. 132•str. 123•str. 134•str. 147str. 102•str. 121•str. 115•str. 155•str. 15

3•str. 136•str. 165•str. 155•str. 154•str. 144•str. 144•str. 144•str. 142•str. 125•str. 154•str. 144•str. 143•str. 133•str. 135str. 81•str. 11

1•str. 111•str. 112•str. 123•str. 133•str. 133•str. 133•str. 132•str. 123•str. 134•str. 147str. 102•str. 121•str. 11

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.

5str. 8×3
7str. 10×3
1•str. 11×12
2•str. 12×10
3•str. 13×18
4•str. 14×9
5•str. 15×5
6•str. 16×1

What to expect on a lyre

It runs from G4 to A5, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. Its top note is the highest this instrument has.
73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, E5 to G4, at note 47.
It is played on strings 8 to 16 of 16, 8 strings in all.

About the tune

A German folk melody with roots in the 16th century, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since the Leipzig organist Ernst Anschütz wrote the words used today in 1824. The same tune carries several unrelated songs, among them the British labour anthem “The Red Flag” and the state song of Iowa.

German traditional melody, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since 1824. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Christmas Tree →

O Christmas Tree 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 lyre

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