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SongsOde to Joy
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Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824. 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

Ode to Joy — Lyre Tabs

Ode to Joy, 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.

  • Notes30, 5 pitches
  • RangeC4–G4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 17 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a lyre play Ode to Joy?

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.

  • 7-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
  • 10-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it
  • 16-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · loaded above

Ode to Joy: 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

Ode to Joy — lyre tabs (16-string) · tonalics.com

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • 1str. 4×6
  • 2str. 5×7
  • 3str. 6×9
  • 4str. 7×4
  • 5str. 8×4

What to expect on a lyre

  • It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 14 above.
  • Every move is a step or a repeated note — there is no leap anywhere in it.
  • It is played on strings 4 to 8 of 16, 5 strings in all.

About the tune

The theme of the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, first performed in Vienna in 1824, where a choir joins the orchestra to sing Schiller’s poem “An die Freude”. An instrumental arrangement of it has been the anthem of the Council of Europe since 1972 and of the European Union since 1985.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824. Public domain. More about Ode to Joy →

Ode to Joy on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does 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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