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SongsJolly Old Saint Nicholas
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American, 19th century; the music was first published in 1874. Public domain.

61 bars · C2–C7, 61 bars · The concert and solo marimba — the full five octaves, down to the low C a cello plays.

Tap a bar, or drag across them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the bars are the ones to press — they run up the bars from middle C.

MarimbaFree · printable · plays in your browser

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas — Marimba Letter Notes

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, written out for the marimba as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the 5 octaves. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the marimba waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes48, 6 pitches
  • RangeG4–E5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo100 bpm · about 19 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a marimba play Jolly Old Saint Nicholas?

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.

  • 5 octaves✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–E5 · loaded above
  • 4.3 octaves✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–E5 · load it

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas: marimba letter notes

The large line is the note printed on the bar; the small line under it is its number in the scale. 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

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas — marimba letter notes (5 octaves) · tonalics.com

The 6 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 6 and you can play the whole tune.

  • G5×4
  • A6×8
  • B7×1
  • C1×13
  • D2×10
  • E3×12

What to expect on a marimba

  • It runs from G4 to E5, a major sixth, using 6 different notes. That leaves 31 semitones unused below and 20 above.
  • 85% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, E5 to A4, at note 13.
  • It uses only the front row — no sharps or flats in this key.

About the tune

An American children’s song whose words appeared as a poem in the 1860s. The music was first published in 1874 and is generally attributed to James R. Murray, the composer of the “Mueller” tune for Away in a Manger.

American, 19th century; the music was first published in 1874. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Jolly Old Saint Nicholas →

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas 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 marimba

All 36 marimba songs · Christmas songs for marimba · The online marimba on its own

Playing it on a real marimba?

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

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