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0 ¢ · L1 = 261.6 Hz

Mbira have no standard pitch — slide this until it matches the one in your hands.

SongsO Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
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3 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning brings some of them into reach.

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German traditional melody, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since 1824. Public domain.

22 keys · C3–B5 as notated · Approximates Ionian, the plain major scale. The seventh is the note that separates it from Nyamaropa.

Tap a key, or drag along a manual to run through it. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — they run left to right across the board. The manuals are lettered on the keys — L for the upper left manual, B for the bass manual, R for the right manual — and each is numbered outward from the middle of the board, which is how mbira players and every mbira score name them.

MbiraFree · printable · plays in your browser

O Christmas Tree — Mbira Tabs

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), written out for the mbira as the key to press for every note and set up above on the Dambatsoko. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the mbira waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

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

Can a mbira play O Christmas Tree?

1 of the 4 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.

  • Nyamaropa✕ Cannot play itNeeds B4, which it does not have
  • Dambatsoko✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · loaded above
  • Katsanzaira✕ Cannot play itNeeds B4, E5, which it does not have
  • Mavembe✕ Cannot play itNeeds B4, D5, E5, A5, which it does not have

O Christmas Tree: mbira tabs

The large line is the key to press, by manual and position; the small line under it is the scale degree it sounds. 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.

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O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — mbira tabs (Dambatsoko) · 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.

  • L25×3
  • L57×3
  • L61×12
  • L72×10
  • R43×18
  • R54×9
  • R65×5
  • R76×1

What to expect on a mbira

  • It runs from G4 to A5, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 2 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, E5 to G4, at note 47.
  • It uses 8 keys across 2 manuals (L and R).

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 mbira

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