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Asounds A4 ¡ 0 of 12 holes open
SongsO Holy Night
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13 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain.

21 notes · A4–F6 sounding · 21 notes · written an octave lower · The standard modern ocarina: ten finger holes, two thumb holes and two subholes that reach the A and B below the C.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note without a new breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — they run up the ocarina a semitone at a time from the low A.

OcarinaFree ¡ printable ¡ plays in your browser

O Holy Night — Ocarina Notes

O Holy Night, written out for the ocarina as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the ocarina waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes95, 11 pitches
  • RangeC4–E5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo150 bpm ¡ about 2 min
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a ocarina play O Holy Night?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the ocarina, in C major from C4 to E5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

O Holy Night: ocarina notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. 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 Holy Night — ocarina notes · tonalics.com

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

  • CC4×2
  • DD4×4
  • EE4×12
  • FF4×4
  • F♯F♯4×1
  • GG4×26
  • AA4×18
  • BB4×8
  • CC5×13
  • DD5×5
  • EE5×2

What to expect on a ocarina

  • It runs from C4 to E5, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. That leaves 3 semitones unused below and 1 above.
  • 60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, G4 to E5, at note 89.
  • Its lowest note covers 10 of the 12 holes and its highest 1; the biggest change between two neighbouring notes moves 5 fingers at once.

About the tune

Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballet Giselle, wrote it in 1847 as “Cantique de Noël” for a poem by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant in the southern French town of Roquemaure. It is a solo song rather than a congregational carol, and it is written like an aria.

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Holy Night →

O Holy Night on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, harp or lyre, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the ocarina

All 24 ocarina songs ¡ Christmas songs for ocarina ¡ The online ocarina on its own

Playing it on a real ocarina?

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

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