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Asounds A4 · 0 of 12 holes open
SongsOde to Joy
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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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Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824. 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

Ode to Joy — Ocarina Notes

Ode to Joy, 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.

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

Can a ocarina play Ode to Joy?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the ocarina, in C major from C4 to G4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Ode to Joy: 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

Ode to Joy — ocarina notes · 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.

  • CC4×6
  • DD4×7
  • EE4×9
  • FF4×4
  • GG4×4

What to expect on a ocarina

  • It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. That leaves 3 semitones unused below and 10 above.
  • Every move is a step or a repeated note — there is no leap anywhere in it.
  • Its lowest note covers 10 of the 12 holes and its highest 6; the biggest change between two neighbouring notes moves 1 finger at once.

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 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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