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SongsO Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)
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German traditional melody, sung as “O Tannenbaum” since 1824. Public domain.

6 courses · C2–C4 open · C5 at the octave · The most widespread modern Arabic tuning. Fourths, except for the major third between the 5th and 4th courses.

Tap a course, or slide along a course to bend the note the way a fretless neck does. On a keyboard the letters on the courses are the ones to press — they run down the courses, 1 at the top.

OudFree · printable · plays in your browser

O Christmas Tree — Oud Notes

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), written out for the oud as every note with its string and how far up it and set up above on the Arabic. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the oud waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes61, 8 pitches
  • RangeG3–A4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a oud play O Christmas Tree?

Yes — every one 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.

  • Arabic✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G3–A4 · loaded above
  • Turkish✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G3–A4 · load it

O Christmas Tree: oud notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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 Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — oud notes (Arabic) · 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.

  • GG·0×3
  • BG·4×3
  • CC·0×12
  • DC·2×10
  • EC·4×18
  • FC·5×9
  • GC·7×5
  • AC·9×1

What to expect on a oud

  • It runs from G3 to A4, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 3 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, E4 to G3, at note 47.
  • It is played on 2 strings (G and C), crossing between strings 11 times.
  • 15 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 9 semitones above the open string.

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 oud

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

Playing it on a real oud?

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

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