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SongsGoing Home (Largo, New World Symphony)
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Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, second movement, 1893. The melody is public domain; the later “Goin’ Home” lyric is not used here.

29 notes · C4–E6 · 29 notes in three rings · The lead pan of a steel band, in the fourths-and-fifths layout almost every tenor is built in today.

Tap a note, or drag across them to roll from note to note. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — they climb the pan a semitone at a time from the low C.

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Going Home (New World Largo) — Steel Drum Letter Notes

Going Home (Largo, New World Symphony) (the opening theme), written out for the steel drum as letter notes, phrase by phrase. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the steel drum waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes22, 4 pitches
  • RangeF4–C5
  • Key hereF major
  • Tempo66 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a steel drum play Going Home (New World Largo)?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from F4 to C5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Going Home (New World Largo): steel drum letter notes

The large line is the note stamped on the pan; 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

Going Home (Largo, New World Symphony) — steel drum letter notes · tonalics.com

The 4 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 4 and you can play the whole tune.

  • F1×4
  • G2×6
  • A3×7
  • C5×5

What to expect on a steel drum

  • It runs from F4 to C5, a fifth, using 4 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 16 above.
  • 71% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor third, A4 to C5, at note 2.
  • Its notes sit in 2 of the pan’s three rings, so the stick moves in and out as well as around.

About the tune

This is the cor anglais melody that opens the slow movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, written in New York in 1893 while he was director of the National Conservatory. It sounds like a spiritual and is often taken for one, but the tune is Dvořák’s own.

Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, second movement, 1893. The melody is public domain; the later “Goin’ Home” lyric is not used here. More about Going Home (New World Largo) →

Going Home (New World Largo) on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation.

More songs for the steel drum

All 36 steel drum songs · Christmas songs for steel drum · The online steel drum on its own

Playing it on a real steel drum?

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

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