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

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.

Steel DrumFree · printable · plays in your browser

O Christmas Tree — Steel Drum Letter Notes

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), 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.

  • Notes61, 8 pitches
  • RangeC5–D6
  • Key hereF major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a steel drum play O Christmas Tree?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from C5 to D6. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

O Christmas Tree: 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

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — steel drum letter notes · 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.

  • C5×3
  • E7×3
  • F1×12
  • G2×10
  • A3×18
  • B♭4×9
  • C5×5
  • D6×1

What to expect on a steel drum

  • It runs from C5 to D6, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 2 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, A5 to C5, at note 47.
  • 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

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 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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