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SongsThe First Noel
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Traditional Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and with this tune in 1833. 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

The First Noel — Steel Drum Letter Notes

The First Noel, 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.

  • Notes72, 8 pitches
  • RangeF4–F5
  • Key hereF major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 42 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a steel drum play The First Noel?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the steel drum, in F major from F4 to F5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

The First Noel: 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

The First Noel — 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.

  • F1×3
  • G2×6
  • A3×9
  • B♭4×6
  • C5×12
  • D6×14
  • E7×13
  • F1×9

What to expect on a steel drum

  • It runs from F4 to F5, an octave, using 8 different notes. That leaves 5 semitones unused below and 11 above.
  • 93% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, F5 to C5, at note 23.
  • 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 Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and given with this tune in William Sandys’s collection of 1833. It is unusual among carols in that its verse and its refrain are nearly the same phrase, sung three times over — some scholars think the tune is a descant that outlived the melody it was written against.

Traditional Cornish carol, first printed in 1823 and with this tune in 1833. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about The First Noel →

The First Noel on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, 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.

🎙 Open the Handpan Tuner