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B♭B♭3 · concert pitch1st position · 4th partialalso 5th position · 5th partial
SongsHark! The Herald Angels Sing
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  1. 5,
  2. 1
  3. 1
  4. 7,
  5. 1
  6. 3
  7. 3
  8. 2
  9. 5
  10. 5
  11. 5
  12. 4
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 3
  16. 5,
  17. 1
  18. 1
  19. 7,
  20. 1
  21. 3
  22. 3
  23. 2
  24. 5
  25. 2
  26. 2
  27. 7,
  28. 7,
  29. 6,
  30. 5,
  31. 5
  32. 5
  33. 5
  34. 1
  35. 4
  36. 3
  37. 3
  38. 2
  39. 5
  40. 5
  41. 5
  42. 1
  43. 4
  44. 3
  45. 3
  46. 2
  47. 6
  48. 6
  49. 6
  50. 5
  51. 4
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 2
  55. 3
  56. 4
  57. 5
  58. 1
  59. 1
  60. 2
  61. 3
  62. 6
  63. 6
  64. 6
  65. 5
  66. 4
  67. 3
  68. 4
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 1
  74. 1
  75. 2
  76. 1

Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain.

38 notes · E2–F5 · the pedal B♭1 on the ladder · 38 notes · The B♭ tenor trombone: nine feet of tube and seven positions — the one in every band.

Tap a note, or slide along them to play legato, from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the low F in 6th position, and they climb a semitone at a time.

TromboneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Trombone Notes

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, written out for the trombone as every note with its slide position and set up above on the Tenor. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the trombone waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes76, 9 pitches
  • RangeF3–G4
  • Key hereB♭ major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 43 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a trombone play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

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.

  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–G4 · loaded above
  • Tenor + F trigger✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–G4 · load it
  • Alto in E♭✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, F3–G4 · load it

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: trombone notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the slide position — T means with the F trigger held. 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

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — trombone notes (Tenor) · tonalics.com

The 9 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 9 and you can play the whole tune.

  • F1st×3
  • G4th×1
  • A2nd×4
  • B♭1st×13
  • C3rd×11
  • D1st×15
  • E♭3rd×9
  • F1st×14
  • G4th×6

What to expect on a trombone

  • It runs from F3 to G4, an octave and a whole step, using 9 different notes. That leaves 13 semitones unused below and 10 above.
  • 72% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, F3 to F4, at note 31.
  • It uses 4 slide positions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
  • The longest move between two neighbouring notes is 3 positions.

About the tune

Mendelssohn wrote this melody in 1840 as part of a cantata marking four hundred years of printing, and said he thought it unsuitable for sacred words. In 1855 the English musician William H. Cummings fitted it to Charles Wesley’s carol anyway, and the pairing has been standard ever since.

Felix Mendelssohn, 1840, adapted to the carol by William H. Cummings in 1855. Public domain. The notes follow Sudbury Ancient Fyfe & Drum Companie carol book, transcribed by John Chambers, cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Hark! The Herald Angels Sing →

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 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 trombone

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

Playing it on a real trombone?

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

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