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

O Christmas Tree — Trombone Notes

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum), 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.

  • Notes61, 8 pitches
  • RangeF3–G4
  • Key hereB♭ major
  • Tempo104 bpm · about 28 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a trombone 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.

  • 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

O Christmas Tree: 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

O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) — trombone notes (Tenor) · 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.

  • F1st×3
  • A2nd×3
  • B♭1st×12
  • C3rd×10
  • D1st×18
  • E♭3rd×9
  • F1st×5
  • G4th×1

What to expect on a trombone

  • It runs from F3 to G4, an octave and a whole step, using 8 different notes. That leaves 13 semitones unused below and 10 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, D4 to F3, at note 47.
  • It uses 4 slide positions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
  • The longest move between two neighbouring notes is 3 positions.

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 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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