O Holy Night on Tuba — Notes, Fingerings & Play Online

Notes95, 11 pitches
RangeB♭1–D3
Key hereB♭ major
Tempo150 bpm · about 2 min
LevelIntermediate

Can a tuba play O Holy Night?

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.

BB♭ · 4 valves✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, B♭1–D3 · loaded above
BB♭ · 3 valves✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, B♭1–D3 · load it
CC · 4 valves✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, B♭1–D3 · load it

O Holy Night: tuba notes

The large line is the written note; the small line under it is the valves to press — 0 is none. 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 Holy Night — tuba notes (BB♭ · 4 valves) · tonalics.com

D1-2––D1-2–D1-2F0–×5F0G1-2–

G1-2E♭1–G1-2B♭0–×6F0–F0D1-2–

C4B♭0––D1-2–E♭1F0––E♭1–

C4B♭0–×12D1-2––D1-2–D1-2F0–×5

F0G1-2–G1-2E♭1–G1-2B♭0–×6

F0–F0E2–D1-2A2––F0–

G1-2A2––B♭0–A2D1-2–×11F0F0––G1-2––C4––F0––

G1-2–F0B♭0–D1-2G1-2––F0–

F0F0––G1-2––C4––F0––G1-2–

F0B♭0–D1-2F0–×6B♭0–×9A2–

G1-2A2–×9A2––C1–×8G1-2G1-2–

G1-2B♭0–×11B♭0D0–×6C1–×5F0B♭0–×9

A2–G1-2F0–×8F0G1-2–F0F0–×9

B♭0––C1–×9F0––D0–×9C1––B♭0–×6A2––B♭0–C1B♭0–×12

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

B♭0×2
C4×4
D1-2×12
E♭1×4
E2×1
F0×26
G1-2×18
A2×8
B♭0×13
C1×5
D0×2

What to expect on a tuba

It runs from B♭1 to D3, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. That leaves 10 semitones unused below and 15 above.
60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, F2 to D3, at note 89.
It uses 5 valve combinations (1-2, open, 1, 4 and 2), and 43 of its 95 notes are played open.
The lips move across 4 partials of the harmonic series (2, 3, 4, 5).

About the tune

Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballet Giselle, wrote it in 1847 as “Cantique de Noël” for a poem by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant in the southern French town of Roquemaure. It is a solo song rather than a congregational carol, and it is written like an aria.

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Holy Night →

O Holy Night on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, harp or lyre, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the tuba

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