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B♭B♭1 · concert pitchopen · 2nd partial
SongsSilent Night
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Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818. Public domain.

42 notes · C1–F4 · the pedal B♭0 on the ladder · 42 notes · The band tuba: 18 feet of tube in B♭, and a fourth valve that fills the gap above the pedal.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur 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 on the BB♭ (the G on the CC) and they climb a semitone at a time.

TubaFree · printable · plays in your browser

Silent Night — Tuba Notes

Silent Night, written out for the tuba as written notes with the valves for each one and set up above on the BB♭ · 4 valves. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the tuba waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes46, 11 pitches
  • RangeB♭1–E♭3
  • Key hereB♭ major
  • Tempo150 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a tuba play Silent 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–E♭3 · loaded above
  • BB♭ · 3 valves✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, B♭1–E♭3 · load it
  • CC · 4 valves✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, B♭1–E♭3 · load it

Silent 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

Silent Night — tuba notes (BB♭ · 4 valves) · tonalics.com

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♭0×1
  • C4×1
  • D1-2×5
  • E♭1×1
  • F0×11
  • G1-2×10
  • A2×4
  • B♭0×6
  • C1×5
  • D0×1
  • E♭1×1

What to expect on a tuba

  • It runs from B♭1 to E♭3, an octave and a fourth, using 11 different notes. That leaves 10 semitones unused below and 14 above.
  • 53% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a minor seventh, D2 to C3, at note 9.
  • It uses 5 valve combinations (open, 1-2, 1, 2 and 4), and 19 of its 46 notes are played open.
  • The lips move across 5 partials of the harmonic series (2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

About the tune

Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher and organist, wrote the melody on Christmas Eve 1818 for a poem by the young priest Joseph Mohr, and the two sang it that night in the church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf with Mohr accompanying on guitar. It spread through travelling Tyrolean singers and has since been translated into several hundred languages.

Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818. Public domain. The notes follow Wikipedia, “Silent Night” (engraved score), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Silent Night →

Silent Night 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 tuba

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

Playing it on a real tuba?

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

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