TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Xylophone songs
SongsOde to Joy
Play a different song (17)

19 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

Play along
  1. 3
  2. 3
  3. 4
  4. 5
  5. 5
  6. 4
  7. 3
  8. 2
  9. 1
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 2
  16. 3
  17. 3
  18. 4
  19. 5
  20. 5
  21. 4
  22. 3
  23. 2
  24. 1
  25. 1
  26. 2
  27. 3
  28. 2
  29. 1
  30. 1

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824. Public domain.

8 bars · one octave of C major · The rainbow xylophone from the toy box — eight big bars, one for each note of the scale.

Tap a bar, or drag across them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the bars are the ones to press — they run up the bars from the lowest note.

XylophoneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Ode to Joy — Xylophone Letter Notes

Ode to Joy, written out for the xylophone as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the Toy · 8 bars. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the xylophone waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes30, 5 pitches
  • RangeC4–G4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo112 bpm · about 17 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a xylophone play Ode to Joy?

Yes — every size 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.

  • Toy · 8 bars✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · loaded above
  • Concert · 3½ octaves✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, C4–G4 · load it

Ode to Joy: xylophone letter notes

The large line is the note printed on the bar; 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

Ode to Joy — xylophone letter notes (Toy · 8 bars) · tonalics.com

The 5 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 5 and you can play the whole tune.

  • C1×6
  • D2×7
  • E3×9
  • F4×4
  • G5×4

What to expect on a xylophone

  • It runs from C4 to G4, a fifth, using 5 different notes. Its lowest note is the lowest this instrument has, and 5 semitones of range are left above it.
  • Every move is a step or a repeated note — there is no leap anywhere in it.
  • It uses only the front row — no sharps or flats in this key.

About the tune

The theme of the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, first performed in Vienna in 1824, where a choir joins the orchestra to sing Schiller’s poem “An die Freude”. An instrumental arrangement of it has been the anthem of the Council of Europe since 1972 and of the European Union since 1985.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824. Public domain. More about Ode to Joy →

Ode to Joy on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng, which does not have the notes.

More songs for the xylophone

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

Playing it on a real xylophone?

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

🎙 Open the Marimba Tuner