The steel drum’s range in notes and hertz
That is a low-C tenor pan, the lead pan of a steelband. Double tenors, guitars, cellos and basses are separate instruments with lower ranges, and makers’ tenors differ at the very top.
Written and sounding pitch
The steel drum reads at concert pitch in treble clef: a written note sounds as written, so the range above is both the sound and the page.
Instruments with a similar range
The instruments whose normal range shares the most notes with the steel drum’s:
- Violin · G3–E7 29 notes shared
- Viola · C3–D7 29 notes shared
- Cello · C2–A6 29 notes shared
- Mandolin · G3–D7 29 notes shared
- Harp · C2–A6 29 notes shared
- Flute · C4–C7 29 notes shared
Tune it, play it
- Play a steel drum online — the same range, playable in your browser.
Songs that fit the steel drum
36 songs from our public-domain library fit inside the steel drum’s range, each written out in the notation steel drum players read:
- Hot Cross Buns
- Lightly Row
- Going Home (New World Largo)
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Happy Birthday
- Ode to Joy
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Jingle Bells
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Yankee Doodle
- Silent Night
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of a steel drum?
The steel drum’s normal range runs from C4 to E6 — 261.63 to 1318.5 Hz, about 2.3 octaves.
What is the lowest note on a steel drum?
C4 (261.63 Hz).
What is the highest note on a steel drum?
E6 (1318.5 Hz).
Sources
- The chart behind our playable steel drum, itself checked note by note against published charts.