Brahms' Lullaby

• Rangeminor seventh
• Notes27, 7 different
• ScaleMajor, no accidentals
• Length hereabout 16 s

About Brahms' Lullaby

Brahms published it in 1868 as “Wiegenlied”, Op. 49 No. 4, written for his friend Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son. It is the tune most music boxes play.

The tab here is the first half of the melody, up to its cadence on the upper tonic — the part that could be checked note for note against a published chart.

Play Brahms' Lullaby on your instrument

25 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 25 play it where the library writes it; the rest move it to another key or octave, and each page says which. Every page has the instrument itself, with the song loaded, above the notes.

• Kalimba tabsas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Piano letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Mbira tabsas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Oud notesas written · D3–C4 · minor seventh
• Violin notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Cello notesas written · D3–C4 · minor seventh
• Erhu notesas written · E4–D5 · minor seventh
• Dulcimer tabas written · E4–D5 · minor seventh
• Xylophone letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Marimba letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · G4–F5 · minor seventh
• Ocarina notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Harmonica tabsas written · D5–C6 · minor seventh
• Trumpet notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Clarinet notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Saxophone notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Flute notesas written · A4–G5 · minor seventh
• Recorder notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Tuba notesas written · C2–B♭2 · minor seventh
• Euphonium notesas written · C3–B♭3 · minor seventh
• Trombone notesas written · C3–B♭3 · minor seventh
• Accordion letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Harp letter notesas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh
• Lyre tabsas written · D4–C5 · minor seventh

Instruments that cannot play it

• Guzheng — it would need G4, C♯5, which it does not have in any size or key here.
• Handpan — it would need B4, which it does not have in any size or key here.

Brahms' Lullaby letter notes

This is the first half. Written in C major, from D4 to C5, with each note’s number in the scale under it — the form that transfers to any instrument. A dash holds a note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and each line is one phrase.

Where these notes come from

Johannes Brahms, "Wiegenlied", Op. 49 No. 4, 1868. Public domain. The first half of the melody.

No lyrics are printed on this page or any other here: these pages are about a melody and how to play it.

More classical melodies

• Going Home (New World Largo)Antonín Dvořák, 1893
• Ode to JoyLudwig van Beethoven, 1824
• Canon in DJohann Pachelbel, c. 1680