Up on the Housetop

• Rangemajor sixth
• Notes67, 6 different
• ScaleMajor, no accidentals
• Time4/4
• Length hereabout 30 s
• Source editionE♭ major

About Up on the Housetop

Written by Benjamin Hanby in New Paris, Ohio, in 1864. It is usually counted as the first Christmas song to be about Santa Claus.

The whole tune stays between the tonic and the sixth above it, and most of it is the notes of the tonic chord.

Play Up on the Housetop on your instrument

26 of the 27 playable instruments here have every note it needs. 26 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 · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Piano letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Mbira tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Handpan tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Oud notesas written · C3–A3 · major sixth
• Violin notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Cello notesas written · C3–A3 · major sixth
• Erhu notesas written · D4–B4 · major sixth
• Dulcimer tabas written · D4–B4 · major sixth
• Xylophone letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Marimba letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Glockenspiel letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Steel Drum letter notesas written · F4–D5 · major sixth
• Ocarina notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Harmonica tabsas written · C5–A5 · major sixth
• Trumpet notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Clarinet notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Saxophone notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Flute notesas written · G4–E5 · major sixth
• Recorder notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Tuba notesas written · B♭1–G2 · major sixth
• Euphonium notesas written · B♭2–G3 · major sixth
• Trombone notesas written · B♭2–G3 · major sixth
• Accordion letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Harp letter notesas written · C4–A4 · major sixth
• Lyre tabsas written · C4–A4 · major sixth

Instruments that cannot play it

• Guzheng — it would need G4, which it does not have in any size or key here.

Up on the Housetop letter notes

Written in C major, from C4 to A4, 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

Benjamin Hanby, 1864. Public domain.

The melody was not written down from memory. It is derived from a published transcription and compared, note for note, with independent ones:

• Followed: Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain)
• Checked against: Thornton Rose, An Online Christmas Songbook (2001) — 2 of 66 notes differ, as variants of a traditional tune do

More christmas songs & carols

• Jingle BellsJames Lord Pierpont, 1857
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas19th century or earlier
• Silent NightFranz Xaver Gruber, 1818
• Deck the Halls16th century (tune)
• O Christmas Tree16th century (tune)
• Joy to the WorldLowell Mason, 1836
• Hark! The Herald Angels SingFelix Mendelssohn, 1840
• O Come, All Ye FaithfulJohn Francis Wade, c. 1743
• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen18th century or earlier
• Away in a MangerJames R. Murray, 1887
• The First Noel1823 (in print)
• Good King Wenceslas1582 (tune)
• Jolly Old Saint Nicholas1874 (music in print)
• O Holy NightAdolphe Adam, 1847
• Auld Lang Syne18th century
• Carol of the BellsMykola Leontovych, 1916