Ocarina Tabs › Christmas songsChristmas songs for ocarina
Carols suit the ocarina well. Most were written for a congregation to sing, so they move by step and stay within a range that ordinary voices can manage, and most fit inside the 12-hole ocarina's range of a little over an octave and a half.
The list starts with the easiest tabs, rated from their notes: the fewest sharps and flats, the smallest range and the fewest big jumps. Further down are carols with a wider range or more accidentals, which take more practice.
Easiest carols
Good first Christmas songs: small range, few sharps or flats.
In the Bleak Midwinter by Gustav Holst. Easy: 47 notes, A3 to A4, no sharps or flats.Jolly Old Saint Nicholas . Easy: 48 notes, G4 to E5, no sharps or flats.Up on the Housetop by Benjamin Hanby. Easy: 66 notes, G4 to E5, no sharps or flats.The First Noel . Easy: 72 notes, C4 to C5, no sharps or flats.I Saw Three Ships . Easy: 32 notes, D4 to D5, 1 sharp or flat.Joy to the World by Lowell Mason (after George Frideric Handel). Easy: 57 notes, C4 to C5, no sharps or flats, 2 big leaps.The Huron Carol . Easy: 62 notes, E4 to E5, no sharps or flats, 1 big leap.Here We Come A-Wassailing . Easy: 63 notes, B3 to C5, no sharps or flats.
More carols
Wider ranges, more accidentals or bigger leaps, easier first.
We Three Kings by John Henry Hopkins Jr.. Intermediate: 62 notes, C4 to C5, 2 sharps or flats.Angels We Have Heard on High . Intermediate: 77 notes, D4 to E5, no sharps or flats.The Holly and the Ivy . Intermediate: 69 notes, D4 to D5, 2 sharps or flats.Go Tell It on the Mountain . Intermediate: 57 notes, D4 to E5, no sharps or flats, 1 big leap.Good King Wenceslas . Intermediate: 53 notes, C4 to C5, 3 sharps or flats.Ding Dong Merrily on High . Intermediate: 54 notes, C4 to C5, 4 sharps or flats.O Come, O Come, Emmanuel . Intermediate: 59 notes, C4 to C5, 3 sharps or flats.Silent Night by Franz Xaver Gruber. Intermediate: 46 notes, C4 to F5, no sharps or flats, 2 big leaps.We Wish You a Merry Christmas . Intermediate: 53 notes, Bb3 to C5, 2 sharps or flats, 2 big leaps.O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) . Intermediate: 61 notes, D4 to E5, 3 sharps or flats, 1 big leap.Away in a Manger by James Ramsey Murray. Intermediate: 44 notes, C4 to C5, 3 sharps or flats, 1 big leap.O Come, All Ye Faithful by John Francis Wade. Intermediate: 62 notes, D4 to D5, 6 sharps or flats, 3 big leaps.Coventry Carol . Challenging: 57 notes, B3 to G4, 8 sharps or flats.It Came Upon the Midnight Clear by Richard Storrs Willis. Challenging: 66 notes, A3 to A4, 1 sharp or flat, 4 big leaps.Deck the Halls . Challenging: 68 notes, B3 to C5, 1 sharp or flat, 1 big leap.God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen . Challenging: 67 notes, C4 to D5, 4 sharps or flats.O Holy Night by Adolphe Adam. Challenging: 95 notes, C4 to E5, 1 sharp or flat, 3 big leaps.Jingle Bells by James Lord Pierpont. Challenging: 97 notes, D4 to E5, 1 sharp or flat, 8 big leaps.Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Felix Mendelssohn. Challenging: 76 notes, D4 to E5, 4 sharps or flats, 2 big leaps.O Little Town of Bethlehem by Lewis Henry Redner. Challenging: 57 notes, C4 to D5, 5 sharps or flats, 5 big leaps.The Twelve Days of Christmas . Challenging: 44 notes, C4 to D5, 6 sharps or flats, 2 big leaps.
Playing carols with other people
These tabs are written for an Alto C ocarina, which sounds an octave above the written notes. Singers and pianists often use a different key for the same carol, so check the key before you play together.
Every tab page has transpose controls. If a carol sits too high or too low for the people you're playing with, shift it until it suits them; the fingering charts update to match.
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