Ocarina finger charts
Pick your ocarina below to see a fingering chart for every note it can play, sharps and flats included. Each chart is drawn hole by hole: a filled hole is covered, an empty one is open, and a half-filled hole is half covered.
12-hole ocarina finger chart. The transverse ocarina most tabs are written for, held sideways. Alto C and Alto F, 21 notes each. Easy songs.
6-hole pendant ocarina finger chart. A round pendant with four front holes and two thumb holes. C and F, 17 notes each. 6-hole ocarina songs.
4-hole pendant ocarina finger chart. The simplest ocarina: four holes and one octave, 13 notes. 4-hole ocarina songs.
Double ocarina finger chart. Two chambers in one body for a range of over two octaves, 28 notes.
Which ocarina do you have?
Count the holes. A 12-hole ocarina is held sideways like a flute and has eight holes on top for your fingers, two underneath for your thumbs and two small subholes next to the middle fingers. A pendant ocarina is round or teardrop-shaped and often hangs from a cord. It has four holes on the front, and a 6-hole pendant adds two thumb holes on the back. A double ocarina has two chambers, with a second row of holes under the right hand.
The key is usually printed or stamped on the instrument, often as AC for Alto C or AF for Alto F. If yours is in C, every tab on this site can be played as written. If it is in F, choose F on any tab and the fingerings are redrawn for you.
How to read a fingering diagram
A filled hole is covered, a ring is open, and a hole that is half filled is half covered: cover the side that is filled in. The 12-hole is drawn from above with the mouthpiece toward you, and the two large holes near the lower edge are the thumb holes, seen through the body. Pendants are drawn face on, with the two thumb holes shown below the body.
Each chart prints on a single page, so you can keep it on your music stand while you learn.
10-hole, 8-hole and other ocarinas
We don't draw charts for 10-hole, 8-hole, inline or triple ocarinas yet. A 10-hole transverse ocarina is usually a 12-hole without the two subholes, so from the low C up its fingerings follow the 12-hole chart.