Hold it, play your first note

Lesson 1 shows you how to cover the holes and play your first note, C, on a 12-hole, 6-hole or 4-hole ocarina. The lesson listens through your microphone and moves on once you hold C in tune.

How do you play your first note on an ocarina?

Cover every main hole with the pad of each finger and blow gently. Ocarina Quest advises "Cover each hole with the flat pad of your finger, not the tip", and to "blow gently and steadily, as if you were fogging a window". On a 12-hole alto C, C has all ten main holes covered and the two small holes open, as STL Ocarina's chart shows.

What does the lesson listen for?

It waits for the note C and counts it once you have held it for a moment, in whichever octave your ocarina plays it. It shows no score: a note it does not hear is simply waited for. The microphone is asked for only when you press Start, and nothing you play leaves your device.

What comes after your first note?

Lesson 2 adds D and E, a small change of fingers each. If C will not sound clean, the tuner shows which note you are playing and whether it is in tune.