Be Thou My Vision on the ocarina
On a 12-hole it starts F, F, G, F. Hard, 47 notes, in F major.
Goes up to high F, so it does not fit a 6-hole or 4-hole.
Be Thou My Vision
Bar 1 of 16
What are the notes for Be Thou My Vision?
On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.
- FFGFDCCDFFGA
- GGGGAhigh Chigh Dhigh CAhigh C
- Tricky spot:high Dhigh Dhigh Ehigh Fhigh Ehigh Dhigh CAhigh CFEDC
- FAhigh Chigh Dhigh CAFAGFFF
Be Thou My Vision is sung to Slane, an Irish folk tune in three. In F major it opens F, F, G, F, dips to D and C, and climbs back to a long A at the end of the first line. Its four lines cover C up to high F with no sharps or flats, which only a 12-hole ocarina in C reaches.
What is the tricky spot in Be Thou My Vision?
The top of the third line, where the tune steps up D, E, high F in quick notes and turns straight back to E. On a 12-hole, Be Thou My Vision goes from high E to high F: you lift the left pinky.
High F is the last note a 12-hole has, played with every hole open, and here it lasts only half a beat, so there is no time to find it. Practise D, E, F, E, D slowly until the open-hole F speaks on the first try, then bring it up to speed. Give the airstream a little more push on the way up and ease it on the way down, or the E after it goes sharp. Two bars later the tune drops from high C to F and E in one bar; keep the breath steady so the low notes do not crack.
Where do you breathe in Be Thou My Vision?
Each line ends on a long note, so breathe after it: the three-beat A, the three-beat high C and the two-beat D near the end of the third line. Take the fullest breath after the high C, because the climb to high F comes right after it.
Which ocarina can play Be Thou My Vision?
A 6-hole ocarina cannot reach high F, and a 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D, high E and high F, so play Be Thou My Vision in this key on a 12-hole ocarina in C. On an ocarina in G or F, use the same fingerings: the tune sounds in a different key, which is fine when you play alone. The linked chart has every fingering, and you can check your notes with a tuner such as our free ocarina tuner.
The 10 notes here, on a 12-holeHoles in words, with a picture
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| F | Cover every main hole but the right middle, right ring and right pinky | |
| G | Cover every main hole but the right index, right middle, right ring and right pinky | |
| D | Cover every main hole but the right pinky | |
| C | Cover every main hole | |
| A | Cover the left pinky, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| high C | Cover the left pinky, left thumb and right thumb | |
| high D | Cover the left pinky and right thumb | |
| high E | Cover the left pinky | |
| high F | All holes open | |
| E | Cover every main hole but the right ring and right pinky |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
Which tune is Be Thou My Vision sung to?
An Irish folk tune that hymnals call "Slane", after a village in Ireland. It was first printed as a secular song, "With My Love on the Road", in Patrick Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs in 1909, and first put to the hymn's words in 1919; David Evans harmonised it again for the Church Hymnary of 1927. Our tabs follow the Hymnary of the United Church of Canada, Toronto, 1930, which prints the melody "as in The Church Hymnary, 1927" for unison singing, in long half notes that we halve to quarter notes. The words are an Old Irish prayer that Mary Byrne translated in 1905 and Eleanor Hull put into verse in 1912. Byrne died in 1931, Hull in 1935 and Evans, whose harmony we leave out, in 1948. We show the melody only. Music: the Irish folk tune "Slane"; words translated from Old Irish by Mary Byrne (1880-1931) and versified by Eleanor Hull (1860-1935).