Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes on the ocarina
On a 12-hole it starts E, E, E, F. Easy, 71 notes, in C major.
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
Bar 1 of 17
What are the notes for Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes?
On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.
- EEEFFGFEDEFTricky spot:GCFEDCrest
- EEEFFGFEDEFGCFEDCG
- GEGhigh CGGEGGGAGGFEEDrest
- EEEFFGFEDEFGCFEDCC
- Crest
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes is a slow love song in 6/8, and it opens with three E's that climb by step to F and G. Here it is in C major, from C up to high C with no sharps or flats, so a 4-hole, 6-hole or 12-hole ocarina in C can play it: the whole tune as Heart Songs printed it in 1909, the first phrase twice, a higher middle phrase, and the first phrase again to close.
What is the tricky spot in Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes?
Bars 3, 7 and 15, where the tune drops from G to low C and climbs straight back to F. On a 12-hole, Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes goes from G to C: you cover the right index, right middle, right ring and right pinky. On a 6-hole or 4-hole, you cover the left middle and right middle.
Low C needs every hole covered and soft, slow air, so ease off before it rather than after. Play G, low C, F slowly a few times until the C sounds on time without a squeak. The middle line is the high part: the short G after the long C at the end of line 2 leads into it, and it reaches high C once and comes down step by step to a long E and D. Feel two slow beats in each bar, not six, and give every long note its full length.
Where do you breathe in Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes?
Breathe at the end of each of the first three lines: in the rest after the long C in bar 4, after the long C in bar 8, just before the short G that leads into the middle line, and in the rest after the D in bar 12. From bar 13 to the end is one breath, through the two long C's of the close.
Which ocarina can play Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes?
Any 12-hole, 6-hole or 4-hole ocarina in C plays Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes in this key. 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. Each linked chart has every fingering for its ocarina, and you can check your notes with a tuner such as our free ocarina tuner.
The 7 notes here, on a 12-holeHoles in words, with a picture
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| E | Cover every main hole but the right ring and right pinky | |
| 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 | |
| high C | Cover the left pinky, left thumb and right thumb | |
| A | Cover the left pinky, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| E | Cover every hole but the right index | |
| F | Cover every hole but the right middle and right index | |
| G | Cover every hole but the left middle and right middle | |
| D | Cover every hole but the right middle | |
| C | Cover every hole | |
| high C | Cover the left thumb and right thumb | |
| A | Cover the left index, left thumb and right thumb |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| E | Cover every hole but the right index | |
| F | Cover the left middle and left index | |
| G | Cover the left index and right index | |
| D | Cover every hole but the right middle | |
| C | Cover every hole | |
| high C | All holes open | |
| A | Cover the left index |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
Who wrote Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes?
Ben Jonson wrote the words, his poem To Celia, first printed in 1616, and nobody knows for certain who wrote the tune. Heart Songs (Boston, 1909) prints it in 6/8 in E flat with W. A. Mozart's name over the music, a credit Wikipedia says has no evidence behind it. These tabs follow that 1909 page, moved to C major, as our own arrangement of the melody. Music: tune of unknown origin; words by Ben Jonson (1572-1637).