Hark! The Herald Angels Sing on the ocarina

Updated 2026-10-29

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing starts D, G, G, F sharp, G, B, B, A, a rising call that comes back in the fifth bar. Here is one full verse with its refrain, in G major from D up to high E, which a 12-hole or a 6-hole ocarina in C can play. Most of it moves in even quarter notes, with a dotted long-short pair in bars 1, 3, 5 and 7 and three more in the refrain.

What are the notes for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing on the ocarina?

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Your ocarina

D
G
G
F♯
G
B
B
A
high D
high D
high D
high C
B
A
B
D
G
G
F♯
G
B
B
A
high D
A
A
F♯
F♯
E
D
high D
high D
high D
G
high C
B
B
A
high D
high D
high D
G
high C
B
B
A
high E
high E
high E
high D
high C
B
high C
A
B
high C
high D
G
G
A
B
high E
high E
high E
high D
high C
B
high C
A
B
high C
high D
G
G
A
G

What is the tricky spot in Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

The middle of the verse, where the eighth bar ends on a long D and the next bar starts a whole octave higher, on high D. On a 12-hole, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing goes from D to high D: you lift the left ring, left middle, left index, right index, right middle, right ring and left thumb.

Take your breath on the long D, then come in on the high D with a faster airstream, without pushing the first note sharp. The last part goes higher still: twice it starts with three high E's, the top of the tune, so give them the steady, stronger breath high notes need and separate them with a soft "tu" (how to tongue repeated notes). In the dotted pairs, such as the G and F sharp at the very start, hold the first note for a beat and a half and let the quick one slip in just before the next beat. Breathe on the half notes that close most phrases, such as the long B at the end of bar 4.

Which ocarina can play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?

A 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D and high E, so play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in this key on a 12-hole or 6-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. Each linked chart has every fingering for its ocarina, and you can check your notes with a tuner such as our free ocarina tuner.

Why does Hark! The Herald Angels Sing have Mendelssohn's tune?

Because an English organist borrowed it. Felix Mendelssohn wrote the melody in 1840 for a festival cantata celebrating 400 years of Gutenberg's printing press, with no Christmas words at all. Charles Wesley's words were by then more than a century old, and in 1855 the organist William H. Cummings fitted the melody to them, the pairing sung today. Our tabs follow the tune as the 1861 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern prints it, in long half notes, which we halve to quarter notes. Mendelssohn died in 1847, Cummings in 1915 and Wesley in 1788, so the carol is public domain. We show the melody only. Music: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), fitted to the words by William H. Cummings (1831-1915); words by Charles Wesley (1707-1788).

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