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Heidenröslein on the ocarina

On a 12-hole it starts E, E, E, E. Medium, 60 notes, in C major.

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Heidenröslein

Bar 1 of 14

E
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What are the notes for Heidenröslein?

On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.

  1. EEEE
    GFFED
    DDEF
    Ghigh Crest
  2. EEEE
    GF♯F♯ED
    GGAG
    F♯GABG
  3. GBAGF♯ED♯E
    high CF♯G
    DDEF
    GABhigh C
  4. Tricky spot:Ahigh CFA
    CEDC

Heidenröslein, the Little Rose on the Heath, is Schubert's short song that opens on four even Es and then runs G, F, F, E down to D. Here is one verse in C major, 14 bars from C up to high C. The middle bends toward G with an F sharp and a D sharp, then the last line comes back to plain notes and ends on low C.

Heidenröslein ocarina tabs for a 12-hole ocarina: the fingering for each note, then the letter notes bar by bar
Heidenröslein as one picture, with the tabs for a 12-hole, to save to your phone. Open the picture

What is the tricky spot in Heidenröslein?

The last two bars, where the tune leaps from A up to high C, falls to F, rises to A again and then drops a sixth to low C. On a 12-hole, Heidenröslein goes from A to C: you cover the left ring, right index, right middle, right ring and right pinky. On a 6-hole or 4-hole, you cover the left middle, right middle and right index.

Low C needs every hole covered and much less air than the A before it, so let the breath fall away as you close your fingers, or the C cracks upward. Then the quick E and D, a pair of sixteenths, lead back to the final C. Earlier, the high C held for a dotted eighth drops straight to a quick F sharp: practise that pair slowly until the F sharp speaks cleanly before you play it at speed. The runs of four sixteenths are easier tongued lightly with a "du" on each note.

Where do you breathe in Heidenröslein?

In the short rest after the high C at the end of the fourth bar, and after the long G marked with a pause at the end of the tenth bar. The last four bars are one phrase: take a full breath before them.

Which ocarina can play Heidenröslein?

Any 12-hole, 6-hole or 4-hole ocarina in C plays Heidenröslein 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 10 notes here, on a 12-holeHoles in words, with a picture
NoteHoles to coverPicture
ECover every main hole but the right ring and right pinky
GCover every main hole but the right index, right middle, right ring and right pinky
FCover every main hole but the right middle, right ring and right pinky
DCover every main hole but the right pinky
high CCover the left pinky, left thumb and right thumb
F♯Cover every main hole but the right index, right middle and right pinky
ACover the left pinky, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb
BCover the left pinky, left index, left thumb and right thumb
D♯Cover every main hole but the right ring and right pinky, plus the right sub-hole
CCover every main hole

Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.

Where do our Heidenröslein tabs come from?

Schubert set Goethe's poem in 1815, and the song was first published by Diabelli in Vienna in 1821; our tabs follow that first edition, moved from G major to C. We show the melody only. Music: Franz Schubert (1797-1828), D. 257, Op. 3 No. 3, 1815, to the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).

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