Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade on the ocarina
On a 12-hole it starts D, C, F, G. Medium, 26 notes, in F major.
Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade
Bar 1 of 2
What are the notes for the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition?
On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.
- Tricky spot:DCFGhigh CAGhigh CAFGDCDCFGhigh CAGhigh CAFGDC
The Promenade is the walking tune that opens Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition: D, C, F, G, high C, A in these tabs. Here is its opening phrase played twice, as the piano score has it, first alone and then in full chords, moved to F major. It uses six notes from C to high C with no sharps or flats, so a 4-hole, a 6-hole and a 12-hole ocarina all play it.
What is the hardest part of the Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade?
The quick pair G, high C, two short notes on one beat, which comes twice in every bar and drops straight back to A. On a 12-hole, the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition goes from G to high C: you lift the left ring, left middle and left index. On a 6-hole or 4-hole, you lift the left index and right index.
Play G, high C, A slowly until the high C speaks cleanly, then bring it up to speed. Every other note is one beat long. To keep your place in the long bar, count it the way the score does: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The first count of five ends on A, the count of six ends on the low C.
Where do you breathe in the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition?
The phrase has no rests. Breathe at the end of each bar, taking a little off the low C, or after the A on beat 5, where the score has a bar line.
Which ocarina can play the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition?
Any 12-hole, 6-hole or 4-hole ocarina in C plays the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition 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 6 notes here, on a 12-holeHoles in words, with a picture
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| D | Cover every main hole but the right pinky | |
| C | Cover every main hole | |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| D | Cover every hole but the right middle | |
| C | Cover every hole | |
| F | Cover every hole but the right middle and right index | |
| G | Cover every hole but the left middle and right middle | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| D | Cover every hole but the right middle | |
| C | Cover every hole | |
| F | Cover the left middle and left index | |
| G | Cover the left index and right index | |
| 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.
Why are the Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade tabs in 11/4 time?
Because Mussorgsky changes the time signature at every bar line. The first edition, printed by Bessel in St Petersburg in 1886 and edited by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, writes the opening as a bar of 5/4, then a bar of 6/4, then 5/4 and 6/4 again. Each 5/4 bar and the 6/4 bar after it make one phrase, so our tabs join each pair into one bar of 11 beats: the notes and their lengths are the printed ones, and the score's bar line falls after beat 5. The score heads the piece "Allegro giusto, nel modo russico; senza allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto": brisk, in the Russian manner, without merriment, a little held back. Mussorgsky wrote the suite in June 1874 after a memorial exhibition of pictures by his friend Viktor Hartmann, and it was first printed five years after his death in 1881. In the score the phrase is played alone and then repeated in chords; our tabs play the top line both times, moved up from the printed B-flat major to F major. Maurice Ravel arranged the suite for orchestra in 1922; our tabs follow Mussorgsky's own piano score. Music: Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881), the Promenade that opens his piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition, 1874.