Scarecrow's Song on a real ocarina
On a 12-hole an easy eight-note tune for the Scarecrow's Song is D, F, A, B, high D, B, A, F. The game has no set tune for it: you choose eight notes, as long as they are not one of its own songs or one note eight times, and ours is easy to play.
Goes up to high D, so it does not fit a 4-hole.
Scarecrow's Song
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What is the tricky spot in Scarecrow's Song?
The step up from B to high D at the top of the climb, and the step back down. The high D needs more air than the B, and then the air has to ease again for the way down. On a 12-hole, Scarecrow's Song goes from B to high D: you lift the left index and left thumb. On a 6-hole, you lift the right middle and right thumb.
How do you hold and breathe for Scarecrow's Song?
Play it as one rising line and one falling line. Take a breath at the top, after the high D if you need one, and let the air settle as the tune comes back down to the F so it does not go sharp. To check your breath, hold each note of Scarecrow's Song in turn and watch it on a tuner such as our free ocarina tuner.
Which ocarina can play Scarecrow's Song?
Our tune goes from D up to high D. A 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D, so play it on a 12-hole or 6-hole ocarina in C.
Which notes can you play for Scarecrow's Song?
Our tune is D, F, A, B, high D, B, A, F. In Ocarina of Time you play it on the Nintendo 64 with A button, C-down, C-right, C-left, C-up, C-left, C-right, C-down: each button plays one note, and you can change any of them within the game's rules.
In the 3DS version the same notes are L, R, Y, X, A button, X, Y, R. In the Switch 2 version, which Nintendo says responds to a played ocarina, they would be L, R, A button, Y, X, Y, A button, R, going by the button list published before that version came out. The table on the Ocarina of Time songs page shows which note each button plays.
The 5 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 | |
| F | Cover every main hole but the right middle, right ring and right pinky | |
| A | Cover the left pinky, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| B | Cover the left pinky, left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| high D | Cover the left pinky 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 | |
| F | Cover every hole but the right middle and right index | |
| A | Cover the left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| B | Cover the right middle, left thumb and right thumb | |
| high D | Cover the left thumb |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
What are the rules for the Scarecrow's Song?
Zelda Wiki says the song "can only be up to eight notes long" and has to be built from the ocarina's buttons "as long as they aren't a duplicate of one of the game's other tunes or the same eight notes in a row". Within that the notes are yours: this page gives you one that works, and you can change any of them.
What does the Scarecrow's Song do?
Once adult Link has played the same tune to Bonooru again, playing it where Navi turns green makes Pierre appear, and Link can use the Hookshot on him to reach places he could not otherwise get to. Zelda Wiki lists the uses: retrieving out-of-reach items, shortcuts and avoiding traps.
Where do you learn Scarecrow's Song in Ocarina of Time?
As a child, Link shows Bonooru, the scarecrow in the soil by the fence at Lake Hylia, his ocarina and plays him a tune of his own, eight notes long. As an adult he plays the same tune to Bonooru again, and Bonooru offers him the services of Pierre, the other scarecrow, who wanders the lands outside. Majora's Mask asks for a tune too, from Pierre, who waits in the Trading Post or the Astral Observatory.