The Entertainer on the ocarina

Updated 2026-10-29

The Entertainer on the ocarina starts with two quick lead-in notes, D and D sharp, then bounces E, high C, E, high C, E, high C. This is the rag's first strain, 16 bars, in Joplin's own key of C major. It runs from D to high E, so it fits a 12-hole or a 6-hole ocarina.

What are the notes for The Entertainer on the ocarina?

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Your ocarina

D
D♯
E
high C
E
high C
E
high C
high Ckeep holding
high Ckeep holding
high C
high D
high D♯
high E
high C
high D
high E
high Ekeep holding
B
high D
high C
high Ckeep holding
D
D♯
E
high C
E
high C
E
high C
high Ckeep holding
high Ckeep holding
A
G
F♯
A
high C
high E
high Ekeep holding
high D
high C
A
high D
high Dkeep holding
D
D♯
E
high C
E
high C
E
high C
high Ckeep holding
high Ckeep holding
high C
high D
high D♯
high E
high C
high D
high E
high Ekeep holding
B
high D
high C
high Ckeep holding
high C
high D
high E
high C
high D
high E
high Ekeep holding
high C
high D
high C
high E
high C
high D
high E
high Ekeep holding
high C
high D
high C
high E
high C
high D
high E
high Ekeep holding
B
high D
high C
high Ckeep holding

What is the tricky spot in The Entertainer?

The bouncing opening bar: E, high C, E, high C, E, high C, a jump of a sixth each time, in a short-long-short ragtime rhythm. On a 12-hole, The Entertainer goes from E to high C: you lift the left ring, left middle, left index, right index and right middle.

Count the opening bar in quarters of a beat, "1 e and a": E takes one count, high C two, E one, then high C two, E one and high C one, tied over into the next bar. The ties are the ragtime: a note that starts just before the beat and holds through it. Play the tied notes as one note and do not tongue the second half. Breathe at the end of the long high C's and high D's that close each phrase, just before the next lead-in notes. The last four bars are a quick high E, high C, high D, high E pattern near the top of the ocarina; keep the breath firm and steady, and slow the whole tune down until the sixteenths are even.

Which ocarina can play The Entertainer?

A 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D, high D♯ and high E, so play The Entertainer 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.

Is The Entertainer the music from The Sting?

Yes, but it is much older than the film. Scott Joplin's The Entertainer came out in 1902 as a piano rag, and it became famous again in 1973 as the theme music of the film The Sting, in an adaptation by Marvin Hamlisch. Our tabs follow Joplin's first edition, not the film's version: printed by John Stark & Son in St. Louis in 1902, it is marked "Not fast" and dedicated "to James Brown and his Mandolin Club". Joplin writes much of the tune in octaves for the pianist's right hand; the tabs give it as one line. Joplin died in 1917, and the rag was published in 1902, so it is public domain. We show the melody only. Music: Scott Joplin (1868-1917).

More ocarina songs

Next hard song: Danny Boy. More: all the songs.