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The First Noel on the ocarina

On a 12-hole it starts E, D, C, D. Easy, 72 notes, in C major.

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The First Noel

Bar 1 of 24

E
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What are the notes for The First Noel?

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

  1. Tricky spot:ED CDEF
    GAB
    high CBA
    GAB
  2. high CBA
    GAB
    high CGF
    EED
  3. CDEF
    GAB
    high CBA
    GAB
  4. high CBA
    GAB
    high CGF
    EED
  5. CDEF
    Ghigh CB
    AA
    G
  6. high CBA
    GAB
    high CGF
    E

The First Noel is a gentle 3/4 carol built from one phrase: it climbs from C up to high C, steps back down and does it again. The chorus begins the same way, so after the first two lines you already know most of it. In C major it uses only natural notes between C and high C, so a 12-hole, a 6-hole and a 4-hole ocarina in C all play it.

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

What is the tricky spot in The First Noel?

The long low C at the start of each line, held for a beat and a half, then three quick notes, D, E and F, that carry it up to a long G. On a 12-hole, The First Noel goes from C to D: you lift the right pinky. On a 6-hole or 4-hole, you lift the right middle.

Count it as one, and, two, and: the C fills one and a half, then D, E and F share the rest of the bar evenly. Rushing that C is the usual slip, and it makes the climb sound like a run. Tongue D, E and F lightly with a soft "du" so they stay separate. In the chorus the same climb lands on G and then turns to high C, B: a quick pair that needs a firmer breath than the low C before it. Near the end of the chorus a G is held for three beats, the longest note in the carol, so keep the air steady and let it sit in tune.

Where do you breathe in The First Noel?

Every line ends on a long E with two quick notes, E and D, before the next low C. Breathe on the long E and let it go a little early, so those two quick notes are on time. In the chorus, breathe after the long A that comes just before the held G, then again after that G.

Which ocarina can play The First Noel?

Any 12-hole, 6-hole or 4-hole ocarina in C plays The First Noel 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 8 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
DCover every main hole but the right pinky
CCover every main hole
FCover every main hole but the right middle, right ring and right pinky
GCover every main hole but the right index, right middle, right ring 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
high CCover the left pinky, left thumb and right thumb

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

Where does The First Noel come from?

From Cornwall, as far as anyone can tell. The carol was first printed in collections of 1823 and 1833 edited by William Sandys and Davies Gilbert, and most choirs now sing it in John Stainer's four-part setting of 1871. Our tabs follow that setting as Stainer and Henry Ramsden Bramley printed it in Christmas Carols, New and Old, spelled "The First Nowell", in D major; we move it down a tone to C. Gilbert died in 1839, Sandys in 1874 and Stainer in 1901, whose harmony we leave out. We show the melody only. Music: traditional English carol from Cornwall, in the setting John Stainer (1840-1901) published in 1871.

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