What a Friend We Have in Jesus on the ocarina
On a 12-hole it starts high C, high C, high D, high C. Medium, 60 notes, in F major.
Goes up to high D, so it does not fit a 4-hole.
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Bar 1 of 16
What are the notes for What a Friend We Have in Jesus?
On a 12-hole. Read left to right, a line at a time.
- high Chigh Chigh Dhigh CAFFDrestCFAFhigh CAGrest
- high Chigh Chigh Dhigh CAFFDrestCFAGFEFrest
- Tricky spot:GF♯GAB♭GAhigh Cresthigh Dhigh Dhigh CAB♭AGrest
- high Chigh Chigh Dhigh CAFFDrestCFAGFEFrest
What a Friend We Have in Jesus starts with a long high C and a short one, climbs to high D, then runs down in quick notes to a long F. Our tabs are in F major, from C to high D, so it fits a 12-hole and a 6-hole ocarina. Four lines of four bars each: the first, second and last all begin the same way, and only the third line goes somewhere new.
What is the tricky spot in What a Friend We Have in Jesus?
The opening of the third line, where a long G dips half a beat to F sharp and comes straight back to G. On a 12-hole, What a Friend We Have in Jesus goes from G to F♯: you cover the right ring. On a 6-hole, you cover the right middle.
That F sharp is the only sharp in the hymn and it lasts half a beat, so have the cross-fingering ready before the G ends and move only the fingers that change. The same line then climbs through B flat to high C, and two bars on it reaches two high D's, the top of the tune; give them a little more air and let the breath ease as the line falls back through C, A and B flat to G. If the F sharp smears, play the bar slowly as G, F sharp, G until it lands on time.
Where do you breathe in What a Friend We Have in Jesus?
Every two bars the tune stops on a long note followed by a one-beat rest, so there is always a breath waiting: take it in the rest, not in the middle of the quick notes. The quick run after each held note needs very little air; save it for the held note that closes each two-bar phrase.
Which ocarina can play What a Friend We Have in Jesus?
A 4-hole ocarina cannot reach high D, so play What a Friend We Have in Jesus 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.
The 10 notes here, on a 12-holeHoles in words, with a picture
| Note | Holes to cover | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| high C | Cover the left pinky, left thumb and right thumb | |
| high D | Cover the left pinky and right thumb | |
| A | Cover the left pinky, left middle, left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| F | Cover every main hole but the right middle, right ring and right pinky | |
| D | Cover every main hole but the right pinky | |
| C | Cover every main hole | |
| G | Cover every main hole but the right index, right middle, right ring and right pinky | |
| E | Cover every main hole but the right ring and right pinky | |
| F♯ | Cover every main hole but the right index, right middle and right pinky | |
| B♭ | Cover the left pinky, left index, right ring, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| high C | Cover the left thumb and right thumb | |
| high D | Cover the left thumb | |
| A | Cover the left index, left thumb and right thumb | |
| F | Cover every hole but the right middle and right index | |
| D | Cover every hole but the right middle | |
| C | Cover every hole | |
| G | Cover every hole but the left middle and right middle | |
| E | Cover every hole but the right index | |
| F♯ | Cover every hole but the left middle | |
| B♭ | Cover the right index, left thumb and right thumb |
Drawn as you see it while playing: mouthpiece towards you, left hand on the left.
Who wrote What a Friend We Have in Jesus?
Two people wrote it, and the words came first. Joseph M. Scriven, an Irish-born teacher living in Canada, wrote them in 1855 as a poem to comfort his mother back in Ireland; he called it "Pray Without Ceasing" and published it without his name, so he was only credited in the 1880s. The tune is by Charles Crozat Converse, an American lawyer who also wrote church music, and dates from 1868; Converse died in 1918, Scriven in 1886. The 1905 hymnal heads the tune "Converse", his surname. Our tabs follow hymn 551 of The Methodist Hymnal of 1905, where the tune sits in the top voice in F major, and we play it an octave higher; The Most Popular Home Songs, copyright 1913, prints the same notes, credited "Music by C. Crozat Converse". Both books sharpen one note in the third line, the F sharp you meet as the tricky spot. The same words are sometimes sung to another tune, the Welsh "Calon Lân". We show the melody only. Music: the tune "Converse" by Charles Crozat Converse (1832-1918), 1868; words by Joseph M. Scriven (1819-1886).