Easy Ocarina Songs for Beginners

The easiest ocarina songs use the five right-hand notes, low C to G: Hot Cross Buns (E D C), Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy and Jingle Bells. All ten songs here are traditional or public domain, written in letter notes for a 12-hole alto C ocarina, with a play button that lights up each note and shows its fingering.

Works in the UK and the US. This version uses UK music words (bar, crotchet, quaver, stave); the US version uses measure, quarter note, eighth note and staff. · US version of this page

Updated 1 November 2026 · By the Classfern Music Department

Key facts

Ten songs, in order of difficulty: 3-note songs first, then 5 and 6 notes, then tunes that need high C and high D.
Every song fits a 12-hole or 10-hole ocarina in C, between low C and high E.
Letters are note names; ′ means the higher octave (C′ = high C).
Seven songs are in C major. Frère Jacques is in G major, and Amazing Grace and Auld Lang Syne are in F major, using only natural notes on the ocarina.
All are traditional or by composers who died more than 70 years ago. Song tunes still in copyright are not included.

How to use the songs

Classfern’s free ocarina songs on lessonplanner.info: press Play under a song to hear it. Each note lights up as it sounds, and the fingering for that note appears below. Self-assessed Can you play the song along with the sound, without stopping?

Kids’ mode: bigger buttons

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What are the easiest songs to play on the ocarina?

Hot Cross Buns is the easiest: it uses only E, D and C. Then try Mary Had a Little Lamb (adds G), Ode to Joy and Jingle Bells, which all stay within the five right-hand notes from C to G.

Hot Cross Buns

Level 1 (3 notes) · Notes: C D E · 4/4 · Traditional English street cry (printed by 1733) (public domain)

E D C E D C C C C C D D D D E D C

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Level 1 (4 notes) · Notes: C D E G · 4/4 · Words: Sarah Josepha Hale (1830). Tune: traditional American (public domain)

E D C D E E E D D D E G G E D C D E E E E D D E D C

Ode to Joy

Level 2 (5 notes) · Notes: C D E F G · 4/4 · Ludwig van Beethoven (1824), from his 9th Symphony (public domain)

E E F G G F E D C C D E E D D E E F G G F E D C C D E D C C

How do you read ocarina notes for songs?

Each letter is a note name. Play the letters from left to right, and use the fingering chart for any note you do not know yet. A ′ after a letter means the higher octave, and | marks the end of each bar.

Some ocarina songbooks use “tab” – small pictures of the ocarina with the holes filled in – instead of letters. Letters are quicker to read and work for every ocarina in C. Play the songs above first; the play button shows each note’s fingering as it sounds.

Lightly Row

Level 2 (5 notes) · Notes: C D E F G · 4/4 · Traditional German tune (public domain)

G E E F D D C D E F G G G G E E F D D C E G G E D D D D D E F E E E E E F G G E E F D D C E G G C

Jingle Bells (chorus)

Level 2 (5 notes) · Notes: C D E F G · 4/4 · James Lord Pierpont (1857) (public domain)

E E E E E E E G C D E F F F F F E E E E E D D E D G E E E E E E E G C D E F F F F F E E E E G G F D C

London Bridge Is Falling Down

Level 2 (6 notes) · Notes: C D E F G A · 4/4 · Traditional English nursery song (printed by 1744) (public domain)

G A G F E F G D E F E F G G A G F E F G D G E C

What songs use the high notes on the ocarina?

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Frère Jacques need A, B and high C, so they bring in the left hand. Amazing Grace reaches high C, and Auld Lang Syne reaches high D, where the left thumb comes off.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Level 3 (6 notes) · Notes: C D E F G A · 4/4 · French melody (1761); words by Jane Taylor (1806) (public domain)

C C G G A A G F F E E D D C G G F F E E D G G F F E E D C C G G A A G F F E E D D C

Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)

Level 3 (G major) · Notes: D G A B C′ D′ E′ · 4/4 · Traditional French round (18th century) (public domain)

G A B G G A B G B C′ D′ B C′ D′ D′ E′ D′ C′ B G D′ E′ D′ C′ B G G D G G D G

Mr Chopin, Classfern’s head of music (grey hair, round glasses, sage-green cardigan and bow tie), smiling warmly

Amazing Grace

Level 3 (F major, high C) · Notes: C D F G A C′ · 3/4 · Words: John Newton (1779). Tune: “New Britain”, American (1829) (public domain)

C F A F A G F D C C F A F A G C′ C′ A C′ A F A G F D C C F A F A G F

Auld Lang Syne

Level 3 (F major, high D) · Notes: C D F G A C′ D′ · 4/4 · Words: Robert Burns (1788). Tune: traditional Scottish (public domain)

C F F F A G F G A F F A C′ D′ D′ C′ A A F G F G A F D D C F

Can you play any song on an ocarina?

Not every song. A 12-hole ocarina has a range of about an octave and a sixth, from low A to high F, so tunes with a wider range must be moved to another key or left out. Most folk songs, hymns and nursery songs fit.

If a tune goes too low, start it higher (in F or G instead of C). Many popular film and game tunes are still in copyright, so Classfern does not print them; these pages use traditional and public-domain music only.

How to practise a new ocarina song

Listen with the play button, following the letters.
Finger the notes without blowing, saying the letter names.
Play it slowly, one bar at a time.
Play along with the sound, then on your own.

Self-assessed A song is learned when you can play it twice in a row without stopping. Next, try the ocarina fingering chart for new notes, or the same tunes on the recorder.

Miss Clara Schumann (auburn curls with a teal bow, dark green jacket, tartan skirt), explaining with one hand

More music tools

How to play the ocarinaHolding, breath and first notes.Ocarina fingering chartEvery note, low A to high F.Easy kalimba songsThe same tunes as number tabs.Easy recorder songsFirst tunes for recorder.How to play the tin whistleSix holes and first tunes.All music toolsThe Classfern Music hub.

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