Ocarina tabs swap the staff for pictures of the instrument. Each small diagram shows which holes to cover for one note, so you can play a tune before you can read music. Once you know the hole map, any 12-hole tab makes sense. This guide covers the map, the order in which the holes open, the marks that trip beginners up, and a worked example.
01 The 12-hole map
A 12-hole ocarina has eight finger holes on top, four for each hand, played by the index, middle, ring and pinky fingers. Underneath are two thumb holes, and beside the main holes sit two small sub-holes. In a diagram, a filled circle means covered and an empty circle means open. Thumb holes are usually drawn dashed or set apart, because they are on the underside where you cannot see them, and the sub-holes are drawn smaller. Layouts differ between tab sources and makers, so always read the key printed with a tab.
The song pages on this site draw every diagram the same way: the left hand's four holes along the top row, the right hand's four along the bottom row, the two dashed thumb holes at the right-hand end and the two small sub-holes, in the accent colour, at the left. The note name is printed under each diagram.
02 How the diagrams map to notes
An ocarina's pitch depends on how much hole area is open, so the natural notes climb in a simple order: each step up opens exactly one more hole. On a 12-hole Alto C:
| Note | What changes from the note below |
|---|---|
| A4 | Every hole covered, including both sub-holes: the lowest note |
| B4 | Open the A sub-hole |
| C5 | Open the B sub-hole too: the home position, all eight finger holes and both thumbs covered |
| D5 | Lift the right pinky |
| E5 | Lift the right ring finger |
| F5 | Lift the right middle finger |
| G5 | Lift the right index finger: the whole right hand is off |
| A5 | Lift the left ring finger (the left pinky stays down to steady the instrument) |
| B5 | Lift the left middle finger |
| C6 | Lift the left index finger |
| D6 | Lift the left thumb |
| E6 | Lift the right thumb |
| F6 | Lift the left pinky: everything is open |
Read that way, a diagram is a count: the more holes open, the higher the note. If a diagram shows a hole covered that this order says should be open, it is almost always a sharp or a flat.
03 Sharps, flats and half-holes
Sharps and flats use cross-fingerings: usually the pattern for the note above with one hole covered again. On the common system in our 12-hole finger chart, F♯ is the G fingering with the right ring finger put back down, and C♯5 is the D fingering with the B sub-hole covered. Makers tune these notes differently, so if a sharp will not centre, check the chart that came with your ocarina. Some tabs show a half-filled circle for half-holing, partly uncovering a hole to reach an in-between note; the charts on this site and in Ocarina Studio use full cross-fingerings instead.
04 Octaves, keys and note names
A 12-hole Alto C reaches from A4 up to F6, so it has two Cs: C5, the home note, and C6 near the top. Tabs written with plain letters leave you to work out which one is meant; tabs that use numbered names, like the ones here, say it outright. Many tabs also name notes by fingering rather than by sounding pitch. On an ocarina in another key the same diagram sounds a different note: on an Alto G, for example, the C fingering sounds G. Because the fingering is identical, a tab for one 12-hole ocarina works on another; only the pitch changes.
05 Rhythm is not in the pictures
Most diagram tabs tell you which note, not how long to hold it. Take the rhythm from notation printed alongside, from the lyrics, or from a tune you already know. Play slowly at first: the right note held for the wrong length is much easier to fix than a wrong note.
06 A worked example: Ode to Joy
The main theme of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, from his Ninth Symphony of 1824 and long in the public domain, uses five neighbouring notes that are all fingered with the right hand, which makes it a classic first tab. Here are its first four bars on a 12-hole Alto C:
Read it like this. Start in the home position with both sub-holes open. E5 lifts the right pinky and right ring finger. F5 also lifts the right middle finger, and G5 lifts the whole right hand. The line then walks back down through G, F and E to D5, where only the right pinky is up. The third bar starts on C5, the home note itself, and climbs C, D, E; the phrase ends on a long E, a quick D and a held D. Your left hand and both thumbs stay down the whole time, so the only thing moving is the right hand, one finger at a time.
Play it slowly with a tuner open: the notes sit close together, so steady breath matters more than fast fingers here. If a note wobbles, our guide to flat, sharp and squeaky notes explains why. Ode to Joy is also one of the 12 free songs in Ocarina Studio, where the current note and its fingering stay on screen while you play and each note of a take is graded.
07 From tabs to notation
Tabs are a fine way in, but a diagram only works for one kind of instrument. Reading the note names alongside costs nothing: every diagram on this site is labelled with its note, so you learn the names as you go. When you are ready for more tunes, the easy ocarina songs are a good next step, and our beginner guide covers the rest of the first few weeks.
Related reading
Questions
What do the filled and empty circles mean in ocarina tabs?
A filled circle is a covered hole and an empty circle is an open one. Dashed circles usually mark the thumb holes underneath, and the two smallest circles on a 12-hole diagram are the sub-holes. Check the key printed with each tab, because layouts differ between sources.
What are the two small holes on a 12-hole ocarina?
They are sub-holes. Covering them extends the range below the home C down to B4 and A4. For the natural notes above C5 they stay open; a few sharps and flats close one again.
Can I use 12-hole tabs on a 4-hole or 6-hole ocarina?
No. Pendant ocarinas with four or six holes use different fingering systems, so their tabs are drawn differently. A 12-hole tab works on any 12-hole transverse ocarina; the key of the instrument only changes the sounding pitch.
Do I need to read music to play the ocarina?
No. Tabs and fingering diagrams are enough to start, and many players learn tunes that way. Reading the note names printed with the diagrams is an easy bridge to standard notation.