How to Play Away in a Manger on the 6 Hole Ocarina

About Away in a Manger

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For years this carol was printed as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn,” on the belief that Martin Luther wrote it for his children. That story does not hold up. The text is American and first appeared in print in the late 1880s, its author unknown. Two tunes still compete for it, one by James Murray and a smoother one by William Kirkpatrick, and you will hear both in churches today.

It is a lullaby, and it plays like one on a 6-hole ocarina. The melody stays inside a single octave, from low C to the C above, and moves mostly by step. That makes it one of the gentler carols to pick up first.

Away in a Manger Lyrics

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Away in a manger, no crib for His bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

Away in a Manger Ocarina Tab

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