How to Play Taps on the 6 Hole Ocarina

The story behind Taps

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Taps is the bugle call the United States military plays to signal lights out and to honor the dead at funerals. General Daniel Butterfield reworked it in 1862, during the Civil War, from an older call, with help from his brigade bugler Oliver Norton. The familiar words that open with “Day is done” were added later and exist in several versions, including the Scout verses printed here.

Because it began life as a bugle call, the melody uses only a handful of notes and no sharps or flats, which makes it a gentle first piece on a 6-hole ocarina. The tune stays inside one comfortable octave; the single stretch is the reach up to high C near the end of each line.

Taps Lyrics

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Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Taps Ocarina Tab

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