Every song on this site is written as ocarina tablature, not as engraved sheet music. This page explains what that means, how to read our tabs, and where they part ways with formal music notation, so you know exactly what you are looking at.
Tablature, notation, and sheet music#
Standard music notation puts notes on a five-line staff. Where a note sits tells you its pitch, and its shape (whole note, half note, quarter note, and so on) tells you how long to hold it. A key signature at the start handles the sharps and flats for the whole piece. Reading it fluently takes practice.
Tablature is a shortcut. Instead of asking you to decode a staff, it shows you what to do with the instrument. For the 6-hole ocarina that means a finger chart: a small picture of the instrument with the holes you cover filled in and the holes you leave open drawn as outlines. Play the shape, get the note. Our tabs pair each finger chart with the note’s letter name and, where a song has words, the syllable that lands on that note.
How to read a tab on this site#
Read a tab left to right, top to bottom, like words on a page. Each cell is one note and shows three things:
- The note letter (C, D, E, and so on), with a sharp or flat when it applies.
- The finger chart: filled circles are holes you cover, open circles are holes you leave uncovered.
- The lyric syllable for that note, when the song has lyrics.
A blank cell is a rest, a short silence. A new row is a new line of the melody. Turn sound on and hover a note to hear it played on an alto ocarina, so you can learn a phrase by ear and then match it with your fingers.
What our tabs are not#
Our tabs are a learning aid, meant to get you playing by ear or by reading, not a faithful copy of formal notation. A trained musician will notice some deliberate simplifications:
- Rhythm is not written. Real notation gives each note a duration; our tabs show the notes in order but do not tell you how long to hold each one. Use a recording, or the lyrics, to feel the timing.
- Accidentals are spelled on every note. Formal notation sets sharps and flats once in the key signature and leaves them off the individual notes; we mark the sharp or flat right on each note so a beginner never has to track a key signature.
- The staff picture is a guide, not an engraving. The little staff we draw under each finger chart shows roughly where the pitch sits so you start to connect a note to its place on the staff. It is there to teach the shape of reading, not to stand in for a professionally engraved score.
If you are learning to read real sheet music, treat these tabs as training wheels: they get the tune into your hands and ears, and the note letters and staff pictures start building the reading habit. When you want the full detail of rhythm and key, reach for an engraved score of the piece.
Questions about a tab, or spot something wrong? Get in touch.