The Blue Danube kalimba tabs

How to read this tab

• Numbers are steps of the scale. 1 is C, 2 is D, up to 7 for B. A dot above a number means one octave higher; two dots, two octaves higher. The song starts 1 3 5 5 5̇ 5̇ 3̇ 3̇ (C4 E4 G4 G4 G5 G5 E5 E5).
• Gaps mark bars. Each group is one bar of music. The tab shows which tine to play, not how long to hold it; press Listen on the play-along page to hear the rhythm.
• Other kalimbas. On an 8-, 10- or 21-key kalimba in C the numbers mean the same notes, as long as the tines you need are there.

About the song

The first waltz of “The Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss II, Op. 314, first performed in 1867. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

• What it covers. The famous first waltz theme, all 32 bars (melody notes only; where the piano doubles the melody in octaves, the lower octave is used).
• Key. C major (the original is in D major).
• Simplified. Two bars of the original start on the B below middle C, under the kalimba’s lowest tine; there the rising figure starts on D and F instead (D-F-A, same harmony). One sharpened note (G sharp in D major, F sharp here) is played as F.
• Source. Transcribed from On the Beautiful Blue Danube, waltz, Op. 314, piano solo (Carl Fischer, New York, 1901), p. 4, Waltz No. 1, bars 1-32.