Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 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 3̇ 3̇ 3̇ 1̇ 2̇ 2̇ 2̇ 7 (E5 E5 E5 C5 D5 D5 D5 B4).
• Gaps mark the entries of the motif. Each group is one entry of the four-note motif (three short notes and a long one), not one bar of the score. 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 opening of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, first performed in 1808 and published in 1809. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

• What it covers. The opening of the first movement, bars 1-21, as one line: each group is one entry of the short-short-short-long motif, not one bar, because every entry starts after a rest.
• Key. A minor (the original is in C minor), one octave up so the low notes fit.
• Source. Transcribed from Mutopia Project Symphony No. 5 Op. 67 (piano transcription), first movement, the top notes of the right hand, plus the long fourth note of the entries in bars 6-7 and 10-11, which the piano score gives to the left hand.