Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring kalimba tabs

For a 17-key kalimba tuned to C major. This tab is the flowing opening melody: 72 notes on 11 tines, from G4 up to C6.

Play along on the online kalimba Play it on a kalimba in G

newellabs.com/play/kalimba/tabs/jesujoy/

Number tab

The number tab read aloud, one sentence per group. “High” stands for one dot above the number and “very high” for two. high 1, high 2, high 3, high 5, high 4, high 4, high 6, high 5. high 5, very high 1, high 7, very high 1, high 5, high 3, high 1, high 2, high 3. high 4, high 5, high 6, high 5, high 4, high 3, high 2, high 3, high 1. 7, high 1, high 2, 5, 7, high 2, high 4, high 3, high 2. high 3, high 1, high 2, high 3, high 5, high 4, high 4, high 6, high 5. high 5, very high 1, high 7, very high 1, high 5, high 3, high 1, high 2, high 3. 6, high 5, high 4, high 3, high 2, high 1, 5, high 1, 7. high 1, high 3, high 5, very high 1, high 5, high 3, high 1, high 3, high 5. very high 1.

Letter notes

C₅D₅E₅G₅F₅F₅A₅G₅G₅C₆B₅C₆G₅E₅C₅D₅E₅F₅G₅A₅G₅F₅E₅D₅E₅C₅B₄C₅D₅G₄B₄D₅F₅E₅D₅E₅C₅D₅E₅G₅F₅F₅A₅G₅G₅C₆B₅C₆G₅E₅C₅D₅E₅A₄G₅F₅E₅D₅C₅G₄C₅B₄C₅E₅G₅C₆G₅E₅C₅E₅G₅C₆

Tines you need

The long tine in the middle is 1 (C4). Notes climb outward, alternating left and right, so neighbours on the same side are two steps apart.

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 1̇ 2̇ 3̇ 5̇ 4̇ 4̇ 6̇ 5̇ (C5 D5 E5 G5 F5 F5 A5 G5).
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 flowing melody from the chorale that closes J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 147, written in 1723. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

What it covers. The flowing triplet melody from the start to where the chorale tune enters (bars 1-8, ending on the first note of bar 9); one note per eighth.
Key. C major (Bach wrote it in G major; moved up a fourth).
Source. Transcribed from J. S. Bach’s chorale from Cantata No. 147 (1723), read from the first page of the 1926 piano edition by Myra Hess (Oxford University Press), bars 1-9, top voice: the notes are Bach’s own melody line, and nothing of the 1926 arrangement is used.

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