In the Hall of the Mountain King 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 6 7 1̇ 2̇ 3̇ 1̇ 3̇ 3̇ (A4 B4 C5 D5 E5 C5 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

From Edvard Grieg’s music for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt (1875), later part of Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. In the orchestra the theme starts slowly and quietly, then gets faster and louder each time it comes round; try that on the kalimba. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

• What it covers. The main theme, twice (bars 2-9 of the piano score), as the cellos and bassoons first play it.
• Key. A minor (the original is in B minor).
• Simplified. The second bar of the theme steps down chromatically (D sharp, then B flat, in this key). A kalimba in C has neither note, so that bar is played E-C-E, D-B-D: the same shape, a whole step apart.
• Source. Transcribed from Mutopia Project “Dans l’antre du roi de la montagne” (piano), right hand; Mutopia’s source: The University Society, 1918.