The Twelve Days of Christmas 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 5 5 5 1̇ 1̇ 1̇ 7 1̇ (G4 G4 G4 C5 C5 C5 B4 C5).
• 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 words were printed in 1780. The tune sung today, with its drawn-out fifth day, comes from Frederic Austin’s 1909 arrangement. The melody is in the public domain.

About this tab

• What it covers. The first, second and sixth days; the sixth day has every phrase of the song (days 7 to 12 add their gifts to the “Six geese a-laying” phrase).
• Key. C major (printed in F major).
• Simplified. In “Five gold rings” the original falls through a sharpened note (B natural in F major, F sharp here); a kalimba in C has no F sharp, so it is played as F.
• Source. Transcribed from Frederic Austin, The Twelve Days of Christmas: traditional song (Novello, London, 1909), voice part, pp. 2-5 (first, second and sixth days).