Piper's SongbookHow to play Carol of the Bells on recorder
Carol of the Bells (the main melody) uses 8 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E and high E. The first line goes G F♯ G E G F♯ G E G F♯ G E G F♯ G E. The same tune is used for Shchedryk.
- Notes
- 8: B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E, high E
- Level
- Thumb pinch
- Time
- 3/4, about 132 beats a minute
- Source
- Mykola Leontovych, "Shchedryk", first performed in Kyiv in 1916
Carol of the Bells recorder notes with letters
Each box is one note, with its fingering underneath: filled holes are covered, a half-filled hole is half covered or pinched. Wider boxes are longer notes. A ′ mark means the higher octave, so D′ is high D. Bar lines are drawn as thin rules.
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Letters only, for printing or copying
- G F♯ G E | G F♯ G E | G F♯ G E | G F♯ G E
- B A B G | B A B G | B A B G | B A B G
- E′ E′ E′ D′ C′ | B B B A G | A A A B A | E E E E
- G F♯ G E | G F♯ G E | G F♯ G E | E
Sheet music
Written pitch for soprano recorder, which sounds an octave higher. Press play to hear it on a recorder sound; the slow setting plays at 60% speed.
Fingerings for the notes in Carol of the Bells
Hole 0 is the thumb hole on the back. Holes 1 to 3 are for the left hand, 4 to 7 for the right. These are Baroque (English) fingerings.
How to practise it
Every bar of the first line is G, F♯, G, low E. Only your right hand moves: F♯ uses its middle and ring fingers, and E uses its first two fingers. Keep those fingers just above the holes so the pattern stays even, like a bell that never speeds up.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
The tune is "Shchedryk", a Ukrainian New Year song that Mykola Leontovych built on a four-note folk chant. His choral setting was first performed in Kyiv on 29 December 1916, and the Ukrainian National Chorus sang it at Carnegie Hall on 5 October 1922. Peter Wilhousky's English words about bells came later, in 1936.
Questions
Is Carol of the Bells easy on recorder?
It suits a player who already knows the notes from low D to high D. It also needs the thumb pinch for the high notes.
What notes do you need for Carol of the Bells on recorder?
B, A, G, high C, high D, F♯, low E and high E. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F♯ is fingered differently on a German recorder; the diagrams above are Baroque, and the linked note pages show both. A recorder whose hole 4 is smaller than hole 5 is Baroque.
More recorder songs
Notes checked against the soprano line of Leontovych's choral setting as printed on Wikipedia, against the four-note motif described in the Carol of the Bells article, transposed to E minor. The choir's rising scale passage is left out because it goes above the recorder's comfortable range. Last checked 6 October 2026.