Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for Flutehear it, slow it down, play along
- Tune: MENDELSSOHN
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Flute
- F major
- 4/4
- 20 bars
On the flute
It runs from C4 to D5, across the low and middle octaves.
It is in F major, at concert pitch: what you read is what sounds.
How it goes
Twenty bars in 4/4. The first four bars come back at once with a new ending. In the middle, one short phrase is played twice. Then the line climbs to the top note twice, and each time comes down with the same dotted figure, the second time to the home note.
A way to practise it
Loop bars 13 and 14, with the repeated top notes, at the slow tempo. Watch the dotted rhythm in the last line: a dotted quarter, then an eighth.
- Slow ♩ = 60
- Practice ♩ = 80
- Goal ♩ = 100
About the hymn
Charles Wesley's words were published in 1739. The tune comes from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang of 1840, written for a festival in honour of Gutenberg's printing press. William H. Cummings fitted it to Wesley's words in the 1850s.
This page has the melody of Cummings's setting, the form hymnals print.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing for other instruments
Each version is written in a key that suits the instrument, with its own page and player.
More hymns
Questions
- Is there Hark! The Herald Angels Sing sheet music for flute?
- Yes. This page shows the melody written for Flute in F major, 20 bars in 4/4, and plays it. The notes are public domain.
- What notes does Hark! The Herald Angels Sing use on flute?
- In this version the melody runs from C4 to D5, across the low and middle octaves. Press play and watch the cursor: it follows the notes as they sound.
- How fast should I play Hark! The Herald Angels Sing?
- Hymnals don't fix one speed, and churches sing it at different tempos. Start around ♩ = 60, practise at 80, then match the speed your church sings it. The player's tempo buttons move in steps of 4.
- Is this the same key as my hymnal?
- Maybe not: hymnals print Hark! The Herald Angels Sing in different keys. This page sounds in F major. Check the key signature in your hymnal before you play along with the organ or piano.
- Can I play it together with other instruments?
- Yes: the versions for Violin, Cello, B♭ clarinet, B♭ trumpet, E♭ alto sax, F horn sound in the same key, F major, so you can play them at the same time, each reading their own page.
Photograph your own part with ScoreLens.
This player is the one in the app. Photograph a printed melody or instrumental part, and ScoreLens plays it back, slower or in another key. It reads one line on one staff: a hymnal page with four voices on two staves is out of reach for now, and so is handwriting.
