The final notes are also straightforward but require different technique see ' How to hold an ocarina on the high notes' for details. Your browser does not support the video tag. Work on A, B, and high C using the same method. It may help you if you move this finger with a finger of your other hand to learn how it feels. Lifting the ring finger by itself may feel awkward at first. The pinky finger stays down to support the instrument, and the ocarina will play sharp if you play A with the pinky. Notice that A is played by lifting the left ring finger and You can stabilise it by putting the right pinky on the ocarina's tail to support it when transitioning from G to A. Use the same method described previously, moving up and down through the fingerings and saying their names.Īs you lift fingers the instrument may start to feel unstable in your hands. Once you are happy with the first three notes, work on F, G, and A. If you want to play while learning the fingerings, using a chromatic tuner or drone is strongly recommended. It will start to feel natural after a day or two.Īs discussed in The fundamentals of playing the ocarina, the note that you sound changes with blowing pressure. When you sleep, the things you have been practising will be automated by your subconscious. You should be able to feel the edge of the hole underneath your finger, and try to keep it underneath the centre of the finger pad.Īll of this will get easier after a few days. When you lower a finger, you may find that you miss the hole and end up with the finger to the side of the hole or partially venting it, which will not produce a good sound.
Be patient and practise this slowly for a few minutes, and you will notice that it starts to get easier.Īlso watch what your fingers are doing. If you have not played a wind instrument before, moving your fingers like this may be challenging. Repeat this until you become comfortable with it. I advise practising this slowly to a metronome, at about 60 BPM playing one note per tick. Finger each one in sequence and say its name aloud. To start learning the ocarina's fingerings, begin by practising its lowest 3 notes: C, D, and E. Practice each group in isolation, until it starts to become automatic.Ĭombine the groups into a complete scale.ĭepending on how meany things you can hold in your short term memory, smaller or larger groups may be easier for you. For the examples below, I have broken them into groups of 3 adjacent notes. Practising the fingerings of a whole scale at once may also be overwhelming, and so it can be helpful to break them down:īreak the scale into small fragments. For this article, I have assumed the C scale of a C ocarina, and the same principle can be applied to other scales / ocarinas. Usually, you learn the fingerings by learning the notes used in common scales, as this allows you to quickly start playing music. An added benefit is that you can then clearly see what your fingers are doing. Just bend your elbows, and hold the ocarina in front of you. You don't have to blow the notes while practising fingerings. It may feel overwhelming, so wouldn't it be easier if you could eliminate some of these factors, and practice only the fingerings at first? Well, you can. When you first start playing the ocarina there's a ton of different things to think about: The second approach gives more direct satisfaction from playing something, but requires the use of pre-chosen music fitting into specific note ranges, leaving less space for learner agency. The first approach is the best if you're experienced with playing other instruments, or just want to start playing your favourite music as soon as possible. Interspersed with music, Learn the fingerings for a small range of notes, practice playing music using those notes, learn a few more notes, and so on. There are a few ways to approach learning the ocarina's fingerings:Īll at once, Practice fingerings for all of the notes in one go, then start applying it to music. So, learning the fingerings is just a matter of repeating them until they become automatic. Your subconscious mind will automate anything that you do frequently. The goal in learning the ocarina's fingerings is the same, to make them when you want to play a note. When an experienced musician plays an instrument, the process is much like walking, the player thinks about the music they want to play, and the fingerings required to do so 'just happen' with no conscious effort.
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