Number tabs for the steel tongue drum
Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art Maori)
Free number tabs for Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art Maori) on the steel tongue drum. 30 notes, C Major scale, Intermediate level — play it instantly in the free Tongue Drum Online player.
The tab
▶ Play it in Tongue Drum Online
Open the free player on the C Major scale, then tap the petals or press these keyboard keys in order, following the tab above:
Whakaaria Mai is the Maori version of How Great Thou Art, one of the most moving sacred songs in the New Zealand repertoire, combining European hymnody with Polynesian expression. On a steel tongue drum the broad, soaring phrases demand both dynamic control and smooth mallet technique to do justice to the melody's grandeur. A rewarding piece for intermediate players seeking something spiritually resonant.
How to play Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art Maori) on a tongue drum
The numbers above are the standard tongue-drum number notation. Each digit is a note of the C Major scale, counting up from the lowest tongue. A dot above a number raises it one octave; a dot below lowers it. The small teal letters show the matching key in the Tongue Drum Online player.
Start slowly, one phrase at a time. Let each note ring out fully before striking the next — the long decay is the whole character of the instrument. This is a intermediate arrangement and a simplified, single-instrument version of Whakaaria Mai (How Great Thou Art Maori).
About this melody
New Zealand Maori traditional.