Learn Ode to Joy on the Steelpan

The tenor pan of Trinidad & Tobago, synthesized live in your browser. Strike the chrome — or pick a song and follow the lights.

Play like a piano: Z X C … for the low octave, Q W E … for the high oneTap a pad to strike it. Low notes sit on the rim, high notes toward the centre.

Pick a song to practise, or just strike the pan.

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Songs

Settings

100 BPM
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Space listen or stop · Esc stop

How to play Ode to Joy on the steelpan

Almost entirely stepwise — the melody everyone can hum. Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, 1824.

Key
C major
Time
4/4
Tempo
100 BPM
Notes
30
Level
Easy
  1. Listen. Press Listen above to hear it at 100 BPM. You can slow it down in Settings.
  2. Play along. Press Play along and the pad to strike lights up. Play it and the next one lights. A wrong note is named, so you know what to change.
  3. Play it from the notes. Once it feels familiar, play it from the sheet below without the lights.

Low notes sit on the rim and high notes toward the centre. Going round the rim, each pad is a fifth above the one before (C, G, D, A …), and the inner ring repeats the same pattern an octave higher.

The notes

Written as note names spelled with flats. A dot (·) is a rest.

  1. E4Joy-E4ful,F4joy-G4ful,G4weF4a-E4doreD4theeC4GodC4ofD4glo-E4ry,E4LordD4ofD4love
  2. E4HeartsE4un-F4foldG4likeG4flowersF4be-E4foreD4theeC4op-C4eningD4toE4theD4sunC4a-C4bove