Sing Auld Lang Syne: the opening phrase, its key and note range
The opening phrase of “Auld Lang Syne” runs from G3 to A4, 14 semitones, with its tonic on C4 at 100 bpm, and rates hard to sing. Origin: Traditional Scottish tune; words by Robert Burns, 1788.
Sing Auld Lang Syne with pitch feedback
The opening phrase of “Auld Lang Syne” is transcribed here with its tonic on C4 at 100 bpm in 4 beats to the bar. The 14 notes span G3 to A4 — 14 semitones, with 4 leaps of a major third or more — and the span and leaps together rate it hard to sing; a full 4-pass session runs about 0:38.
14 semitones as transcribed. Once you have taken the range test, the practice room opens it fitted to your range, and you can shift it by semitones from there. Without a saved range it opens at this written pitch and is scored in either octave, so a lower voice can sing it an octave down and a higher voice an octave up.
- One time through
- 0:10 at 100 bpm
- A full session
- 0:38 — 4 passes
- Leaps of a major third or more
- 4
Auld Lang Syne lyrics, as transcribed here
- Should auld acquaintance be forgot
- and never brought to mind?
The songbook transcribes the opening phrase rather than the whole song, because 4 tight repetitions of a phrase you can hear yourself improve on beats one distracted run at the full thing.
Origin and copyright status
Robert Burns wrote the verses in 1788 and died in 1796; the melody is an older traditional Scottish air. Both are long out of copyright.
- Attribution
- Traditional Scottish tune; words by Robert Burns, 1788
- Language
- English
Every melody in the songbook is public domain, which is why the whole thing can be sung in a browser without a licence. A specific recording or arrangement of the same tune can still be under copyright — this is our own transcription of the melody.
Genre, era and what it drills
Genre and era say where the melody comes from; “dotted rhythm” is what it asks of a voice.