Hum or play a real ocarina in Ocarina of Time on Switch 2
In the Switch 2 version of Ocarina of Time you don't have to press buttons to play Link's songs. You can hum a song, or play it on a real ocarina, near the console and Link plays it in the game. Below is what Nintendo has said about it, the notes of every song, and how to finger them on a 12-hole ocarina.
What Nintendo has said
Nintendo announced it with the remake on :
Play (or simply hum) one of Link's learned ocarina melodies within range of the Nintendo Switch 2 system's built-in microphone, and he'll perform the song in the game!
Hum a song that Link has learned and he'll play it on his ocarina! The game will also respond to instruments like the new playable and electric ocarinas coming later this year.
Source: Nintendo's Zelda 40th anniversary announcement.
So it listens through the console's own microphone, it works for songs Link has already learned, and humming counts. Nintendo hasn't said:
- how close to the right pitch you need to be,
- whether a song hummed or played in a different key still counts,
- how the new playable ocarina connects, or which ocarinas besides it and HORI's electric one work.
Everything below is about the notes themselves, which are the same as in the original game.
The five notes
Every song Link learns uses the same five notes, one for each ocarina button: D, F, A, B and high D. On Switch 2 they are L, R, A, Y, X from low to high. To hum a song you only need to hit these five pitches, in the order below.
| Song | Notes | Switch 2 | N64 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zelda's Lullaby | B D A B D A | Y X A Y X A | C◀ C▲ C▶ C◀ C▲ C▶ |
| Epona's Song | D B A D B A | X Y A X Y A | C▲ C◀ C▶ C▲ C◀ C▶ |
| Saria's Song | F A B F A B | R A Y R A Y | C▼ C▶ C◀ C▼ C▶ C◀ |
| Sun's Song | A F D A F D | A R X A R X | C▶ C▼ C▲ C▶ C▼ C▲ |
| Song of Time | A D F A D F | A L R A L R | C▶ A C▼ C▶ A C▼ |
| Song of Storms | D F D D F D | L R X L R X | A C▼ C▲ A C▼ C▲ |
| Minuet of Forest | D D B A B A | L X Y A Y A | A C▲ C◀ C▶ C◀ C▶ |
| Bolero of Fire | F D F D A F A F | R L R L A R A R | C▼ A C▼ A C▶ C▼ C▶ C▼ |
| Serenade of Water | D F A A B | L R A A Y | A C▼ C▶ C▶ C◀ |
| Requiem of Spirit | D F D A F D | L R L A R L | A C▼ A C▶ C▼ A |
| Nocturne of Shadow | B A A D B A F | Y A A L Y A R | C◀ C▶ C▶ A C◀ C▶ C▼ |
| Prelude of Light | D A D A B D | X A X A Y X | C▲ C▶ C▲ C▶ C◀ C▲ |
Each song's name links to its full tab. The notes in the table are only the short phrase the game asks for. The tab is the whole melody, with play-along audio.
The Scarecrow's Song isn't in the table because you make it up yourself. You can write yours here and keep it as a tab, or start from a MIDI file of a song you like. Short of ideas? Browse famous tunes that already fit in eight notes and open any of them to try it.
Playing them on a 12-hole ocarina
Alto C ocarina
A C ocarina plays the game's notes at the game's pitch. Filled holes are covered, empty ones open. The two circles beside the mouthpiece are the thumb holes on the back.
Soprano F ocarina
An F ocarina sounds a fourth higher than a C ocarina with the same fingering. Use the C fingerings and you play the right tune, but in a different key. Since Nintendo hasn't said whether the game accepts that, these fingerings play the game's own pitches on an F ocarina:
Every song page does this for you: switch Ocarina to F in the toolbar and the tab is re-fingered to stay in the game's key.
Alto G ocarina
A G ocarina is the other way round: it sounds a fourth lower than a C ocarina, so it fingers each note a fourth higher. Its highest note is C, so the game's high high D is played an octave lower, on the same fingering as the low one. These fingerings play the game's own pitches, apart from that one:
Switch Ocarina to G on a song page and the tab is re-fingered the same way.
Humming
If you don't have an ocarina, humming is enough. If you're unsure how a song goes, open it, for example Zelda's Lullaby, and press Listen. The table above gives the notes the game is listening for.
Checked against Nintendo's announcement on .