All About C Soprano Ocarinas

by Howard Fosdick © FolkFluteWorld.com

Ever tried the C soprano ocarina? It's the highest pitched of all the ocarinas. Its bright, cheery voice makes a nice counterpart to the lower, more mellow tones of the popular alto C ocarina.

You can rely on a C soprano for sprightly tunes that will be heard over the clutter of other instruments in an ensemble. If you play outdoors, your music won't be swallowed up by the leaves of the bushes and the trees.

And if you enjoy fast fingering and ornamental effects, they articulate more clearly and cleanly with this high flute than other size of ocarina.

You might even try bird fluting -- playing your little oc to your local avians, to see what responses you get. You might be surprised by how they react.

In this post, I'll tell you all about C soprano ocarinas (or "ocs"). We'll cover how to play them, which one to buy, and everything else you'd ever want to know.

But first, here's a little song to remind you how they sound...

The Basics

Like all ocarinas, C sopranos come in three basic styles: transverse, pendant, and inline. The photo shows a brown transverse and two pendants.

Pendants are also called seedpods. Most people use those two monikers interchangeably.

Given their small size and light weight, some fans like to wear their C sopranos on a necklace. You can see that two of the ocs in the photo have attached lanyards.

Your fingers will probably be a pretty close fit on a C soprano. That's why that ruler is in the photo, to give you an idea of their sizes.

The finger spacing on almost all transverses is pretty similar. Most musicians can fit their hands on them comfortably enough to play.

Pendant sizes vary. You might find your fingers fit more comfortably on some pendants than others.

Look closely at the photo and you can see that the green pendant spaces its tone holes a bit further from each other than the pink one. That gives you more finger room.

In any case, the trick to playing the C soprano is to play with your fingertips. Don't splay your fingers across the tone holes because that requires more real estate.

To ensure you can comfortably play a C soprano before you buy it, try it out to see how it fits your hands. If you buy online, pay particular attention to the item dimensions listed in the description.

How the C Soprano Differs

This photo contrasts the two C sopranos above the ruler to the two alto C ocs below it.

The C soprano voices one octave higher than the popular alto C. The lowest note of the alto C -- called by some the C major ocarina -- is C5. That's the same lowest note as the common soprano recorder.

The lowest note of the C soprano oc is one octave above that, at C6. That's the same fundamental note as the high-pitched garklein recorder.

Have you ever heard of the garklein recorder? It's a fun little instrument but you rarely see it. One reason is that some folks can't fit their hands on it to play it.

The C soprano transverse ocarina makes a good alternative. Most can play it just fine.

The chart below lists the lowest and highest notes for the C soprano oc. The range of the instrument depends on the number of fingering holes it has. The tranverse has the greatest range, followed by the 6 hole pendant, and lastly the 4 hole pendant. Of course, all these ocs play all sharps and flats within their ranges.

You also might run across the G soprano ocarina. Its lowest note is G, three notes below that of the C soprano. It's not nearly as popular as either the C soprano or the alto C.

For contrast, the chart includes data for the G soprano and alto C.

The Transverse C Soprano

The transverse C soprano has two big advantages over its pendant counterpart.

First, its fingering is linear. To play up the scale, just cover all the tone holes, and then progressively lift them, one at a time. It's dead simple.

Second, most tranverse ocs have 12 fingering holes so they feature a full 13 note range. That's three notes more than a 6 hole pendant, and five more notes than a 4 hole pendant. It's always useful to have a wider range, of course.

Whether they are ceramic or plastic, most C soprano transverses are very nearly the same size -- right around 5 inches long. The finger fit is similar across them, too.

This chart lists the advantages to both ceramic and plastic:

Which Ceramic Transverse?

If you decide to buy a ceramic transverse C soprano, be sure to very carefully select your brand. Several I've seen at Amazon are decent instruments but they have a note or two that are ill-tuned. Or, their highest notes are too loud or excessively airy.

You don't want to buy an oc that is so loud you don't enjoy playing. This is definitely a consideration when looking at the highest pitched ocs. Some solve this problem by wearing earplugs when they play.

One brand I can personally vouch for is the Focalink transverse. You can buy it from Stein Ocarina or at Amazon. This oc hits all notes in tune and sounding true. The highest notes sound sweet and pure rather than loud or airy.

The sound sample at the beginning of this article was played on this Focalink ceramic transverse:

Prices vary widely for Focalink products depending where you buy them. This is because they're a Taiwanese company that only sells in the U.S. through distributors. Do a little googling for the best price and you might pay $40 or $50 USD for this instrument instead of $70 or $80. Shipping charges vary a lot, too.

For most sizes of ocarina, I enjoy playing either ceramic or plastic. But for the C soprano, I favor ceramic. To my ear, the higher notes are more pure, sweet, and less airy or loud with a quality ceramic transverse.

Which Plastic Transverse?

The consensus in the ocarina community is that two brands of plastic ocs are the best: Night By Noble and Focalink. Focalink offers two variants, their Osawa series and their Brio series. The above photo displays these three ocs.

For a sound comparison of the three, check out this youtube video by oc enthusiast Andy Cormier. He concludes -- and I agree -- that all three are excellent options with little difference between them.

In contrast to the Focalink ceramic transverse, you can buy these plastic ocs from many suppliers. Songbird Ocarina, Stein Ocarina, and Amazon are good sources.

Prices vary less for the plastic transverses as opposed to the thinly-traded ceramics. Most are about $30.

The C Soprano Pendant

With its small size and light weight, the C soprano pendant offers a world of fascinating themes.

The photo shows just a few of many fun styles and shapes you'll run across.

Some like to collect these little instruments.

Others wear them as jewelry. With their small size and light weight, they're more wearable than other ocarinas.

The best part of all this is that all pendants finger the exact same way. If you can play one, you can play them all. Shape is irrelevant.

Now, pendants do have their own unique fingering system. So you'll have to memorize the notes to the scale.

But it's pretty easy -- in the UK, they introduce schoolchildren to music by giving each child his own pendant.

6 versus 4 Hole

Pendants come in two varieties: 4 and 6 hole.

The 4 hole pendant has four fingering holes on top. The 6 hole variety adds two thumb holes beneath the instrument.

The 6 hole variety is musically superior. It offers a range of 10 whole notes, versus the 8 notes for the 4 hole variety. (The more holes an ocarina has, the more notes you can play.)

But 6 holes is impractical for certain shapes, as you can see from the photo. So both kinds are popular.

You finger the scale the same way whether the oc is 6 or 4 hole. You just don't use your thumbs on a 4 hole.

Which Pendant?

When seeking your first C soprano pendant, it's tempting to buy the most intriguing shape you run across. But it's smarter to start with a plain, basic seedpod.

You'll be sure of reaching all fingering holes easily. And if you choose carefully, you'll know that the oc plays well, including its highest notes.

Start with a 6 hole oc so you can learn the full set of notes. (The 4 hole plays a subset of the 6 hole scale.) The photo shows the simple shapes we're suggesting.

Avoid the cheapest plastic pendants. They can be pretty shrill on their highest notes, and don't always play in tune.

Many are made for children. They come in fanciful colors, with little necklaces and fingering charts for a few simple songs. They're great for kids, but unless you have small hands and a good pair of earplugs, they're not where you want to start your pendant journey.

These two vendors sell quality products that won't disappoint. Their offerings include everything from the simple pendants we suggest, to a variety of fascinating unique shapes:

• Songbird Ocarina
• STL Ocarina

After you get a bit of experience... let loose! Try that cute little seedpod you've been eyeing. Maybe you'll build a collection. Explore the fun, intriguing, varied universe of what's available.

You can learn more about pendants in my article Learn to Play Pendant Ocarinas!

Wearing Your Oc

Enthusiasts like to wear their C soprano on a necklace. It's a surefire conversation starter, and you'll be the talk of the party when you toot your friends a quick tune in response to their questions.

Plastic is lighter and therefore easier to wear than heavier ceramic.

Shape counts, too. A rounded, relatively flat C soprano like those two in the photo above are more wearable than a ceramic transverse.

Playing Your Oc

Does playing the C soprano differ from other ocarinas? Only in minor respects.

Of course, all ocs finger the scales the exact same way. But you'll find that with its small air chamber, the C soprano is more responsive to quick fingering and ornamental flourishes than deeper-voiced ocarinas.

The C soprano is also a great vehicle for learning vibrato, since it better responds to minute differences in air pressure.

With its closely-spaced tone holes, you'll want to play with your fingertips to ensure fluid finger motion.

As far as sheet music goes, you can play any scores written for the Alto C on your C soprano oc. In fact, you can play sheet music scored for any key-of-C instrument, including soprano and tenor recorder, C tin whistle, and more.

You can even play sheet music scored for the C concert flute -- but only if it stays within the more limited range of the ocarina. For songs you can't play, sometimes you can transpose them into a more suitable key for the ocarina.

You can find tons of free sheet music here.

You can also learn from the free ocarina lessons and videos you find here.

Final Thoughts

In closing, here are two more C soprano songs.

The first showcases a Focalink plastic transverse, while the latter demonstrates a ceramic pendant made by the same company.

Now, that musician in the videos is obviously highly skilled. But the great news about ocarinas is that -- even if you lack his dexterous fingering -- you can still elicit a lovely, pure tone from your C soprano.

I hope this article has given you the background you need to get started.

Free Resources

Free sheet music, tune books, lessons, videos, community, and more can be found on our free resources page.

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