Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) Kalimba Tab — Letter Notes & Numbered Tabs
The full Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) arrangement for a 17-key kalimba in C major, written out in both letter notes and numbered notation — with an honest difficulty note and practice tips for the parts that need them.
Difficulty
Beginner
Key
C Major (17-key)
Range
E4 – E5
Tempo
90 BPM
Mo Li Hua — 'Jasmine Flower' — may be the most traveled folk song China has ever produced. People have sung it for centuries in the Jiangnan region, and in the 1700s it made its way to Europe, where Puccini wove its melody into his opera Turandot. Today it is played at state occasions, taught in schools, and known by heart across much of the world.
The melody suits the kalimba beautifully. It moves in soft descending phrases — each one settling like a falling petal — and it never leaves a comfortable eight-tine span in the middle of a 17-key instrument. Nothing about it is fast; the whole song is one calm, singing line.
Below you get the complete arrangement in letter notes and numbered notation, a difficulty guide, and phrase-by-phrase tips. It is a little longer than most beginner songs — 84 notes — but the phrases repeat generously, so you learn a small amount of music and get a full, satisfying song out of it.
Hear Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) first
A clear singalong version with lyrics. The melody here matches the arrangement below — listen once, sing along, then play.
Video: Mo Li Hua (Jasmine Flower) — singalong version with lyrics (YouTube). Want to test the fingerings as you listen? Open our virtual kalimba in a second tab and pluck along with the recording.
Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) Kalimba Tabs — Letter Notes
How to read the letter tabs: each note shows the letter and the octave, like C4 or G5. On a 17-key kalimba in C, the lowest tine is C4 and the highest is E6, so the octave number tells you which side of the instrument to play on — smaller numbers are the longer, lower tines. A dash after a note (C4 -) means let it ring.
| E5 D5 C5 G4 A4 G4 | E4 C5 C5 D5 E5 | | C5 A4 G4 E5 D5 | C5 G4 A4 G4 E4 | | E5 D5 C5 G4 A4 G4 | E4 C5 C5 D5 E5 | | C5 A4 G4 E5 D5 | C5 G4 A4 G4 E4 | | E5 D5 C5 G4 A4 G4 | E4 C5 C5 D5 E5 | | C5 A4 G4 E5 D5 | C5 G4 A4 G4 E4 | | E5 D5 C5 G4 A4 G4 | E4 C5 C5 D5 E5 | | C5 A4 G4 E5 D5 | C5 G4 A4 G4 E4 |
Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) Kalimba Tabs — Numbered Notation
How to read the numbered tabs: numbers 1–7 are the scale notes (1 = C, 2 = D, and so on). 1° is the low octave tine, plain 1 is the middle one, and 1′ is the high one — the same markings you see next to the numbers on your kalimba. Notes in parentheses ( ) play together, and a dash after a number means let it ring.
| 3 2 1 5° 6° 5° | 3° 1 1 2 3 | | 1 6° 5° 3 2 | 1 5° 6° 5° 3° | | 3 2 1 5° 6° 5° | 3° 1 1 2 3 | | 1 6° 5° 3 2 | 1 5° 6° 5° 3° | | 3 2 1 5° 6° 5° | 3° 1 1 2 3 | | 1 6° 5° 3 2 | 1 5° 6° 5° 3° | | 3 2 1 5° 6° 5° | 3° 1 1 2 3 | | 1 6° 5° 3 2 | 1 5° 6° 5° 3° |
Prefer to hear it first? Open Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) in the interactive player and follow along while it plays. For more songs in the same style, browse the free kalimba tabs hub.
How hard is Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) on kalimba?
We rate this arrangement Beginner. We rate this arrangement Beginner. The melody is stepwise, the range runs only from E4 to E5, and the tempo is a relaxed 90 BPM. The honest caveat is length: at 84 notes it is longer than songs like Twinkle Twinkle, so plan to learn it in two halves before joining them. Your hand barely moves the whole time — this is a song about tone, not navigation.
Learning path: phrase by phrase
Work through these phrases in order. Each one is short enough to master in a few minutes, and together they cover the whole song.
“Hao yi duo mei li de mo li hua”
E5 D5 C5 G4 A4 G4 E4. The famous descending phrase with a small curl at the end. It opens the song and returns like a refrain throughout.
The answering line
C5 C5 D5 E5 C5 A4 G4. A rise to E5, then a soft landing. This phrase answers the opening the way a second voice would.
The return and close
The opening phrase comes back to carry the song home, settling on the low E4. Play the final pass a shade softer than the first — that small change turns a drill into a performance.
Playing tips
- The opening descent E5 D5 C5 G4 is the melody's signature: three steps down, then a gentle drop. Let each note fade a little before the next — that gap is what makes the phrase sound like a sigh.
- The answering phrase C5 C5 D5 E5 C5 A4 G4 rises, leans, and settles. Keep the two opening C5s identical in volume; the phrase only works when the pair is even.
- Most of the melody lives between G4 and E5, one relaxed hand position. Once you have played the first line, your thumb already knows where everything else in the song is.
- Aim for legato — smooth and connected. The kalimba's sustain does most of the work, but avoid damping the tines between notes. Mo Li Hua should sound like one unbroken, flowing line.
Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua) kalimba FAQ
Is this the same melody as in the opera Turandot?
Yes. Puccini heard Mo Li Hua from a music box and used it as the opera's recurring theme. Learn this tab and you will recognize the melody every time Turandot is performed.
Can I play it on a 10-key kalimba?
Check your lowest tine. The arrangement needs E4 at the bottom, and most 10-key C-major kalimbas include it. If your instrument starts higher, you can still play the melody shifted up, but it will sit in a different key.
What do the words mean?
The lyrics describe a young woman admiring a jasmine flower — beautiful, fragrant, and too lovely to pick. You do not need the words to play the song, but they explain its soft, admiring character.
What should I learn next?
Sakura Sakura is the perfect companion: another treasured Asian folk melody, even shorter to learn, with the same gentle repetition. When you are ready for something slower and more sustained, Amazing Grace shares the same singing style.
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Related tabs & guides
- Amazing Grace kalimba tabs — the other slow classic with wide, singing phrases; it pairs beautifully with this song at gatherings.
- 7 note kalimba songs — melodies that fit on small kalimbas, if you are playing on fewer than 17 tines.
- Kalimba tabs with numbers — more practice reading the numbered notation used in the tab above.
- 17-key kalimba tabs — arrangements written for the standard layout, including the high and low tines.