Five keys and one low note
Sixteen bars of melody sit on just five white keys: t y u i o, middle C up to G. The single exception is w, the G below middle C, which closes the third line. Beethoven’s theme moves almost entirely by step, which is why it is so often the first real tune a beginner learns.
Lines one, two and four are nearly identical. They differ only at the very end: the first line stops on D (u - yy - -), as if asking a question, and the second and fourth answer it by landing on C (y - tt - -). Learn line one well and three quarters of the piece is done.
The tricky third line
Line three is the contrast. It opens on D, and each uiu is a quick turn: E and F share one beat, then the second E takes the next beat. Take it slowly: practise y uiu t on its own until the turn sounds even, then put the two halves together. The line ends with the drop to low G, which prepares the return of the main tune.
The dotted rhythm that closes lines one, two and four (u - yy is a long E, then two Ds, the second held; y - tt is the same on D and C) gives the theme its march-like lilt. You can ignore it while finding the notes; listen for it once you play along.
From Beethoven’s Ninth
Ode to Joy is the choral finale of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, a setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem. Beethoven wrote the symphony between 1822 and 1824; it was first performed in Vienna’s Kärntnertortheater on 7 May 1824 and first published by Schott in Mainz in 1826, according to the work’s entry in the IMSLP score library. In the symphony, the fourth line starts a beat early on a tied note; in this simplified version it starts on the beat.
For the full map of letters, capitals included, see the letter sheets layout.