| Songs learned from NPCs | 12 (6 general songs and 6 warp songs) |
|---|---|
| Custom song | Scarecrow’s Song (8 notes you compose), a 13th melody for the Hookshot and Longshot |
| Input on Nintendo 64 | The A button and the four yellow C buttons (C-Up, C-Down, C-Left, C-Right), five notes in all |
| Teachers | Impa, Malon, Saria, the Royal Family’s Tomb, Zelda’s vision, the Windmill Keeper and Sheik |
| Child songs | Zelda’s Lullaby, Epona’s Song, Saria’s Song, Sun’s Song, Song of Time |
| Adult songs | Song of Storms and all six warp songs (Scarecrow’s Song is set up in both ages) |
Ocarina of Time has 12 songs that Link learns from characters or places, plus Scarecrow’s Song, which you write yourself. Six are general songs used to open paths, call Epona, change the time of day or make rain. The other six are warp songs taught by Sheik, and each one carries you straight to a temple area. Every song is a fixed run of notes on the Nintendo 64 controller, listed below in the order you press them. The notes map to the buttons like this: A is the low D, C-Down is F, C-Right is A, C-Left is B and C-Up is the high D. You can see every song you know, and replay it, on the Quest Status screen.
Table of Contents
Quick reference
| # | Song | Notes (N64) | Learned from and where | Main use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zelda’s Lullaby | C-Left, C-Up, C-Right, C-Left, C-Up, C-Right | Impa, Hyrule Castle courtyard (child) | Triforce tiles and doors; Great Fairy summoning; Royal Family’s Tomb |
| 2 | Epona’s Song | C-Up, C-Left, C-Right, C-Up, C-Left, C-Right | Malon, Lon Lon Ranch (child) | Calls Epona; makes cows give Lon Lon Milk |
| 3 | Saria’s Song | C-Down, C-Right, C-Left, C-Down, C-Right, C-Left | Saria, Sacred Forest Meadow (child) | Talks to Saria; cheers Darunia, Mido and the Skull Kid; guides you through the Lost Woods |
| 4 | Sun’s Song | C-Right, C-Down, C-Up, C-Right, C-Down, C-Up | Wall engraving at the back of the Royal Family’s Tomb, Kakariko Graveyard | Swaps day and night; freezes ReDeads and Gibdos |
| 5 | Song of Time | C-Right, A, C-Down, C-Right, A, C-Down | Zelda’s vision, after you fish the Ocarina of Time out of the moat (child) | Opens the Door of Time; moves Time Blocks |
| 6 | Song of Storms | A, C-Down, C-Up, A, C-Down, C-Up | The Windmill Keeper, Kakariko Windmill (adult) | Rain; drains the well; reveals grottoes; frogs |
| 7 | Minuet of Forest | A, C-Up, C-Left, C-Right, C-Left, C-Right | Sheik, Sacred Forest Meadow (adult) | Warps to the Sacred Forest Meadow (Forest Temple) |
| 8 | Bolero of Fire | C-Down, A, C-Down, A, C-Right, C-Down, C-Right, C-Down | Sheik, Death Mountain Crater (adult) | Warps to Death Mountain Crater (Fire Temple) |
| 9 | Serenade of Water | A, C-Down, C-Right, C-Right, C-Left | Sheik, Ice Cavern, after you take the Iron Boots | Warps to Lake Hylia (Water Temple) |
| 10 | Requiem of Spirit | A, C-Down, A, C-Right, C-Down, A | Sheik, Desert Colossus, after you leave the Spirit Temple the first time | Warps to the Desert Colossus (Spirit Temple) |
| 11 | Nocturne of Shadow | C-Left, C-Right, C-Right, A, C-Left, C-Right, C-Down | Sheik, Kakariko Village, after the Fire and Water Temples | Warps to the Graveyard (Shadow Temple) |
| 12 | Prelude of Light | C-Up, C-Right, C-Up, C-Right, C-Left, C-Up | Sheik, Temple of Time, after the Forest Temple | Warps to the Temple of Time |
| 13 | Scarecrow’s Song | Your own 8-note melody | You teach it to Bonooru, the scarecrow at Lake Hylia (child), then replay it as adult | Summons Pierre, a Hookshot and Longshot target |
General songs
Zelda’s Lullaby
Play C-Left, C-Up, C-Right, C-Left, C-Up, C-Right. Impa teaches it to you as Child Link, after you have met Princess Zelda in the castle courtyard and Impa leads you out of Hyrule Castle. It is the song of the royal family, and a Triforce mark is the sign that it works. Play it on the Triforce tile at the Royal Family’s Tomb to open it, on the tiles at the Great Fairy Fountains to call the fairy out, and in front of the waterfall in Zora’s River to open the way into Zora’s Domain. In the Water Temple it changes the water level at the Triforce tiles. See the Hyrule Field and Hyrule Castle chapter for the courtyard scene.
Epona’s Song
Play C-Up, C-Left, C-Right, C-Up, C-Left, C-Right. Malon teaches it at Lon Lon Ranch as Child Link. Visit the ranch in the daytime and speak to her in the paddock until she offers to sing. The song calls Epona to you in Hyrule Field, Lake Hylia, Gerudo’s Fortress and other wide outdoor areas, but you can only ride her once you have won her from Ingo as an adult. Played next to a cow with an empty bottle, the song also fills the bottle with Lon Lon Milk. See the Lon Lon Ranch chapter for the ranch and the race.
Saria’s Song
Play C-Down, C-Right, C-Left, C-Down, C-Right, C-Left. Saria teaches it when you reach her in the Sacred Forest Meadow at the far end of the Lost Woods, as Child Link. Playing it lets you speak to Saria at any time for a hint about where to go next. It also cheers up Darunia in Goron City, which earns you the Goron’s Bracelet, and it pleases the Skull Kid on the stump in the Lost Woods, who rewards you with a Piece of Heart. As adult Link, you must play it for Mido to be let into the Sacred Forest Meadow. The same tune is the music of the Lost Woods, so following the sound is the way to find the right path. The Kokiri Forest and Lost Woods chapter covers the route.
Sun’s Song
Play C-Right, C-Down, C-Up, C-Right, C-Down, C-Up. The song is carved on the wall at the end of the Royal Family’s Tomb in Kakariko Graveyard, which opens when you play Zelda’s Lullaby on the Triforce tile in front of it. Playing it changes day to night and night to day, so it is the quickest way to make Gold Skulltulas appear, or to hatch the Pocket Egg and pass the three days Biggoron needs. It freezes ReDeads and Gibdos in the room for a while, so you can walk up and strike them. If Navi turns green when you play it near a patch of ground, a fairy rises and fills your magic. In places where time does not move, such as Kakariko Village and the Hyrule Castle Town Market, the song just sends you back to the area’s entrance. See the Kakariko Village chapter for the graveyard.
Song of Time
Play C-Right, A, C-Down, C-Right, A, C-Down. When Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time into the moat as she escapes the castle, you dive for it, and holding it gives you a vision of her teaching the song. You need it with the three Spiritual Stones to open the Door of Time at the Temple of Time, which lets you reach the Master Sword. Afterwards the song removes or brings back the Blocks of Time that carry the Symbol of Time. See the Transition to Adulthood chapter.
Song of Storms
Play A, C-Down, C-Up, A, C-Down, C-Up. The Windmill Keeper, the man in the Kakariko Windmill, teaches it only in the adult era. It summons rain, which also grows Magic Bean sprouts and draws up wingless fairies at the spots where Navi turns green, and it reveals the secret grottoes under patches of soft ground. If you play it inside the windmill as a child, the blades spin so fast that the well drains, which opens the Bottom of the Well. Played to the five frogs in Zora’s River, it earns a Piece of Heart. Read the Zora’s River and Domain chapter for the frog sequence.
Warp songs
Sheik teaches all six warp songs to adult Link. Each one carries you from where you stand to a Triforce warp pad at a temple entrance, in either age, so they save a long walk. They only work in the overworld, not inside dungeons. Child Link can use them too, and the Requiem of Spirit in particular is the way a child gets to the Desert Colossus. You can use them while carrying a trading-sequence item, because those timers keep running while you travel.
| Song | Warp destination | Nearby temple |
|---|---|---|
| Minuet of Forest | Warp pad in the Sacred Forest Meadow | Forest Temple |
| Bolero of Fire | Warp pad in Death Mountain Crater, in front of the temple | Fire Temple |
| Serenade of Water | Warp pad at Lake Hylia | Water Temple |
| Requiem of Spirit | Warp pad at the Desert Colossus | Spirit Temple |
| Nocturne of Shadow | Warp pad in the upper Kakariko Graveyard | Shadow Temple |
| Prelude of Light | The pedestal in the Temple of Time | Temple of Time |
Minuet of Forest
Play A, C-Up, C-Left, C-Right, C-Left, C-Right. Sheik teaches it as soon as you enter the Sacred Forest Meadow as an adult. The game’s own warp prompt says the Lost Woods, but the song takes you to the warp pad in the Sacred Forest Meadow, just before the entrance to the Forest Temple. See the Forest Temple chapter.
Bolero of Fire
Play C-Down, A, C-Down, A, C-Right, C-Down, C-Right, C-Down. Sheik teaches it in Death Mountain Crater once you have the Goron Tunic from Darunia’s son, put it on and walk into the crater. The song warps you to the warp pad in the crater, right before the Fire Temple. See the Fire Temple chapter.
Serenade of Water
Play A, C-Down, C-Right, C-Right, C-Left. Sheik appears in the Ice Cavern after you have taken the Iron Boots, and he teaches it there. The song warps you to the warp pad at Lake Hylia, beside the way to the Water Temple. See the Ice Cavern chapter for the boots and the Water Temple chapter for the temple.
Requiem of Spirit
Play A, C-Down, A, C-Right, C-Down, A. Walk into the Spirit Temple as an adult, find that you cannot get far, and step outside again. Sheik is waiting at the Desert Colossus and teaches you the song, then explains that you must go back through time to reach the rest of the temple as a child. It warps you to the warp pad at the Desert Colossus, and it works at either age. See the Spirit Temple chapter.
Nocturne of Shadow
Play C-Left, C-Right, C-Right, A, C-Left, C-Right, C-Down. After you finish the Fire Temple and the Water Temple, Kakariko Village comes under attack, and Sheik teaches the song there. It warps you to the warp pad in the upper part of the Graveyard, which is the only way into the Shadow Temple, so it is the one warp song you must learn to progress. See the Shadow Temple chapter.
Prelude of Light
Play C-Up, C-Right, C-Up, C-Right, C-Left, C-Up. Return to the Temple of Time after you have cleared the Forest Temple, and Sheik teaches it. The song takes you straight to the pedestal in the Temple of Time, where you can put the Master Sword back to switch to Child Link or draw it again to become adult, so it is the quickest way to change age. See the Transition to Adulthood chapter.
Scarecrow’s Song
How to make and use it
Scarecrow’s Song is the only song you write yourself. As Child Link, go to the scarecrow named Bonooru by the fence at Lake Hylia, show him your Ocarina and play any eight notes you like. Remember the tune. As adult Link, return to Bonooru and play the same eight notes. He sends you off with the services of his brother Pierre, who now waits around Hyrule. When Navi turns green and flies to a far-off spot where there seems to be nothing, play the song, and Pierre pops out of the ground. Grab him with the Hookshot or Longshot to reach a ledge or chest that is otherwise out of range. Pierre helps reach Gold Skulltulas and several Heart Pieces, for example the roof of the Lakeside Laboratory and a ledge in the Fire Temple. You can change the tune any time by teaching Bonooru a new one as a child.
Playing the notes on other systems
The melodies are identical in every version of the game. On Nintendo 64 you press the C buttons and A as listed above. The Nintendo 3DS version maps the notes to its own buttons and touch screen, and Nintendo Switch Online maps the C buttons to the right stick by default, so follow the note order rather than the button names when you play on those systems.
