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Playing the G Ocarina as a Non-transposing Instrument (4) - While it makes sense to learn to play my ocarinas as C instruments first, there are some impressive advantages to also playing the G ocarina as a non-transposing instrument, i.e., when you read and finger a G, the ocarina sounds a G. For one thing, you can now play your G ocarina off the same sheet of music as other musicians without needing to transpose or play by ear, which is especially helpful when you haven’t heard the songs before. For another, the G ocarina, a very useful key for playing Celtic music, has a great range for picking up a lot of flute, pennywhistle, dulcimer, fiddle, bagpipe, and vocal music that is written outside the reading range of the C ocarina. For example, one book that I enjoy has 70 songs that can be played reading as a C instrument, but you pick up another 43 songs if you know how to read as a G instrument. In practical terms, you now have 113 instead of 70 songs that you can play just as they appear in the book. In fact, playing the ocarina as a G non-transposing instrument is essential if you are interested in playing Celtic dance tunes, i.e., reels, jigs, etc., in keys that you would hear at an Irish music session. (By drawing from different sources, I have found lots of this type of music that is playable on the ocarina.) Thirdly, finding music for playing a G ocarina in harmony with a C becomes much easier if you know how to play the G as a non-transposing instrument.