Skip to main content

How to get the Ocarina and learn all the songs in Link’s Awakening

The Ocarina is a required item in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, but it’s not too hard to skip over Link’s favorite musical instrument at first. Similar to the magnifying glass, you’ll need the Ocarina for a couple of critical story moments, but it’s mainly a very handy item for exploration. After you secure the Ocarina, you need to learn some tunes — unless you’re content with listening to Link painfully improvise on the spot.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to get the Ocarina and how to learn all the songs in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Recommended reading:

How to get the Ocarina

1. Complete Key Cavern

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Before you can get the Ocarina, you have to at least be past the third dungeon Key Cavern in Link’s Awakening. That’s because you need both the Power Bracelet (found in Bottle Grotto) and Pegasus Boots (found in Key Cavern and used in the color dungeon) to reach the Ocarina.

2. Head to the Dream Shrine

Link's Awakening Guide
Image used with permission by copyright holder

To get the Ocarina in Link’s Awakening, Link has to take a little nap. Head to Mabe Village. Just north of the Town Tool Shop and up the stairs, you’ll see a stone building. The building’s entrance is surrounded by boulders. Now that you have the Power Bracelet, you can lift the boulders, and Link can lie down in the bed.

Once inside, you’ll have to race around the perimeter of the room using the Pegasus Boots. The ground breaks below you, so you’re sort of in a hurry. The treasure chest on the first platform contains 100 rupees. The Ocarina is on the second platform, on a pedestal in plain view.

Now you have the Ocarina!

Where to learn the Ocarina songs

There are three songs to learn in Link’s Awakening, which we’ll detail below.

The Ballad of the Wind Fish

Link's Awakening Guide
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“The Ballad of the Wind Fish” is the first song you can learn in Link’s Awakening. Marin will teach it to you once you have the Ocarina.

Depending on where you are at in the story, she’ll either be in the Animal Village or by the Weather Vane in Mabe Village.

The Ballad of the Wind Fish is required to wake the Walrus blocking the entrance to Yarna Desert. It’s also the song needed to wake the Wind Fish later in the adventure.

Manbo’s Mambo

Link's Awakening Guide
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The second Ocarina song, “Manbo’s Mambo,” cannot be learned until you grab the Flippers in the fourth dungeon Angler’s Tunnel.

Upon leaving the dungeon, jump into the water and swim left to enter the cave. Inside you’ll find a big fish named Manbo who will teach you his catchy tune.

Manbo’s Mambo is incredibly useful, as it can be played to fast travel to unlocked warp holes across the overworld. While in a dungeon, the jingle will transport you back to the dungeon’s entrance.

Frog’s Song of Soul

Link's Awakening Guide
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The third and final Ocarina song, “Frog’s Song of Soul,” requires the Hook Shot. You get the Hook Shot in Catfish’s Maw, the fifth dungeon. After you grab the Hook Shot, head to Ukuku Prairie.

Go toward the western edge that runs along Mabe Village. If you head south, you’ll see a group of holes and a tree stump on each side.

Trendy Game is directly west of this spot. Use the Hook Shot to cross the gap. Welcome to the Signpost Maze.

Read the first sign and follow the arrow to the next. You have to keep reading the signs as directed in order to reveal a staircase.  Head down the stairs.

The frog king Mamu will offer you the chance to listen to an “unreleased cut” for 300 rupees. Give him the rupees and he’ll teach you Frog’s Song of Soul.

You’ll need Frog’s Song of Soul to revive the rooster beneath the Weather Vane in Mabe Village and to gain access to Turtle Rock, the eighth dungeon.

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
The best Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mods
Link giving a thumbs-up with a smile.

With the addition of the Ultra Hand and Fuse abilities in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it might feel like you're already playing the game with mods enabled. This power lets you pick up, connect, build, and combine nearly every item in Hyrule. We've already seen people push the boundaries with what they can create using the default tools, but there will always be some things just out of reach for players. Well, that is until mods are entered into the equation. Because Tears of the Kingdom is a Switch game, mods take a bit more work to not only make but play as well. Unlike PC games, you can't just download a file, plop it in your game, and go. If you're willing to put in a little work, there are some amazing mods out there to add another couple dozen hours to your playtime. Here are the best mods in Tears of the Kingdom.
How to mod Tears of the Kingdom
If you are just looking to play mods, not create them, then the process isn't terribly complex. There is a nice tutorial laid out you can follow here, which also includes a link to the Tears of the Kingdom modding Discord where you can go if you need to ask more specific questions.
Rinkuru v0.5.3/Rinkuru Pronouns and Dialogue

For those a bit out of the loop, Rinkuru is the Japanese name for the female Link we know as Linkle from the Hyrule Warriors games. It has since been adapted to simply be the female version of Link. If you were disappointed that you couldn't play as a female in Tears of the Kingdom, these two mods effectively add in a female option. Rinkuru v0.5.3 is a complete model swap from Link to Rinkruru, including new outfits and even some weapons. The companion mod, Rinkuru Pronouns and Dialogue, changes all instances of game dialogue from referring to your character as Link, he, sir, and all other male pronouns are swapped to Rinkuru, she, lady, and so on to fully immerse you as the heroine of Hyrule.
Yet Another Better Sages Mod - With Voices
Yet Another Better Sages Mod

Read more
The worst Zelda games ever made are getting a spiritual successor
A shopkeeper that looks a lot like Morshu in Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore.

The Legend of Zelda series inspires tons of indie games every year. They just usually don't take inspiration from the bad ones. That's exactly what we're getting with Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, a new indie that draws inspiration from Zelda's infamous Philips CD-i era.

During Limited Run Games' third annual showcase, Seedy Eye Software and Limited Run revealed Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, an "animated adventure" game inspired by Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon that will release later this year. If you don't know about Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, they are two infamously terrible The Legend of Zelda games that were officially licensed by Nintendo for the Philips CD-i. These side-scrolling adventure games played terribly and featured ugly full-motion video animated cutscenes with terrible voice acting. You've probably seen some memes featuring the characters and animation from these games. Because of how bad they are, these titles aren't really ones most developers look to for inspiration.
The developers of Arzette did, though.
Arzette | LRG3 Reveal Trailer
Its reveal trailer establishes that the titular Princess goes on a quest to defeat an evil being named Daimur. It's a 2D action platformer that looks like those two CD-i Zelda games, albeit one that looks a bit more fun to play. Its similarities to The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon become inescapable during cutscenes, as the characters, animation, and voice acting all look like they came straight out of those games.
In general, the Limited Runs Games Showcase this reveal was at was a wild one, with remasters for classic Jurassic Park games, Gex, Clock Tower, Plumbers Don't Wear Ties, Tomba!, and more announced. While we see odes to bad movies with films like The Disaster Artist and Ed Wood, we don't see that nearly as often with bad games.
That should make Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore enjoyable and terrible (in a good way) when it launches on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam in 2023.

Read more
Watch these 5 movies if you liked The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Link and Zelda under Hyrule Castle in "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom."

The Legend of Zelda franchise has left fans wanting to see Link and the titular princess go on an adventure on the big screen. This desire has only been intensified by the popular release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and debunked rumors that Illumination Entertainment was making an animated adaptation.

It may be a long time before Nintendo makes a Zelda film, but for those who enjoyed their latest gaming masterpiece, these five movies should give audiences a similar cinematic experience.
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Read more