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Celebrating A Star-Spangled Anthem ... That's Really Hard To Sing

"The Star-Spangled Banner" spans one and a half octaves. Above, Samu Manoa, Scott Lavalla and Cameron Dolan of the USA Eagles sing the anthem before the opening qualifying match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Scott Cunningham
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"The Star-Spangled Banner" spans one and a half octaves. Above, Samu Manoa, Scott Lavalla and Cameron Dolan of the USA Eagles sing the anthem before the opening qualifying match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

It's been nearly 200 years since Francis Scott Key wrote the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as he watched America's flag fly over Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. Set to the melody of a popular English tune, it officially became the national anthem in 1931.

But spanning one and a half octaves, America's national song is awfully hard for the average citizen to sing. So NPR went down to the National Mall on Flag Day and asked folks to give it their best shot (without looking up the lyrics, mind you!)

Plenty of people declined, but a few brave souls stepped up to the challenge. Click the play button above to hear from: Elizabeth Peppercorn, Sue Krantz, Lorraine Rogina, Elaine and Griffin Ferrara, Rebecca and Richard McAlpin, Ryan and Jordan Hurt, Natalie Beckford, Rian Gaskins, Kevin Amon, Georgie Bauer, Suzanne Kalfus, Allie Cohen, Rome Haskett, Adrian Matthews, Paul Young, Rashaha Jones and Sean Peacock.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Beth Novey is a producer for NPR's Arts, Books & Culture desk. She creates and edits web features, plans multimedia projects, and coordinates the web presence for Fresh Air and Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!