Set Your 'Animal Crossing' Island Apart With an Awesome Island Tune

In the wonderful game of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can customize so many things about your island to make it the perfect place to spend your time. Feel like making a little mountaintop stargazing area? Go for it! Want to turn one of the rooms in your house into a nightmarish homage to Bunny Day? You can! Want to surround your home with multi-storied waterfalls? You can do that too (once you unlock terraforming)!

There’s one bit of island customization you might not have explored quite yet, and that’s your island tune. Here’s everything you need to know about changing your Animal Crossing island tune, as well as a few examples to inspire you.

Your island tune acts as the theme song of your island. You’ll encounter it in various ways throughout your time on the island. It will play as you enter Nook’s Cranny or when you start up a conversation with your villagers. You might also hear your villagers whistling it while they walk around watering the island. Your island tune is basically the anthem of your island, so it’s important to choose one that will fill you with joy every time you hear it.

Changing your island tune is pretty easy. After Isabelle moves to your island, you can change your tune by starting a conversation with her at her desk in the Resident Services building. Select the “Change the island tune” option and you’re in business.

The island tune is quite short — there are 16 spaces total for you to customize. Each space can hold one of the following options:

• A musical note from a low G to a high E, excluding sharps or flats (indicated by colorful frogs with the note names in their mouths)
• A rest (indicated by a gray frog)
• A “hold,” which repeats the previous note (indicated by a “—” in the frog’s mouth)
• A mysterious chittering sound (indicated by a “?” in the frog’s mouth)

Just move your cursor to the frogs you want to change, then move them up or down the scale until your tune is complete. You can preview your tune by hitting Y, then hit the + to set it. Once it’s set, Isabelle will (adorably) sing the tune for you. You can change your island tune at any time, so there’s no pressure to get it right in one go.

We found this handy Island Tune Creator online which you can use to work out your tune ahead of time. That same site also has a list of tunes they’ve already figured out for you to use. Or you can check out the r/ACTownThemes subreddit, where people can post requests for tunes. Not having access to sharps or flats does limit your options a bit, but you might be surprised by the tunes people have been able to recreate in the game.

Now the only thing left for you to do is create the perfect tune for your very own Animal Crossing island. Are you going to go with an original composition? A classic Nintendo theme song? The latest song that’s been stuck in your head for days? Your options are virtually endless. It’s time to take your island to the next musical level.