How to complete Serenade to Cotera in Tears of the Kingdom

It's time to build a powerboat

Screenshots by Dot Esports

Serenade to Cotera is a side adventure in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK). It’s one of the four quests that you complete to unlock the four Great Fairies, who have the power to upgrade your armor. Like all four of the Great Fairy quests, your goal is to get a troupe of musicians to the nearest Great Fairy bud.

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Here’s how to complete Serenade to Cotera in Tears of the Kingdom.

How to start Serenade to Cotera in Tears of the Kingdom

Beetz suggesting to Link and the musicians that they should cross the river
By “cross”, he means by boat. | Screenshot by Dot Esports

To start Serenade to Cotera, you first have to find the Lucky Clover Gazette, and start the Potential Princess Sightings! side adventure. Then you have to go to the Woodland Stable and complete the Serenade to a Great Fairy side adventure. And then you have to find Beetz at the coordinates 2166, -1384, 0108 southeast of Kakariko Village and complete the Honey, Bee Mine quest so that he rejoins the troupe of musicians. Only after all that can you go to the Dueling Peaks Stable at the coordinates 1760, -1926, 0010 in West Necluda and speak to the musicians on the stage outside the stable. This will start the Serenade to Cotera quest, and the musicians will move to the riverbank.

How to bring the musicians to Cotera in Tears of the Kingdom

The Big Twin bridge has been destroyed, but you need to get the musicians across the river to Cotera’s Great Fairy Pod. To do this, you need to build a boat, but not a sailboat like this. There’s no wind here, and your boat needs enough power to go against the current of the river. You also need to be able to steer it, and the musicians have to be willing to sit in it.

Now, I ain’t gonna lie to you: I built several failed prototypes before I finally came up with a design that worked. The musicians got pretty freaked out along the way. And yes, I even drowned them a couple of times. But I swear the following design is perfectly safe.

You’ll notice from the screenshot below that my boat has wheels. I put wheels on it because I thought I might need to cover some dry ground to reach the Great Fairy, but that turned out not to be the case. So, you don’t have to put wheels on your boat, but it’ll still work if you do.

Related: How to complete Serenade to Kaysa in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Overhead view of the steering device and fans.
Here you can see how the steering device and fans should be attached. | Screenshot by Dot Esports

Among the rocks that have smashed into the Big Twin Bridge, you’ll find two Zonai fans and one Zonai steering device. Grab the steering device and attach it to the tongue of the Breezer cart. Yes, the tongue. I literally just looked it up, and that’s what the articulated bit at the front of a cart (where you would normally attach a towing harness) is called. Next, grab the fans, and attach them to either side of the steering device. Two points are very important here; make sure both fans will be blowing toward the cart, and also ensure they’re attached symmetrically to the sides of the steering device, not to any other part of the cart.

Link piloting a boat upriver.
Even an Energy Cell with no upgrades can do this on one charge. | Screenshot by Dot Esports

Grab your boat and place it in, or near, the water with the steering device at the front. Now tell Mastro, the leader of the musicians, that they should hop in, and that you’ll take them to the Great Fairy. Now get onto the steering device. You don’t need to hit the fans to start them. They’ll start when you press A to take control of the steering device.

Musicians playing to a Great Fairy bud.
Cotera loves Beetz’s drumming especially. |Screenshot by Dot Esports

If you’ve followed my design specifications precisely (except maybe the wheels), then you should be able to steer your boat upstream to the Great Fairy bud at the coordinates 1766, -2174, 0013. Land at the shore in front of the bud, and the musicians should automatically jump out and unlock the Great Fairy.

Author
Image of Gavin Mackenzie
Gavin Mackenzie
Gavin Mackenzie has been playing video games since the early 80s, and writing about them professionally since the late 90s. Having been a writer and editor on various British magazines including PLAY, GamesTM, and X360, he's now a freelance guides specialist at Dot Esports.