About Deck The Halls
Deck The Halls is a carol in F major — beginner-friendly, running from E to f and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Carol
- Key
- F major · 4/4
- Range
- E to f · first position
- Notes used
- C D E F G A B♭ B
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Deck The Halls — sheet music
F major · 4/4
The notes
Letter names, bar by bar · capitals up to C in the third space, lower case from the D on the 4th line
C B♭ A G | F G A F | G A B♭ G A G | F E F C B♭ A G | F G A F | G A B♭ G A G | F E F G A B♭ G | A B♭ C A | A B C d e f | e d C C B♭ A G | F G A F | d d d d C B♭ | A G F
Deck The Halls — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Deck The Halls — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-5-----5---5-|-3-2-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-5-----5---5-|-3-2-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|---------0-1-|-0-----| A|---0-1---|-0-1-3-0-|-0-2-3-5-----|---5-3-| D|-5-----5-|---------|-------------|-------| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|-5-5-5-5-3-1-|-0-----| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-------------|---5-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Deck The Halls — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-5-----5---5-|-3-2-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-5-----5---5-|-3-2-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|---------0-1-|-0-----| A|---0-1---|-0-1-3-0-|-0-2-3-5-----|---5-3-| D|-5-----5-|---------|-------------|-------| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|-5-5-5-5-3-1-|-0-----| D|-------5-|-3-5---3-|-------------|---5-3-| G|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Deck The Halls — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-----------|-----------|--------------|---------| A|-L2-L1-0---|------0----|---0-L1---0---|---------| D|---------3-|-L2-3---L2-|-3------3---3-|-L2-1-L2-| G|-----------|-----------|--------------|---------|
E|-----------|-----------|--------------|---------| A|-L2-L1-0---|------0----|---0-L1---0---|---------| D|---------3-|-L2-3---L2-|-3------3---3-|-L2-1-L2-| G|-----------|-----------|--------------|---------|
E|----------|-----------|----------0-L1-|-0------| A|---0-L1---|-0-L1-L2-0-|-0-1-L2-3------|---3-L2-| D|-3------3-|-----------|---------------|--------| G|----------|-----------|---------------|--------|
E|-----------|-----------|---------------|--------| A|-L2-L1-0---|------0----|-3-3-3-3-L2-L1-|-0------| D|---------3-|-L2-3---L2-|---------------|---3-L2-| G|-----------|-----------|---------------|--------|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Deck The Halls — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|---------|---------|-------------|-------| B|-1-------|---------|-------------|-------| G|---3-2-0-|---0-2---|-0-2-3-0-2-0-|-------| D|---------|-3-----3-|-------------|-3-2-3-| A|---------|---------|-------------|-------| E|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
e|---------|---------|-------------|-------| B|-1-------|---------|-------------|-------| G|---3-2-0-|---0-2---|-0-2-3-0-2-0-|-------| D|---------|-3-----3-|-------------|-3-2-3-| A|---------|---------|-------------|-------| E|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
e|---------|---------|---------0-1-|-0-----| B|---------|-----1---|---0-1-3-----|---3-1-| G|-0-2-3-0-|-2-3---2-|-2-----------|-------| D|---------|---------|-------------|-------| A|---------|---------|-------------|-------| E|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
e|---------|---------|-------------|-------| B|-1-------|---------|-3-3-3-3-1---|-------| G|---3-2-0-|---0-2---|-----------3-|-2-0---| D|---------|-3-----3-|-------------|-----3-| A|---------|---------|-------------|-------| E|---------|---------|-------------|-------|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Deck The Halls — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| E|---------|-1-----1-|-------------|-1-0-1-| C|---------|---------|-------------|-------| G|-------0-|---0-----|-0-----0---0-|-------|
A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|---0-1---0---|-------| E|---------|-1-----1-|-------------|-1-0-1-| C|---------|---------|-------------|-------| G|-------0-|---0-----|-0-----0---0-|-------|
A|---0-1---|-0-1-3-0-|-0-2-3-5-7-8-|-7-5-3-| E|---------|---------|-------------|-------| C|---------|---------|-------------|-------| G|-0-----0-|---------|-------------|-------|
A|-3-1-0---|-----0---|-5-5-5-5-3-1-|-0-----| E|---------|-1-----1-|-------------|-----1-| C|---------|---------|-------------|-------| G|-------0-|---0-----|-------------|---0---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Deck The Halls chords
F major · 10 chords: F, C7, F/C, Dm, C/G, G7, C, B♭, F/A, Gm/B♭
One box per bar, in the same order as the sheet music. A faded chord carries on from the bar before. A slash chord like F/C means play F with C as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for Deck The Halls
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Deck The Halls
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Deck The Halls
Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
More carols and tunes like it
This melody comes from The Public Domain Song Anthology (David Berger & Chuck Israels), released CC0. The song is in the public domain. Tabs and letter names worked out by The Music Arcade.