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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Sheet Music, Tab & Chord Directory

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About God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is a carol in E minor (it uses the notes of G major) — beginner-friendly, running from D to e and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.

Type
Carol
Key
E minor (the notes of G major) · 4/4
Range
D to e · first position
Notes used
C D E F♯ G A B
Level
Beginner-friendly

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — sheet music

E minor (the notes of G 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

E | E B B A | G F♯ E D | E F♯ G A B E | E B B A | G F♯ E D | E F♯ G A B B | C A B C | d e B A | G E F♯ G A G A | B C B | B A G F♯ | E G F♯ E A G A | B C d e | B A G F♯ | E

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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — tab

Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Tenor banjo tab

G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position

E|---|---------|---------|---------|
A|---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|-2-|-2-------|-5-4-2-0-|-2-4-5---|
G|---|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---------|
A|-2---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|---2-|-2-------|-5-4-2-0-|-2-4-5---|
G|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---0-----|---------|
A|-2-2-|-3-0-2-3-|-5---2-0-|---------|
D|-----|---------|---------|-5-2-4-5-|
G|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-------|-------|---------|---------|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-2-|-2-0-----|---------|
D|---5---|-------|-----5-4-|-2-5-4-2-|
G|-------|-------|---------|---------|
E|-------|-------0-|---------|---|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-5---|-2-0-----|---|
D|---5---|---------|-----5-4-|-2-|
G|-------|---------|---------|---|

Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Mandolin tab

G D A E · open position

E|---|---------|---------|---------|
A|---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|-2-|-2-------|-5-4-2-0-|-2-4-5---|
G|---|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---------|
A|-2---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|---2-|-2-------|-5-4-2-0-|-2-4-5---|
G|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---0-----|---------|
A|-2-2-|-3-0-2-3-|-5---2-0-|---------|
D|-----|---------|---------|-5-2-4-5-|
G|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-------|-------|---------|---------|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-2-|-2-0-----|---------|
D|---5---|-------|-----5-4-|-2-5-4-2-|
G|-------|-------|---------|---------|
E|-------|-------0-|---------|---|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-5---|-2-0-----|---|
D|---5---|---------|-----5-4-|-2-|
G|-------|---------|---------|---|

Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — fiddle fingering

G D A E · first position — finger numbers

E|---|---------|---------|---------|
A|---|---1-1-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|-1-|-1-------|-3-2-1-0-|-1-2-3---|
G|---|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---------|
A|-1---|---1-1-0-|---------|-------0-|
D|---1-|-1-------|-3-2-1-0-|-1-2-3---|
G|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|-----------|---0-----|---------|
A|-1-1-|-L2-0-1-L2-|-3---1-0-|---------|
D|-----|-----------|---------|-3-1-2-3-|
G|-----|-----------|---------|---------|
E|-------|--------|---------|---------|
A|-0---0-|-1-L2-1-|-1-0-----|---------|
D|---3---|--------|-----3-2-|-1-3-2-1-|
G|-------|--------|---------|---------|
E|-------|--------0-|---------|---|
A|-0---0-|-1-L2-3---|-1-0-----|---|
D|---3---|----------|-----3-2-|-1-|
G|-------|----------|---------|---|

0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Guitar tab

E A D G B E · open position

e|---|---------|---------|---------|
B|---|---0-0---|---------|---------|
G|---|-------2-|-0-------|-----0-2-|
D|-2-|-2-------|---4-2-0-|-2-4-----|
A|---|---------|---------|---------|
E|---|---------|---------|---------|
e|-----|---------|---------|---------|
B|-0---|---0-0---|---------|---------|
G|-----|-------2-|-0-------|-----0-2-|
D|---2-|-2-------|---4-2-0-|-2-4-----|
A|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---------|
e|-----|---------|---0-----|---------|
B|-0-0-|-1---0-1-|-3---0---|---------|
G|-----|---2-----|-------2-|-0-----0-|
D|-----|---------|---------|---2-4---|
A|-----|---------|---------|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---------|
e|-------|-------|---------|---------|
B|-------|-0-1-0-|-0-------|---------|
G|-2-0-2-|-------|---2-0---|---0-----|
D|-------|-------|-------4-|-2---4-2-|
A|-------|-------|---------|---------|
E|-------|-------|---------|---------|
e|-------|-------0-|---------|---|
B|-------|-0-1-3---|-0-------|---|
G|-2-0-2-|---------|---2-0---|---|
D|-------|---------|-------4-|-2-|
A|-------|---------|---------|---|
E|-------|---------|---------|---|

Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen — Ukulele tab

G C E A (high G) · open position

A|---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
E|-0-|-0-------|---2-0---|-0-2-----|
C|---|---------|-------2-|---------|
G|---|---------|-0-------|-----0---|
A|-2---|---2-2-0-|---------|-------0-|
E|---0-|-0-------|---2-0---|-0-2-----|
C|-----|---------|-------2-|---------|
G|-----|---------|-0-------|-----0---|
A|-2-2-|-3-0-2-3-|-5-7-2-0-|---------|
E|-----|---------|---------|---0-2---|
C|-----|---------|---------|---------|
G|-----|---------|---------|-0-----0-|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-2-|-2-0-----|---------|
E|-------|-------|-------2-|-0---2-0-|
C|-------|-------|---------|---------|
G|---0---|-------|-----0---|---0-----|
A|-0---0-|-2-3-5-7-|-2-0-----|---|
E|-------|---------|-------2-|-0-|
C|-------|---------|---------|---|
G|---0---|---------|-----0---|---|

Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen chords

E minor (the notes of G major) · 19 chords: Em, B7, D, C, G, B, Am/C, Am, D/F♯, C/E, G7/B, Edim, Bm/D, G/B, D7, D/A, A7, D7/A, B7♯5

pickup
Em B7
Em D C G
C B Em Am/C
B Em
Em B7
Em D C G
C B Em Am/C
B Em
Am D/F♯ G C/E
G7/B C G B7
Em Edim Bm/D G/B
D7
Em C G
G D/A G/B B
Em A7
D G/B D7/A
G C/E G/B C
B D/A B7♯5 B7
Em

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 Am/C means play Am with C as the lowest note.

Guitar chords for God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

EmB7×D××C×GB×Am/C×Am×D/F♯C/E××G7/B×EdimBm/D××G/B×D7××D/A×A7×D7/A×B7♯5×

Ukulele chords for God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

EmB7DCGBAm/CAmD/F♯C/EG7/BEdimBm/DG/BD7D/AA7D7/AB7♯5

Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Strings G D A E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it

EmB7DCGBAm/CAmD/F♯C/EG7/BEdimBm/DG/BD7D/AA7D7/AB7♯5

More carols and tunes like it

Jingle BellsO Little Town Of BethlehemWe Wish You A Merry ChristmasSilent NightDeck The HallsJoy To The WorldO TannenbaumHark! The Herald Angels Sing

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.

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