About Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is a carol in F major — beginner-friendly, running from C to d and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Carol
- Key
- F major · 4/4
- Range
- C to d · first position
- Notes used
- C D E F G A B♭
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — 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 F F E | F A A G | C C C B♭ | A G A C F F E | F A A G | C G G E | E D C C C C F | B♭ A A G | C C C F | B♭ A A G d d d C | B♭ A B♭ | G A B♭ C F | F G A d d d C | B♭ A B♭ | G A B♭ C F | F G F
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|---------|---------|---------|-------| A|---------|---0-0---|-3-3-3-1-|-0---0-| D|---3-3-2-|-3-----5-|---------|---5---| G|-5-------|---------|---------|-------|
E|---------|---------|---------|-------| A|---------|---0-0---|-3-------|-------| D|---3-3-2-|-3-----5-|---5-5-2-|-2-0---| G|-5-------|---------|---------|-----5-|
E|---------|---------|---------|---------| A|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---| D|-------3-|-------5-|-------3-|-------5-| G|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E|---------|-------|-----------|-------| A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-----0-| D|---------|-------|-5-------3-|-3-5---| G|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
E|---------|-------|-----------|-------| A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-------| D|---------|-------|-5-------3-|-3-5-3-| G|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|---------|---------|---------|-------| A|---------|---0-0---|-3-3-3-1-|-0---0-| D|---3-3-2-|-3-----5-|---------|---5---| G|-5-------|---------|---------|-------|
E|---------|---------|---------|-------| A|---------|---0-0---|-3-------|-------| D|---3-3-2-|-3-----5-|---5-5-2-|-2-0---| G|-5-------|---------|---------|-----5-|
E|---------|---------|---------|---------| A|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---| D|-------3-|-------5-|-------3-|-------5-| G|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E|---------|-------|-----------|-------| A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-----0-| D|---------|-------|-5-------3-|-3-5---| G|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
E|---------|-------|-----------|-------| A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-------| D|---------|-------|-5-------3-|-3-5-3-| G|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|-----------|----------|-------------|-------| A|-----------|----0-0---|-L2-L2-L2-L1-|-0---0-| D|---L2-L2-1-|-L2-----3-|-------------|---3---| G|-3---------|----------|-------------|-------|
E|-----------|----------|----------|-------| A|-----------|----0-0---|-L2-------|-------| D|---L2-L2-1-|-L2-----3-|----3-3-1-|-1-0---| G|-3---------|----------|----------|-----3-|
E|-------------|----------|-------------|----------| A|-L2-L2-L2----|-L1-0-0---|-L2-L2-L2----|-L1-0-0---| D|----------L2-|--------3-|----------L2-|--------3-| G|-------------|----------|-------------|----------|
E|----------|---------|--------------|--------| A|-3-3-3-L2-|-L1-0-L1-|---0-L1-L2----|------0-| D|----------|---------|-3---------L2-|-L2-3---| G|----------|---------|--------------|--------|
E|----------|---------|--------------|---------| A|-3-3-3-L2-|-L1-0-L1-|---0-L1-L2----|---------| D|----------|---------|-3---------L2-|-L2-3-L2-| G|----------|---------|--------------|---------|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|---------|---------|---------|-------| B|---------|---------|-1-1-1---|-------| G|---------|---2-2-0-|-------3-|-2-0-2-| D|---3-3-2-|-3-------|---------|-------| A|-3-------|---------|---------|-------| E|---------|---------|---------|-------|
e|---------|---------|---------|-------| B|---------|---------|-1-------|-------| G|---------|---2-2-0-|---0-0---|-------| D|---3-3-2-|-3-------|-------2-|-2-0---| A|-3-------|---------|---------|-----3-| E|---------|---------|---------|-------|
e|---------|---------|---------|---------| B|-1-1-1---|---------|-1-1-1---|---------| G|---------|-3-2-2-0-|---------|-3-2-2-0-| D|-------3-|---------|-------3-|---------| A|---------|---------|---------|---------| E|---------|---------|---------|---------|
e|---------|-------|-----------|-------| B|-3-3-3-1-|-------|-------1---|-------| G|---------|-3-2-3-|-0-2-3-----|---0-2-| D|---------|-------|---------3-|-3-----| A|---------|-------|-----------|-------| E|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
e|---------|-------|-----------|-------| B|-3-3-3-1-|-------|-------1---|-------| G|---------|-3-2-3-|-0-2-3-----|---0---| D|---------|-------|---------3-|-3---3-| A|---------|-------|-----------|-------| E|---------|-------|-----------|-------|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|---------|---0-0---|-3-3-3-1-|-0---0-| E|---1-1-0-|-1-------|---------|-------| C|-0-------|---------|---------|-------| G|---------|-------0-|---------|---0---|
A|---------|---0-0---|-3-------|-------| E|---1-1-0-|-1-------|-------0-|-0-----| C|-0-------|---------|---------|---2-0-| G|---------|-------0-|---0-0---|-------|
A|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---|-3-3-3---|-1-0-0---| E|-------1-|---------|-------1-|---------| C|---------|---------|---------|---------| G|---------|-------0-|---------|-------0-|
A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-----0-| E|---------|-------|---------1-|-1-----| C|---------|-------|-----------|-------| G|---------|-------|-0---------|---0---|
A|-5-5-5-3-|-1-0-1-|---0-1-3---|-------| E|---------|-------|---------1-|-1---1-| C|---------|-------|-----------|-------| G|---------|-------|-0---------|---0---|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing chords
F major · 14 chords: F, C, A, B♭, Gm, F/C, Dm, Bm7♭5, Am, G, D7, G7, C7, C/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 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
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.