About O Little Town Of Bethlehem
O Little Town Of Bethlehem is a carol in G major — beginner-friendly, running from D to e and staying in first position on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.
- Type
- Carol
- Key
- G major · 4/4
- Range
- D to e · first position
- Notes used
- C D E F♯ G A A♯ B
- Level
- Beginner-friendly
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — sheet music
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
B | B B A♯ B | d C E A | G F♯ G A D B B | B B e d | d C E A | G F♯ G B A G B | B B A G | F♯ F♯ F♯ | E F♯ G A B B | B B A♯ B | d C E e | d F♯ G B A G
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — tab
Tenor banjo · mandolin · fiddle · guitar · ukulele — tap one to open it
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — Tenor banjo tab
G D A E (Irish tuning) · open position
E|---|---------|---------|-----------| A|-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3---0-|-------0---| D|---|---------|-----2---|-5-4-5---0-| G|---|---------|---------|-----------|
E|-----|-----0---|---------|-----------| A|-2-2-|-2-2---5-|-5-3---0-|-------2-0-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|-5-4-5-----| G|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
E|-----|---------|-------|---------| A|---2-|-2-2-0---|-------|-------0-| D|-5---|-------5-|-4-4-4-|-2-4-5---| G|-----|---------|-------|---------|
E|-----|---------|-------0-|-----------| A|-2-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3-----|-5-----2-0-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|---4-5-----| G|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
E|---| A|---| D|-5-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Tenor banjo sounds an octave below the written notes.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — Mandolin tab
G D A E · open position
E|---|---------|---------|-----------| A|-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3---0-|-------0---| D|---|---------|-----2---|-5-4-5---0-| G|---|---------|---------|-----------|
E|-----|-----0---|---------|-----------| A|-2-2-|-2-2---5-|-5-3---0-|-------2-0-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|-5-4-5-----| G|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
E|-----|---------|-------|---------| A|---2-|-2-2-0---|-------|-------0-| D|-5---|-------5-|-4-4-4-|-2-4-5---| G|-----|---------|-------|---------|
E|-----|---------|-------0-|-----------| A|-2-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3-----|-5-----2-0-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|---4-5-----| G|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
E|---| A|---| D|-5-| G|---|
Numbers are frets. Same strings as the fiddle, so the same notes fall in the same places.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — fiddle fingering
G D A E · first position — finger numbers
E|---|----------|----------|-----------| A|-1-|-1-1-L1-1-|-3-L2---0-|-------0---| D|---|----------|------1---|-3-2-3---0-| G|---|----------|----------|-----------|
E|-----|-----0---|----------|-----------| A|-1-1-|-1-1---3-|-3-L2---0-|-------1-0-| D|-----|---------|------1---|-3-2-3-----| G|-----|---------|----------|-----------|
E|-----|---------|-------|---------| A|---1-|-1-1-0---|-------|-------0-| D|-3---|-------3-|-2-2-2-|-1-2-3---| G|-----|---------|-------|---------|
E|-----|----------|--------0-|-----------| A|-1-1-|-1-1-L1-1-|-3-L2-----|-3-----1-0-| D|-----|----------|------1---|---2-3-----| G|-----|----------|----------|-----------|
E|---| A|---| D|-3-| G|---|
0 = open string · 1–4 = finger · L = low (half step back), H = high.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — Guitar tab
E A D G B E · open position
e|---|---------|---------|-----------| B|-0-|-0-0---0-|-3-1-----|-----------| G|---|-----3---|-------2-|-0---0-2---| D|---|---------|-----2---|---4-----0-| A|---|---------|---------|-----------| E|---|---------|---------|-----------|
e|-----|-----0---|---------|-----------| B|-0-0-|-0-0---3-|-3-1-----|-------0---| G|-----|---------|-------2-|-0---0---2-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|---4-------| A|-----|---------|---------|-----------| E|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
e|-----|---------|-------|---------| B|---0-|-0-0-----|-------|---------| G|-0---|-----2-0-|-------|-----0-2-| D|-----|---------|-4-4-4-|-2-4-----| A|-----|---------|-------|---------| E|-----|---------|-------|---------|
e|-----|---------|-------0-|-----------| B|-0-0-|-0-0---0-|-3-1-----|-3-----0---| G|-----|-----3---|---------|-----0---2-| D|-----|---------|-----2---|---4-------| A|-----|---------|---------|-----------| E|-----|---------|---------|-----------|
e|---| B|---| G|-0-| D|---| A|---| E|---|
Numbers are frets; the bottom line is the low E string.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem — Ukulele tab
G C E A (high G) · open position
A|-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3---0-|-------0---| E|---|---------|-----0---|---2-------| C|---|---------|---------|---------2-| G|---|---------|---------|-0---0-----|
A|-2-2-|-2-2-7-5-|-5-3---0-|-------2-0-| E|-----|---------|-----0---|---2-------| C|-----|---------|---------|-----------| G|-----|---------|---------|-0---0-----|
A|---2-|-2-2-0---|-------|-------0-| E|-----|---------|-2-2-2-|-0-2-----| C|-----|---------|-------|---------| G|-0---|-------0-|-------|-----0---|
A|-2-2-|-2-2-1-2-|-5-3---7-|-5-----2-0-| E|-----|---------|-----0---|---2-------| C|-----|---------|---------|-----------| G|-----|---------|---------|-----0-----|
A|---| E|---| C|---| G|-0-|
Numbers are frets; the top line is the A string, the bottom line the high G.
O Little Town Of Bethlehem chords
G major · 16 chords: G, Gdim, Am, G/D, D7, G/F, E7, Am7, A♯dim, B, B7, Em, B7/D♯, Am/C, C♯dim, A7
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 G/D means play G with D as the lowest note.
Guitar chords for O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Strings E A D G B E, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Ukulele chords for O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Strings G C E A, low to high · o = open string, × = don't play it
Tenor banjo & mandolin chords for O Little Town Of Bethlehem
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.