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SongsDeck the Halls
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Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain.

41 keys · F3–A6 · 41 keys · The standard piano accordion: a 41-key keyboard, the same notes push or pull.

Tap a key, or slide along them to run from note to note on one breath of the bellows. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — A to ' are middle C up to F like a piano's white keys, W E T Y U O P the black ones; Z to / are ten bass notes and 1 to 0 their major chords (Shift for counterbass and minor); Space turns the bellows.

AccordionFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Accordion Letter Notes

Deck the Halls, written out for the accordion as letter notes, phrase by phrase and set up above on the Piano keys. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the accordion waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeB4–C6
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a accordion play Deck the Halls?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Piano keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · loaded above
  • Buttons · C-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · load it
  • Buttons · B-system✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · load it
  • Diatonic · one row✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · load it

Deck the Halls: accordion letter notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is its number in the scale. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Deck the Halls — accordion letter notes (Piano keys) · tonalics.com

The 9 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 9 and you can play the whole tune.

  • B7×2
  • C1×11
  • D2×16
  • E3×14
  • F4×9
  • G5×7
  • A6×6
  • B7×2
  • C1×1

What to expect on a accordion

  • It runs from B4 to C6, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 18 semitones unused below and 9 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 60.

About the tune

The tune is the Welsh winter air “Nos Galan” — New Year’s Eve — a dance melody that was sung with improvised verses and a harp answering each line. It was in print by the 1790s, and the English Christmas words were added in 1862.

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Deck the Halls →

Deck the Halls on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the accordion

All 36 accordion songs · Christmas songs for accordion · The online accordion on its own

Playing it on a real accordion?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The accordion tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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