TonalicsJOURNALOpen Tuner
‹ Cello songs
SongsDeck the Halls
Play a different song (36)
Play along
  1. 5
  2. 4
  3. 3
  4. 2
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 2
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 1
  16. 7,
  17. 1
  18. 5
  19. 4
  20. 3
  21. 2
  22. 1
  23. 2
  24. 3
  25. 1
  26. 2
  27. 3
  28. 4
  29. 2
  30. 3
  31. 2
  32. 1
  33. 7,
  34. 1
  35. 2
  36. 3
  37. 4
  38. 2
  39. 3
  40. 4
  41. 5
  42. 2
  43. 3
  44. 4
  45. 5
  46. 6
  47. 7
  48. 1'
  49. 7
  50. 6
  51. 5
  52. 5
  53. 4
  54. 3
  55. 2
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 1
  60. 6
  61. 6
  62. 6
  63. 6
  64. 5
  65. 4
  66. 3
  67. 2
  68. 1

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

4 strings · C2–A3 open · E5 up the A string in thumb position · Perfect fifths, exactly an octave below a viola. The C string is the deepest note in a string quartet.

Tap a string, or slide along a string and the pitch follows your finger, under a bow that never stops. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they run down the strings, the A at the top — hold a key and the note holds.

CelloFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Cello Notes

Deck the Halls, written out for the cello as every note with its string and how far up it. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the cello waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeB3–C5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a cello play Deck the Halls?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the cello, in C major from B3 to C5. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

Deck the Halls: cello notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the string, and how many semitones above its open note to stop it. 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 — cello notes · 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.

  • BA·2×2
  • CA·3×11
  • DA·5×16
  • EA·7×14
  • FA·8×9
  • GA·10×7
  • AA·12×6
  • BA·14×2
  • CA·15×1

What to expect on a cello

  • It runs from B3 to C5, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 23 semitones unused below and 4 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C4 to A4, at note 60.
  • It is played on 1 string (A), crossing between strings 0 times.
  • 0 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 15 semitones above the open string.

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 cello

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

Playing it on a real cello?

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

🎙 Open the Cello Tuner