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SongsWe Wish You a Merry Christmas
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  1. 5,
  2. 1
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 1
  6. 7,
  7. 6,
  8. 6,
  9. 6,
  10. 2
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 2
  14. 1
  15. 7,
  16. 5,
  17. 5,
  18. 3
  19. 3
  20. 4
  21. 3
  22. 2
  23. 1
  24. 6,
  25. 5,
  26. 5,
  27. 6,
  28. 2
  29. 7,
  30. 1
  31. 5,
  32. 1
  33. 1
  34. 1
  35. 7,
  36. 7,
  37. 1
  38. 7,
  39. 6,
  40. 5,
  41. 2
  42. 3
  43. 2
  44. 1
  45. 5
  46. 5,
  47. 5,
  48. 5,
  49. 6,
  50. 2
  51. 7,
  52. 1

Traditional English carol from the West Country. Public domain. Verse and refrain.

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

We Wish You a Merry Christmas — Cello Notes

We Wish You a Merry Christmas, 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.

  • Notes52, 8 pitches
  • RangeG3–G4
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo150 bpm · about 19 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a cello play We Wish You a Merry Christmas?

✓ Plays as written Every note of it is on the cello, in C major from G3 to G4. The check is made note by note against what the instrument can actually sound.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas: 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

We Wish You a Merry Christmas — cello notes · tonalics.com

The 8 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 8 and you can play the whole tune.

  • GD·5×10
  • AA·0×7
  • BA·2×7
  • CA·3×12
  • DA·5×9
  • EA·7×5
  • FA·8×1
  • GA·10×1

What to expect on a cello

  • It runs from G3 to G4, an octave, using 8 different notes. That leaves 19 semitones unused below and 9 above.
  • 73% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G4 to G3, at note 46.
  • It is played on 2 strings (D and A), crossing between strings 11 times.
  • 7 notes are an open string, and the highest stop is 10 semitones above the open string.

About the tune

An English carol from the West Country, sung by wassailers going door to door at Christmas and asking for something in return. Nobody knows who wrote it or when; it reached most of the world through a 1935 choral arrangement by the Bristol conductor Arthur Warrell, but the tune itself is traditional.

Traditional English carol from the West Country. Public domain. Verse and refrain. The notes follow Sudbury Ancient Fyfe & Drum Companie carol book, transcribed by John Chambers, cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about We Wish You a Merry Christmas →

We Wish You a Merry Christmas on other instruments

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

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