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SongsDeck the Halls
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1 more song needs notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

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  64. 5
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  68. 1

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

3 strings · D3–D6 · No capo · D · Today’s standard — Mixolydian from the open string, and the tuning every modern tab is written for.

Tap a string, or drag down across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings, melody first.

DulcimerFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Dulcimer Tab

Deck the Halls, written out for the dulcimer as fret numbers for the melody string and set up above on the DAD, an octave lower. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the dulcimer waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeC♯4–D5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a dulcimer 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.

  • DAD↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: D major, C♯4–D5 · loaded above
  • DAA↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: D major, C♯4–D5 · load it

Deck the Halls: dulcimer tab

The large line is the fret, on the melody string unless a string is named; the small line under it is the note. 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 — dulcimer tab (DAD) · 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.

  • A2C♯4×2
  • 0D4×11
  • 1E4×16
  • 2F♯4×14
  • 3G4×9
  • 4A4×7
  • 5B4×6
  • 6½C♯5×2
  • 7D5×1

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from C♯4 to D5, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 11 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, D4 to B4, at note 60.
  • It uses 8 fret positions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6½, 7.
  • 2 notes fall on another string, so it cannot be played with a noter alone.
  • It needs the 6½ fret, which dulcimers built before about 1980 often lack.

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 dulcimer

All 35 dulcimer songs · Christmas songs for dulcimer · The online dulcimer on its own

Playing it on a real dulcimer?

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

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