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SongsJoy to the World
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the tuning or capo brings some of them into reach.

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The tune “Antioch”, arranged by Lowell Mason in the 1830s. 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

Joy to the World — Dulcimer Tab

Joy to the World, written out for the dulcimer as fret numbers for the melody string and set up above on the DAD. 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.

  • Notes57, 8 pitches
  • RangeD4–D5
  • Key hereD major
  • Tempo92 bpm · about 25 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a dulcimer play Joy to the World?

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 as writtenIn D major, D4–D5 · loaded above
  • DAA✓ Plays as writtenIn D major, D4–D5 · load it

Joy to the World: 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

Joy to the World — dulcimer tab (DAD) · 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.

  • 0D4×3
  • 1E4×7
  • 2F♯4×13
  • 3G4×8
  • 4A4×8
  • 5B4×6
  • 6½C♯5×5
  • 7D5×7

What to expect on a dulcimer

  • It runs from D4 to D5, an octave, using 8 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 93% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, D4 to D5, at note 49.
  • It uses 8 fret positions: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6½, 7.
  • The whole tune is on the melody string, so it can be played with a noter while the other strings drone.
  • It needs the 6½ fret, which dulcimers built before about 1980 often lack.

About the tune

The tune is called “Antioch”. The Boston hymn composer Lowell Mason published it in the 1830s, describing it as “from Handel”; the resemblance is to a few phrases of Messiah rather than to any one piece. It has been sung to Isaac Watts’s 1719 text ever since.

The tune “Antioch”, arranged by Lowell Mason in the 1830s. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Joy to the World →

Joy to the World 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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