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SongsGod Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
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Traditional English carol, the “London” tune, in print by the early 19th century. Public domain.

6 strings · E2–E5 · A steel-string acoustic, played with a pick — the guitar most people are handed first.

Tap a string, or tap a chord and drag across them to strum. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — Q to Y are the six strings, high E first; 1 to 7 hold the chords of the key, Space strums, and 0 lets go.

GuitarFree · printable · plays in your browser

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen — Guitar Tab

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, written out for the guitar as easy melody tab with the string and fret for every note and set up above on the Acoustic. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the guitar waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes67, 9 pitches
  • RangeD4–E5
  • Key hereE minor
  • Tempo138 bpm · about 33 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a guitar play God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen?

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.

  • Acoustic✓ Plays as writtenIn E minor, D4–E5 · loaded above
  • Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn E minor, D4–E5 · load it

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen: guitar tab

The large line is the fret — 0 is the open string; the small line under it is the string it is on. 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

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen — guitar tab (Acoustic) · tonalics.com

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen guitar tab as text

The same notes as tablature: one line per string, the thin high E on top, and each number the fret to press on that line — 0 is the open string. Read it left to right, one note at a time.

e|-0-|-0-7-7-5-|-3-2-0---|-0-2-3-5-|-7---0-|-0-7-7-5-|
B|---|---------|-------3-|---------|-------|---------|
G|---|---------|---------|---------|-------|---------|
D|---|---------|---------|---------|-------|---------|
A|---|---------|---------|---------|-------|---------|
E|---|---------|---------|---------|-------|---------|

e|-3-2-0---|-0-2-3-5-|-7---7-|-8-5-7-8-|-10-12-7-5-|
B|-------3-|---------|-------|---------|-----------|
G|---------|---------|-------|---------|-----------|
D|---------|---------|-------|---------|-----------|
A|---------|---------|-------|---------|-----------|
E|---------|---------|-------|---------|-----------|

e|-3-0-2-3-|-5--3-5-|-7--8-7-|-7-5-3-2-|-0--3-2-0-|
B|---------|--------|--------|---------|----------|
G|---------|--------|--------|---------|----------|
D|---------|--------|--------|---------|----------|
A|---------|--------|--------|---------|----------|
E|---------|--------|--------|---------|----------|

e|-5--3-5-|-7-8-10-12-|-7-5-3-2-|-0---|
B|--------|-----------|---------|-----|
G|--------|-----------|---------|-----|
D|--------|-----------|---------|-----|
A|--------|-----------|---------|-----|
E|--------|-----------|---------|-----|

Are there chords for it?

Not on this page. The chords here are chosen by rule — the three chords of the key — and they are only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. None of the scores this melody was checked against prints chord symbols to compare with. The tab above is the whole tune.

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.

  • 3B×2
  • 0High E×12
  • 2High E×8
  • 3High E×11
  • 5High E×12
  • 7High E×14
  • 8High E×4
  • 10High E×2
  • 12High E×2

What to expect on a guitar

  • It runs from D4 to E5, an octave and a whole step, using 9 different notes. Its top note is the highest this instrument has.
  • 86% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fifth, E4 to B4, at note 3.
  • The highest note is at fret 12, so the hand has to leave first position for it.
  • It is played on 2 strings (B and High E), and 12 notes are an open string.
  • The picking hand changes string 4 times.

About the tune

One of the oldest English carols still sung, known from 18th-century broadsides and probably older. The tune used today is the one associated with London; Dickens has a caroller start it at Scrooge’s keyhole in A Christmas Carol.

Traditional English carol, the “London” tune, in print by the early 19th century. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen →

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 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 guitar

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

Playing it on a real guitar?

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

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