O Holy Night on Guitar — Tab, Chords & Play Online

Notes95, 11 pitches
RangeG3–B4
Key hereG major
Tempo150 bpm · about 2 min
LevelIntermediate

Can a guitar play O Holy Night?

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 G major, G3–B4 · loaded above
Classical✓ Plays as writtenIn G major, G3–B4 · load it

O Holy Night: 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

O Holy Night — guitar tab (Acoustic) · tonalics.com

0B––0B–0B3B–×53B0High E–

0High E1B–0High E3High E–×63B–3B0B–

2G0G––0B–1B3B––1B–

2G0G–×120B––0B–0B3B–×5

3B0High E–0High E1B–0High E3High E–×6

3B–3B2B–0B2High E––3B–

0High E2High E––3High E–2High E0B–×113B3B––0High E––2G––3B––

0High E–3B3High E–0B0High E––3B–

3B3B––0High E––2G––3B––0High E–

3B3High E–0B3B–×63High E–×92High E–

0High E2High E–×92High E––5High E–×80High E0High E–

0High E3High E–×113High E7High E–×65High E–×53B3High E–×9

2High E–0High E3B–×83B0High E–3B3B–×9

3High E––5High E–×93B––7High E–×95High E––3High E–×62High E––3High E–5High E3High E–×12

O Holy Night 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----0-|-3---|-----------|
B|-0---0--0-|-3---3-|------1----|-----|-3--3-0----|
G|----------|-------|-----------|-----|---------2-|
D|----------|-------|-----------|-----|-----------|
A|----------|-------|-----------|-----|-----------|
E|----------|-------|-----------|-----|-----------|

e|----------|----------|-----|----------|-------|
B|-----0--1-|-3---1----|-----|-0---0--0-|-3---3-|
G|-0--------|--------2-|-0---|----------|-------|
D|----------|----------|-----|----------|-------|
A|----------|----------|-----|----------|-------|
E|----------|----------|-----|----------|-------|

e|-0--0----0-|-3---|-----------|-2------0-|
B|------1----|-----|-3--3-2--0-|-----3----|
G|-----------|-----|-----------|----------|
D|-----------|-----|-----------|----------|
A|-----------|-----|-----------|----------|
E|-----------|-----|-----------|----------|

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

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

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

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

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

e|-3---|-2---3--5-|-3---|
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. For O Holy Night it matched the chords printed in Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024) on 34 of 60 bars and half bars: the harmony moves through more chords than three, and strumming only those would sound wrong under it. The tab above is the whole tune.

The 11 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 11 and you can play the whole tune.

0G×2
2G×4
0B×12
1B×4
2B×1
3B×26
0High E×18
2High E×8
3High E×13
5High E×5
7High E×2

What to expect on a guitar

It runs from G3 to B4, an octave and a major third, using 11 different notes. That leaves 15 semitones unused below and 5 above.
60% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, D4 to B4, at note 89.
The highest note is at fret 7, so the hand has to leave first position for it.
It is played on 3 strings (G, B and High E), and 32 notes are an open string.
The picking hand changes string 41 times.

About the tune

Adolphe Adam, the composer of the ballet Giselle, wrote it in 1847 as “Cantique de Noël” for a poem by Placide Cappeau, a wine merchant in the southern French town of Roquemaure. It is a solo song rather than a congregational carol, and it is written like an aria.

Adolphe Adam, “Cantique de Noël”, 1847. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Holy Night →

O Holy Night on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the kalimba, mbira, guzheng, handpan, harp or lyre, which do not have the notes.

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