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Traditional; "New Britain" melody, published 1835. Public domain. The first half of the verse.

16 strings · G3–A5 · C major · The common size, and what most lyre tabs assume. Two full octaves and a bit.

Tap a string, or sweep across them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the strings are the ones to press — they follow the strings left to right.

LyreFree · printable · plays in your browser

Amazing Grace — Lyre Tabs

Amazing Grace (the first half of the verse), written out for the lyre as number tabs with the letter under every note and set up above on the 16-string. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the lyre waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes16, 6 pitches
  • RangeG4–G5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo76 bpm · about 17 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a lyre play Amazing Grace?

1 of the 3 here do. 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.

  • 7-string✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, A3, which it does not have
  • 10-string✕ Cannot play itNeeds G3, which it does not have
  • 16-string✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–G5 · loaded above

Amazing Grace: lyre tabs

The large line is the note’s number in the scale; the small line under it is the string to pluck. 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

Amazing Grace — lyre tabs (16-string) · tonalics.com

The 6 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 6 and you can play the whole tune.

  • 5str. 8×3
  • 6str. 9×1
  • 1•str. 11×5
  • 2•str. 12×2
  • 3•str. 13×4
  • 5•str. 15×1

What to expect on a lyre

  • It runs from G4 to G5, an octave, using 6 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 2 above.
  • 33% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a fourth, G4 to C5, at note 2.
  • It is played on strings 8 to 15 of 16, 6 strings in all.

About the tune

The words are John Newton’s, written in England in the 1770s; the tune they are sung to is an American folk melody called “New Britain”, joined to them by William Walker in his shape-note tunebook Southern Harmony in 1835.

Traditional; "New Britain" melody, published 1835. Public domain. The first half of the verse. More about Amazing Grace →

Amazing Grace on other instruments

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

More songs for the lyre

All 34 lyre songs · Christmas songs for lyre · The online lyre on its own

Playing it on a real lyre?

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

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