O Come, All Ye Faithful on Lyre — Tabs, Letter Notes & Play Online

Notes61, 8 pitches
RangeG4–G5
Key hereC major
Tempo104 bpm · about 47 s
LevelIntermediate

Can a lyre play O Come, All Ye Faithful?

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, B3, 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

O Come, All Ye Faithful: 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

O Come, All Ye Faithful — lyre tabs (16-string) · tonalics.com

1•str. 111•str. 11–5str. 81•str. 112•str. 12–5str. 8–

3•str. 132•str. 123•str. 134•str. 143•str. 13–2•str. 121•str. 111•str. 11–

7str. 106str. 97str. 101•str. 112•str. 123•str. 137str. 10–6str. 95str. 85str. 8–––

5•str. 15–4•str. 143•str. 134•str. 14–3•str. 13–2•str. 123•str. 131•str. 112•str. 127str. 10–

5str. 81•str. 111•str. 117str. 101•str. 112•str. 121•str. 11–

5str. 83•str. 133•str. 132•str. 123•str. 134•str. 143•str. 13–

2•str. 123•str. 134•str. 143•str. 132•str. 121•str. 117str. 10–

1•str. 114•str. 143•str. 13–2•str. 121•str. 111•str. 11–––

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.

5str. 8×6
6str. 9×2
7str. 10×6
1•str. 11×15
2•str. 12×11
3•str. 13×14
4•str. 14×6
5•str. 15×1

What to expect on a lyre

It runs from G4 to G5, an octave, using 8 different notes. That leaves 12 semitones unused below and 2 above.
78% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is an octave, G4 to G5, at note 25.
It is played on strings 8 to 15 of 16, 8 strings in all.

About the tune

The Latin hymn “Adeste Fideles” survives in manuscripts copied by John Francis Wade, an English Catholic music copyist working in France, from about 1743; he is usually credited with the tune as well as the copying. The English text sung today dates from 1841.

“Adeste Fideles”, attributed to John Francis Wade, c. 1743. Public domain. The notes follow Douglas D. Anderson, The Hymns and Carols of Christmas (sequence released to the public domain), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about O Come, All Ye Faithful →

O Come, All Ye Faithful 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 lyre

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