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SongsDeck the Halls
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The melody on its own — the easy version.
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Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain.

61 keys · C2–C7, five octaves · The usual home keyboard — five octaves, enough for nearly everything written for two hands.

Tap a key, or slide along them for a glissando. On a keyboard the letters on the keys are the ones to press — Z to M are the white keys from middle C with S, D, G, H and J the black ones between them, and Q to P are the octave above; the arrow keys move both rows an octave, and Space is the sustain pedal.

PianoFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Piano Letter Notes

Deck the Halls, written out for the piano as easy letter notes for the right hand, with do-re-mi under every note and set up above on the 61 keys. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the piano waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeB4–C6
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a piano play Deck the Halls?

Yes — every size 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.

  • 49 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · load it
  • 61 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · loaded above
  • 88 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, B4–C6 · load it

Deck the Halls: piano letter notes

The large line is the key’s letter; a dot over it is the octave above middle C’s, a dot under it the octave below; the small line under it is the same note in do-re-mi. 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

Deck the Halls — piano letter notes (61 keys) · tonalics.com

Deck the Halls letter notes as text

The same notes as plain text, one phrase to a line, to copy into a message or a document. A letter on its own is in the octave that starts on the C above middle C (C5). A letter with a number is in that numbered octave: B4 is the B just below the C above middle C, C6 is the second C above middle C. A comma marks a long note.

G F E D C D E C D E F D E D C B4 C
G F E D C D E C D E F D E D C B4 C
D E F D E F G D E F G A B C6 B A G
G F E D C D E C A A A A G F E D C

Deck the Halls with both hands

The right hand plays the melody exactly as above. The left hand adds three chords underneath it, each held while the tune moves over it, and it plays them without moving: the hand stays in one place an octave below middle C and at most one finger shifts by a key between chords. RH is the right hand, LH the left, and a bar line separates the bars.

RH  G F E D | C D E C | D E F D E D
LH  C       | C       | G7 C

RH  C B4 C | G F E D | C D E C
LH  C      | C       | C

RH  D E F D E D | C B4 C | D E F D
LH  G7 C        | C      | G7

RH  E F G D | E F G A B C6 | B A G
LH  C       | C            | G7

RH  G F E D | C D E C | A A A A G F
LH  C       | C       | F G7

RH  E D C
LH  C
  • CC3 – E3 – G3
  • G7B2 – F3 – G3
  • FC3 – F3 – A3
▶ Load both hands in the piano above

This left hand is an arrangement, not part of the tune: it is made by rule from the melody, giving each bar whichever of the three chords of the key holds most of its notes. Compared with the chord symbols printed in Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), it puts the same chord on 14 of the 19 bars and half bars the two share. A fuller arrangement would use more chords than three.

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.

  • BSi×2
  • C•Do×11
  • D•Re×16
  • E•Mi×14
  • F•Fa×9
  • G•Sol×7
  • A•La×6
  • B•Si×2
  • C••Do×1

What to expect on a piano

  • It runs from B4 to C6, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 35 semitones unused below and 12 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 60.
  • It is played on the white keys only.
  • It covers 9 white keys, more than the five a hand rests on, so the right hand has to move or stretch — more than once.

About the tune

The tune is the Welsh winter air “Nos Galan” — New Year’s Eve — a dance melody that was sung with improvised verses and a harp answering each line. It was in print by the 1790s, and the English Christmas words were added in 1862.

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain. The notes follow Paul Hardy’s Xmas Tunebook, 2019 (2024), cross-checked against 2 other transcriptions. More about Deck the Halls →

Deck the Halls 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 piano

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

Playing it on a real piano?

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

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