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B♭B♭3 · concert pitch1st position · 4th partialalso 5th position · 5th partial
SongsDeck the Halls
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  1. 5
  2. 4
  3. 3
  4. 2
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 2
  13. 3
  14. 2
  15. 1
  16. 7,
  17. 1
  18. 5
  19. 4
  20. 3
  21. 2
  22. 1
  23. 2
  24. 3
  25. 1
  26. 2
  27. 3
  28. 4
  29. 2
  30. 3
  31. 2
  32. 1
  33. 7,
  34. 1
  35. 2
  36. 3
  37. 4
  38. 2
  39. 3
  40. 4
  41. 5
  42. 2
  43. 3
  44. 4
  45. 5
  46. 6
  47. 7
  48. 1'
  49. 7
  50. 6
  51. 5
  52. 5
  53. 4
  54. 3
  55. 2
  56. 1
  57. 2
  58. 3
  59. 1
  60. 6
  61. 6
  62. 6
  63. 6
  64. 5
  65. 4
  66. 3
  67. 2
  68. 1

Welsh traditional air “Nos Galan”, in print by the 1790s. Public domain.

38 notes · E2–F5 · the pedal B♭1 on the ladder · 38 notes · The B♭ tenor trombone: nine feet of tube and seven positions — the one in every band.

Tap a note, or slide along them to play legato, from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the low F in 6th position, and they climb a semitone at a time.

TromboneFree · printable · plays in your browser

Deck the Halls — Trombone Notes

Deck the Halls, written out for the trombone as every note with its slide position and set up above on the Tenor. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the trombone waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes68, 9 pitches
  • RangeA3–B♭4
  • Key hereB♭ major
  • Tempo132 bpm · about 29 s
  • LevelIntermediate

Can a trombone play Deck the Halls?

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.

  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, A3–B♭4 · loaded above
  • Tenor + F trigger✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, A3–B♭4 · load it
  • Alto in E♭✓ Plays as writtenIn B♭ major, A3–B♭4 · load it

Deck the Halls: trombone notes

The large line is the note; the small line under it is the slide position — T means with the F trigger held. 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 — trombone notes (Tenor) · tonalics.com

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.

  • A2nd×2
  • B♭1st×11
  • C3rd×16
  • D1st×14
  • E♭3rd×9
  • F1st×7
  • G4th×6
  • A2nd×2
  • B♭1st×1

What to expect on a trombone

  • It runs from A3 to B♭4, an octave and a semitone, using 9 different notes. That leaves 17 semitones unused below and 7 above.
  • 87% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, B♭3 to G4, at note 60.
  • It uses 4 slide positions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
  • The longest move between two neighbouring notes is 3 positions.

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 trombone

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

Playing it on a real trombone?

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

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