Au clair de la lune - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
"Au clair de la lune" (in English "By the Light of the Moon") is a French song of the 18th century with an unknown originator. Today, it is often associated with a song for children as well as a beginner piece for various instruments, but it's actually a folk song with references to the Commedia dell'Arte characters.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Au clair de la lune (full accompaniment)
"Au clair de la lune" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Au clair de la lune guitar accompaniment
Au clair de la lune for flute
"Au clair de la lune" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Au clair de la lune flute
Au clair de la lune (only melody)
"Au clair de la lune" standard and tablature notation for guitar presented as an image.
Tips on how to learn this song
The song is played in open position, meaning that the hand should be positioned over the first for frets. Generally, the index fingers played notes on the first frets, the middle finger notes on the second fret, the ring finger notes on the third fret and the little finger notes on the fourth fret. Besides that, a lot of open string notes are present.
The next thing to observe is the AABA structure. The bars 1-4 are identical with the bars 9-12 as well as the bars 13-14 whereas the bars 9-12 differs a bit. This means that there is only seven (since the bars 4, 8, 12 and 16 are identical) unique bars to learn.
Lyrics and chords
Au clair de la lune (By the Light of the Moon) chords in the key of G
English lyrics:
(G)By the light of the (D)moon
(C)My fri(D)end Pier(G)rot,
(G)Lend me your (D)quill
(C)To write(D) a (G)word.
(D)My candle is (A)dead,
(D)I have no light (A)left.
(G)Open your door for (D)me
(C)For the(D) love of (G)God.
Au clair de la lune chords in the key of G
French lyrics:
(G)Au clair de la lune
(C)Mon a(D)mi Pier(G)rot
(G)Prete-moi ta (D)plume
(C)Pour é(D)crire un (G)mot.
(D)Ma chandelle est (A)morte
(D)Je n'ai plus de (A)feu
(G)Ouvre-moi ta por(D)te
(C)Pour l'(D)amour de (G)Dieu.
The lyrics above include the first of three verses. Notice that the A chord is non-diatonic.
There are possibilities to change to key further by using a capo. These are the keys that the song would transpose in depending on which fret the capo is put (based on the chords in the G major version):
- Capo 1: G# / Ab major
- Capo 2: A major
- Capo 3: A# / Bb major
- Capo 4: B major
- Capo 5: C major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Au clair de la lune" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Au clair de la lune is played in the key of G.
Time signature
The song is played in 4/4 tempo (counted one, two, three for each measure).
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 90 for the presented version. The tempo marking andante can also be used.