Deck the Halls - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
"Deck the Halls" is a Christmas carol based on a traditional Welsh song with from the sixteenth century. The today known lyrics was translated into English from the Welsh lyrics by Thomas Oliphant.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Melody & full accompaniment
Free tabs and notes plus sound.
Download
Deck the Halls guitar tab and notes (pdf)
Listen
Deck the Halls instrumental guitar (mp3)
Deck the Halls (full accompaniment)
"Deck the Halls" for guitar with full accompaniment is found in Christmas songs arranged for guitar e-book.
Deck the Halls for flute
"Deck the Halls" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Deck the Halls flute
Deck the Halls (only melody)
"Deck the Halls" tablature notation for guitar.
Tips on how to learn this song
Notice the AABA structure. The first two sections (bars 1-4 and 5-8) are identical and the last section (bars 13-16) is nearly the same.
The melody is played on the four highest strings and on the four first fret, which means that the whole song can be played in first position.
Lyrics and chords
Deck the Halls chords in the key of G
Verse & chorus 1:
(G)Deck the halls with (Em)boughs of holly
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(G)'Tis the season (Em)to be jolly
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(D)Don we now our (G)gay apparel
(Em)Fa la la la (A7)la, (D)la la la la!
(G)Troll the ancient (Em)Yuletide carol
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
Verse & chorus 2:
(G)See the blazing (Em)yule before us
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(G)Strike the harp and (Em)join the chorus
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(D)Follow me in (G)merry measure
(Em)Fa la la la (A7)la, (D)la la la la!
(G)While I tell of (Em)Yuletide treasure
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
Verse & chorus 3:
(G)Fast away the (Em)old year passes,
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(G)Hail the new, ye (Em)lads and lasses,
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
(D)Sing we joyous (G)all together,
(Em)Fa la la la (A7)la, (D)la la la la!
(G)Heedless of the (Em)wind and weather,
(C)Fa la la la (G)la, (D)la la la (G)la!
Poetic and archaic words:
'tis = it is
don = to put on
Yuletide = Christmas
ye = you
Download this song in pdf with chord charts, included in 60 Traditional songs e-book.
Deck the Halls chords in the key of D
Verse & chorus 1:
(D)Deck the halls with (Bm)boughs of holly
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(D)'Tis the season (Bm)to be jolly
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(A)Don we now our (D)gay apparel
(Bm)Fa la la la (E7)la, (A)la la la la!
(D)Troll the ancient (Bm)yuletide carol
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
Verse & chorus 2:
(D)See the blazing (Bm)yule before us
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(D)Strike the harp and (Bm)join the chorus
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(A)Follow me in (D)merry measure
(Bm)Fa la la la (E7)la, (A)la la la la!
(D)While I tell of (Bm)Yuletide treasure
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
Verse & chorus 3:
(D)Fast away the (Bm)old year passes,
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(D)Hail the new, ye (Bm)lads and lasses,
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
(A)Sing we joyous (D)all together,
(Bm)Fa la la la (E7)la, (A)la la la la!
(D)Heedless of the (Bm)wind and weather,
(G)Fa la la la (D)la, (A)la la la (D)la!
The non-lexical vocables "Fa la la la la, la la la la!" repeats over and over, four times in each part. The same lines also hint that this is a song that is played and singed in a pretty fast tempo. The chord progressions involve a borrowed chord, the IIV.
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
Based on the D major version, capo 1 would result in D# / Eb, capo 2 would result in E and so on.
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Deck the Halls" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Deck the Halls is played in the key of G.
Time signature
The song is played in 4/4 tempo (counted one, two, three, four for each measure).
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 120 for the presented version.