Silent Night - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
"Silent Night" is composed by Franz Gruber and the lyrics is written by Joseph Mohr (in German, thus the original title "Stille Nacht"; the English-language version is written by John F. Young). It is one of the most recognize Christmas songs and one of the easiest to play on many instruments.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Silent Night (full accompaniment)
"Silent Night" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Download
Silent Night for flute
"Silent Night" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Download
Silent Night (only melody)
"Silent Night" standard and tablature notation for guitar. This is a shortened version (full versions for only melody and with accompaniment can be downloaded as pdf).
Tips on how to learn this song
Since the song is played rather slow, it can be considered as relatively easy. Notice the 16th notes in present in many of the bars. Also notice that the song only include notes in the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G , A, B).
Lyrics and chords
Silent Night chords in the key of C
Verse 1:
(C)Silent night, holy night,
(G7)All is calm, (C)all is bright
(F)Round yon virgin (C)mother and child.
(F)Holy infant so (C)tender and mild,
(G7)Sleep in heavenly (C)peace,
(C)Sleep in (G7)heavenly (C)peace.
Verse 2:
(C)Silent night, holy night,
(G7)Shepherds quake (C)at the sight,
(F)Glories stream from (C)heaven afar.
(F)Heavenly hosts sing (C)Alleluia;
(G7)Christ the Savior, is (C)born!
(C)Christ the (G7)Savior, is (C)born!
Verse 3:
(C)Silent night, holy night,
(G7)Son of God, (C)love's pure light
(F)Radiant beams from thy (C)holy face.
(F)With the dawn of re(C)deeming grace,
(G7)Jesus, Lord, at thy (C)birth,
(C)Jesus, (G7)Lord, at thy (C)birth.
Archaic and liturgical words:
yon = yonder
Alleluia = hallelujah
thy = your
Only the three major chords in the key (I, IV and V) are used, although the V sometimes is played as a dominant chord. Notice how the progressions is switching between V(7) - I and IV - I cycles.
There are possibilities to change to key by using a capo. These are the keys that the song would transpose in depending on which fret the capo is put:
- Capo 1: C# / Db major
- Capo 2: D major
- Capo 3: D# / Eb major
- Capo 4: E major
- Capo 5: F major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Silent Night" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Silent Night is played in the key of C.
Time signature
The song is played in 6/8 tempo (a compound time including two dotted quarter notes per measure).
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 80 for the presented version.