Will the Circle Be Unbroken? - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a hymn with text by Ada R. Habershon and music by Charles H. Gabriel. It is a well-known traditional gospel song and both the melody and chords are easy to learn. The song has been performed by modern bands and artist, one of the most popular is Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's bluegrass version.
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
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? guitar tab and notes (pdf)
Listen
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? instrumental guitar (mp3)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (full accompaniment)
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? guitar accompaniment
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? (only melody)
"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" standard and tablature notation for guitar.
Tips on how to learn this song
The melody of the song involves mainly the two middle strings and only five notes: G, A, B, D and E (which coincide with the G Pentatonic Major scale). Keep that in mind and it will help play the song from memory. Notice also the 16-bar structure with an additional pick-up bar in the beginning.
Lyrics and chords
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? chords in the key of G
Will the (G)circle be unbroken
By and (C)by, Lord, by and (G)by?
Is a better home awaiting,
In the sky, Lord, (D7)in the (G)sky?
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? chords in the key of C
Will the (C)circle be unbroken
By and (F)by, Lord, by and (C)by?
Is a better home awaiting,
In the sky, Lord, (G7)in the (C)sky?
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? chords in the key of D
Will the (D)circle be unbroken
By and (G)by, Lord, by and (D)by?
Is a better home awaiting,
In the sky, Lord, (A7)in the (D)sky?
There are variations concerning the lyrics. For example, in some modern versions the line "Is a better home awaiting" is not a question but an assurance: "There's a better home a-waiting". (The lyrics presented here don't include all verses and choruses in the song.)
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 "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken? 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 180 for the presented version.