Play along
Joy to the World: guitar chords and tab for beginners
United States, 1839
Joy to the World
by Lowell Mason
- Tempo
- 100beats per minute
- Count
- 2beats in each bar
- Key
- C majorthe home note
- Level
- 1 of 3easiest
Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.
Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.
Hold this chord
Coming up: G7
How to read it
- Red cross: don’t play that string. Skip it when you strum.
- Green circle: play that string open, with no finger on it.
- Number: press there with that finger. 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.
- Letters: the strings, thickest (low E) on the left to thinnest (high e) on the right.
Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.
The chords
The chords in Joy to the World
3 chords, open shapes apart from F: C, G7, F. 2 beats in each bar, 100 beats per minute, in C major.
C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →G seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →F major
barre, 4 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. G seven is 3 2 0 0 0 1. F major is 1 3 3 2 1 1 (finger 1 flat across fret 1). Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
Isaac Watts wrote the words in 1719 and Lowell Mason set them to this tune in 1839. The opening is a major scale from top to bottom, every note in order, which makes it the best scale practice on the site. We play it down low, on the middle strings.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Joy to the World?
- Three chords: C, G7 and F. F needs a finger laid flat across the neck, which is the hard part of this one.
- What key is Joy to the World in?
- C major. The key control on this page moves it up or down, and tells you where to put a capo so you can keep the same easy shapes.
- Is Joy to the World easy to play on guitar?
- It is a step up from the first songs here: three chords at 100 beats per minute. Slow it to 50 percent, and try Ode to Joy and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star first if it fights back.
- What is the strumming pattern for Joy to the World?
- Three strums in each bar: down, down, up. There are 2 beats in every bar. The arrows above the chord boxes move with the sound, so you can see the pattern as you hear it.
- How do I play Joy to the World on guitar?
- Three ways on this page, all from the same arrangement. Chords mode strums one chord at a time, Melody mode picks the tune from the tab, and Fingerstyle mode plays the bass with your thumb under the tune. Start in Chords mode at 60 percent speed.
- Who wrote Joy to the World?
- Lowell Mason. United States, 1839. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
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