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Silent Night: guitar chords and tab for beginners
Austria, 1818
Silent Night
by Franz Xaver Gruber
- Tempo
- 76beats per minute
- Count
- 3beats in each bar
- Key
- G 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
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 Silent Night
3 chords, all open shapes: G, D7, C. 3 beats in each bar, 76 beats per minute, in G major.
G major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →D seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: G major is 3 2 0 0 0 3. D seven is x x 0 2 1 2. C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
Written for Christmas Eve 1818 in a village church in Austria, and first sung with a guitar because the organ was broken. Three chords, G, C and D7, and a swaying rhythm: count it in two, each beat a gentle rock.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Silent Night?
- Three chords: G, D7 and C. All of them are open shapes, so some strings ring without a finger on them.
- What key is Silent Night in?
- G 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 Silent Night easy to play on guitar?
- It is a step up from the first songs here: three chords at 76 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 Silent Night?
- Five strums in each bar: down, down, up, down, up. There are 3 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 Silent Night 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 Silent Night?
- Franz Xaver Gruber. Austria, 1818. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
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