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We Wish You a Merry Christmas: guitar chords and tab for beginners
England, West Country
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
by Traditional
- Tempo
- 120beats 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas
7 chords, all open shapes: G, C, A7, D7, B7, Em, D. 3 beats in each bar, 120 beats per minute, in G major.
G major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →A seven
2 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →D seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →B seven
4 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →E minor
2 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →D major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: G major is 3 2 0 0 0 3. C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. A seven is x 0 2 0 2 0. D seven is x x 0 2 1 2. B seven is x 2 1 2 0 2. E minor is 0 2 2 0 0 0. D major is x x 0 2 3 2. Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
A carol from the West Country of England, sung door to door by carollers who wanted figgy pudding in return. It became famous after a 1935 choir arrangement by Arthur Warrell of Bristol, who published the tune as a traditional song. The chords move a lot, one per bar, which makes it great practice for quick changes.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in We Wish You a Merry Christmas?
- Seven chords: G, C, A7, D7, B7, Em and D. All of them are open shapes, so some strings ring without a finger on them.
- What key is We Wish You a Merry Christmas 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas easy to play on guitar?
- It is a step up from the first songs here: seven chords at 120 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas?
- 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas 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 We Wish You a Merry Christmas?
- Traditional. England, West Country. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
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