Deck The Halls

Words & Music:

Traditional English, American & Welsh

 

Per Wikipedia (which has an excellent entry on this tune!), the tune is traditional (I'm betting English), but was used by Mozart for a violin & piano duet.  The original words were Welsh (you will find them in Wikipedia) and the most popular English words are 19th century American.  This song is a classic "call & response", but the response is always the "Fa-La..." bit.  I've also included a nice guitar tab of this by Mark Rogers.  Enjoy!

 

 

D                   Bm                A7          D      D  A7  D

Deck the halls with boughs of holly.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

D                Bm            A7          D      D  A7  D

'Tis the sea-son to be jolly.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

A7             D                       Bm        A7  E7  A7

Don we now our gay apparel.  Fa-la-la, la-la la, la, la, la!

D                 Bm               G           D  (G) D   A7  D

Troll the ancient Yuletide carol.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la, la, la!

 

See the blazing Yule before us.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

Strike the harp and join the chorus.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

Follow me in merry measure.  Fa-la-la, la-la la, la, la, la!

While I tell the Yuletide treasure.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

 

Fast away the old year passes.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

Sing we joyous all together.  Fa-la-la, la-la la, la, la, la!

Heedless of the wind and weather.  Fa-la-la la-la, la-la-la, la!

 

 

Deck The Halls Tab by Mark Rogers:

Since the holiday season is coming soon I thought I'd post a TAB for

"Deck the Halls".  It's an arrangement one of my teachers gave me last

year.  It's easy to play and it sounds good.  The long introduction

will mesmerize your audience (says so right here in the small print

at the bottom of the page).  Play as little or as much of the intro

as you want, and use pieces of the intro between verses as you see

fit.

 

Capo on 5th fret, all positions listed are relative to capo.  The "^"

symbols represent the beat.

 


INTRO:

(A)

         4                  3

         3     1 3   2      2     1 2   3        4   2

    ++-------------------+------------------+------------------+

    ||---3-----1-0-------|--3-----1-0-------|----------0-------|

    ||.----0---------2---|----0---------2---|--0---0-2-----0---|

    ||.------0-----0---0-|------0-----0---0-|----4-------0---0-|

    ||-------------------|------------------|------------------|

    ++---3-------3-------+--2-------2-------+--0-------0-------+

         ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^

 

      --------------------       --------------------

                     1.  |                      2.  |

          4   2                      4   2   2   4

     +-------------------++     +-------------------++

     |----------0--------||     |----------0--------||

     |--0---0-2-----0---.||     |--0---0-2---2-0----||

     |----4-------0---0-.||     |----4-----------4--||

     |-------------------||     |-------------------||

     +--0-------0--------++     +--0-------0--------++

        ^   ^   ^   ^              ^   ^   ^   ^

 

 

(B)

                                    3                   3

              2 3 2         2     1 2 1         2     1 2 1

    ++------0-2-3-2-0----+------0-2-3-2-0----+------0-2-3-2-0----+

    ||----0-----------0--|----0-----------0--|----0-----------0--|

    ||.-----0-------0----|------0-------0----|------0-------0----|

    ||.------------------|-------------------|-------------------|

    ||-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|

    ++--0-------0--------+--2-------2--------+--3-------3--------+

        ^   ^   ^   ^       ^   ^   ^   ^       ^   ^   ^   ^

 

          2   4   4 2

     +-------------------++

     |-------------------||

     |----2~0---0-------.||   "~" is a trill (0-2-0)

     |--------4---4-2-0-.||

     |--0----------------||

     +-------------------++

        ^   ^   ^   ^

 

 

REPEAT (A), THEN USE THE FOLLOWING LEAD-IN:

 

                1                 1

          3     2     4       3   2       4

      ++-------------------+--------------3---++

      ||------0-1-----3----|------1-0---------||

      ||.---0-------0------|----0-------0----.||

      ||.-----0-2----------|------2-0--------.||

      ||-------------------|------------------||

      ++--3----------------+--3---------------++

          ^   ^   ^   ^       ^   ^   ^   ^

 

 


THEME:

 

         4

         1     1     4          4       1      4   1         4

         3   2 4 3   2      1   2   3   2      3   2 4   1 2 3

    ++---3-----1-0-------+----------0-------+----0-1---0-------+

    ||---1-----3-----3---|--1---3-------1---|--3-----3---1---3-|

    ||.----0-------0---0-|----0---0---0---0-|----0-2---0-------|

    ||.------2-----------|--------------2---|--3-------------3-|

    ||---3-------3---2---|--0---2---3-------|------------------|

    ++-------------------+------------------+--------------3---+

         ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^

 

         1       1

         2       3   2

     +---------------------++

     |---1---0---1---------||

     |-----0---0---0---0--.||

     |---2---0-------2----.||

     |-----------3---------||

     +---------------------++

         ^   ^   ^   ^

 

         4       1                   4   4

         3     1 4   4       3   2 1 3   2       2 1 3   1 3 4

     +---------0-1-------+---0-----1-3-------+---0-2-3---5-7-8---+

     |---3-----1-3---3---|---0-----------3---|-------------------|

     |-----0-------0---0-|-----0-------0---0-|-------------------|

     |-------0-----------|-------2-----------|-------------------|

     |-------------------|---3-------3---2---|---3-------0-------|

     +---3-------3-------+-------------------+-------------------+

         ^   ^   ^   ^       ^   ^   ^   ^       ^   ^   ^   ^

 

             4   4

         4   1   2

     +---7---5---3-------+

     |-------------------|

     |-----------0-------|

     |---0---------------|

     |-------------------|

     +-------2---3-------+

         ^   ^   ^   ^

 

         4

         1     1     4          4       1      4       4

         3   2 4 3   2      1   2   3   2      1       3 1   1

     +---3-----1-0-------+----------0-------+--5-5-5-5-3-----1-+

     |---1-----3-----3---|--1---3-------1---|------------1-----|

     |-----0-------0---0-|----0---0---0---0-|--------------0---|

     |-------2-----------|--------------2---|------------------|

     |---3-------3---2---|--0---2---3-------|----------3-------|

     +-------------------+------------------+--1---------------+

         ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^      ^   ^   ^   ^

 

             4   1                      right-hand harmonic

         3   2   3   2                      at the very end

     +---0-----------------++    +---(7)---++   (optional)

     |-------3---1---------||    |---------||

     |-----0---0---0---0--.||    |---------||

     |---------------2----.||    |---------||

     |-------2---3---------||    |---------||

     +---3-----------------++    +---------++

         ^   ^   ^   ^

 

 



The provenance of the attached easy arrangement or attached easy arrangement is unknown.  It is part of a collection that people gave me over the years.  Please inform me if correctly attribute it.





Back to the Songbook Index.

This page's content is copyrighted ©1977-2008 by Kristin C. Hall. Please drop me a line (via "dink (at) media (dot) mit (dot) edu") if you wish to use it or link to it or correct it! Please send comments, suggestions, fixes and general mischievious mayhem to the web diva via the above email address. (sorry, spambots have forced me to remove my automatic mail link.) Many thanks...and enjoy! tr

Note to lawyers and any other litigious-minded folk:
I am not trying to screw anyone out of royalties, etc. I have posted these only as a helpful resources for teachers, camp counselors and people who like to "sing along with Mitch", if you will. If you do not want your work posted to these pages, please just email me (via "dink (at) media (dot) mit (dot) edu") and I shall remove it.