God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
English carol in John Stainer's four-part harmony, from Christmas Carols New and Old (1871); the tenor's two widest notes are taken in the right hand
No speed is printed on this score, so Clefsight plays it at half note = 87: the middle speed of the 16 pieces in 2/2 in the library whose files set one. Its length counts from that.
Needs a MIDI keyboard and Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer, or Chrome on an Android phone or tablet.
Versions
Each easier version only leaves notes out, so every one is still the real piece. Print any of them free.
- As written252 notes
- Melody and a simpler left hand194 notes
- Melody and left-hand roots87 notes
- Right-hand melody67 notes
To practise it on paper: a practice chart for this piece, a week of steps from each hand alone to full tempo, with their speeds.
What it asks of you
- Treble clef from B3 to E5, with ledger lines
- Bass clef from G2 to D4, with ledger lines
- Key signature: 1 sharp (G major or E minor)
- Accidentals: sharps outside the key, naturals
- Rhythm: quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, eighth notes
- Intervals: 5ths, octaves, 6ths, 10ths, 4ths, 3rds played together in one hand
- Chords: inverted triads
- Hands playing together, moving the hand to a new position, one hand moving while the other holds
What stands between you and this piece
Clefsight compares the notes of this piece with what you already read.
Score typed for Clefsight from Novello, Ewer and Co., London, 1890, ed. Henry Ramsden Bramley (words) and John Stainer (music) (scan on the Internet Archive), checked note for note, shared under CC0 1.0; the composition is a traditional tune, and so is John Stainer’s arrangement. Credits