Christmas Sheet Music
What Child is This
(Greensleeves Melody)
Christmas sheet music for your guitar students.
Download these free Christmas songs, Greensleeves or What Child is This, in two keys, with guitar tabs and chord symbols.
Here is a beautifully played semi-classical arrangement of "Greensleeves" -- unlike my version here, which is meant for beginning guitarists:
Do you recognize that man in the video? It is King Henry VIII of England, from whose time this music comes.
He was the one with the six wives... "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, SURVIVED."
Please scroll down the page for the links to the printable PDFs.
This is a perfect song for fingerpicking, since the pattern Thumb-index-middle-ring-middle-index (p-i-m-a-m-i) fits the beat pattern with no left-over fingers or beats (1-2-3-4-5-6).
It is a good one for a guitar student who has mastered a simpler fingerpicking song such as Down in the Valley, and has since moved on to trickier chords such as Bm.
Please scroll down the page for the links to the printable PDFs.
Greensleeves is one of the oldest tunes we know that is still as beloved as it ever was.
I tell my students that some songs are so beautiful, that other people write their own words to the tune, as has happened with the Christmas words set to what was originally a love song about a "Lady Greensleeves."
The key of Am, despite the difficult F chord, is easy to play in. But it isn't so easy for many people to sing in!
Also, most piano versions, and the key in which this song will be sung in at church, happen to be in the key of Em. Therefore I have offered this free Christmas sheet music in both keys.
The tab for guitar is a little tricky in Em, if only because the 4th fret is used.
I have arranged a slighty altered version of the melody that is perhaps closer to the original piece as it would have sounded with a lute, or even a harp that has no levers for accidentals.
The melody below is also an easier one for beginning violin players to use:
Please scroll down the page for the links to the printable PDFs.
There are more chord choices, perhaps, in my versions of Greensleeves than are usually suggested. Try them out and eliminate any you don't care for -- in the Am version, the F chord can definitely be left out. (Most kids hate that chord!)
I hope you enjoy using this printable Christmas sheet music!
The links to the guitar Christmas sheet music:
Download and print free guitar Christmas sheet music in Am
Download guitar tabs for What Child is This in Em
The links for the alternate lute-like melody:
Download Greensleeves with lute-like melody in Am
Download Greensleeves with lute-like melody in Em
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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Becky:
A thousand thanks for your beginning piano and guitar songs.
I've already printed several for my children, including the Pretty Little Horses TAB and Carol of the Bells for piano. What a wonderful resource!
Christine:
Thank you so much for this site! I have just started teaching some really keen Y6 boys who want to play Scarborough Fair, and your version is perfect. I will now go and look at what other goodies you have!
Comments
Do you have a funny story about this music, or does it remind you of something you'd like to share with other readers? Do you have a question? I'd love to hear it!
Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...
What Other Visitors Have Said
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I'm New to Guitar -- Which Notes Do I Play?
Hi,
I am fairly new to playing guitar. I have a question about "Greensleeves". Above each measure is a chord diagram...Am, C, G, Em. Are those the notes …
About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
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