Dona Nobis Pacem is perhaps the most famous of singing rounds, and certainly one of the loveliest.
This free vocal sheet music comes with free guitar tabs and also treble staff for pianists, vocalists, fiddlers, and other instrumentalists.
Here is the familiar part of the melody, arranged for guitar:
Please scroll down the page for the download links.
The Latin words of this beautiful singing round mean "Give us peace."
Most people are only familiar with the melody of the beginning, or part 1. Parts 2 & 3 provide harmony for that melody, giving body and fullness to the music.
But those parts are pretty tricky to learn! Learning this beautiful round has been more difficult for my singing groups than most other rounds.
This song would make a very beautiful Christmas performance for a group of guitarists, if three took the melody, and one played backup chords.
I'm considering persuading my current group of guitar players that this is just what they want to do for our next Christmas recital!
For guitar, I like the way the melody works in the key of D. But for fiddle/violin, I think the key of G is easiest for beginning students.
Here is the singing round all on one page, on treble staff with no guitar tablature:
When practicing Dona nobis pacem with just one student, I play the chords for an accompaniment. Hearing the harmonies helps students stay on pitch.
Because the only repetitious element is the text (the lyrics) this round is harder to learn than many others. It is worth the trouble, however!
The links for the guitar tablature arrangements:
Download guitar tabs for Dona Nobis Pacem in the key of C
Printable sheet music and guitar tabs and treble staff in the key of D
Download free vocal sheet music in the key of E with guitar tabs
Singing round for guitar tabs in the key of G
The links for the vocal line lead sheets:
Download lead sheet for Dona Nobis in the key of A
Download lead sheet in the key of Bb
Free singing round in the key of D
Free singing round in the key of Eb
Enjoy this beautiful vocal round!
A pretty round with a reach of an octave, slow-moving notes, and easy intervals. The scale-wise movement makes this song easy for a beginner.
With lyrics from an older time, this is more difficult than many rounds, but compensatingly more beautiful, with more complex harmonies as well!
New lyrics for an old round by Haydn - well-suited to a mix of voices, a satisfying round
Christmas is Coming, the Goose is Getting Fat
Lots of big interval jumps, even octaves, make this round fun and tricky.
Originally from Germany (Kaffee), this is great fun to sing! With new English lyrics that mention mochas, lattes, and "coffee black!"
Difficult! Quite difficult for beginners, this beautiful round works best with a bigger group of singers, or even instrumentalists, unless your singers are experienced with harmony
For Health & Strength & Daily Bread
Pretty, and fairly easy, as it moves primarily in descending steps, this is a wonderful Thanksgiving song!
Haida is vigorous and fun - there are two spots that invite a clap, adding to the rhythmic feeling of this song. Along with "Coffee," this is a favorite, frequently requested!
The Hart, He Loves the High Hill
This brisk but pretty round from England compares a deer to a rabbit, and a man to a woman!
Have You Seen the Ghost of John
An unbelievably pretty round, with lyrics that DO NOT do it justice! One of my students' perennial favorites.
The first round I use with beginning singers. Very singable!
Another brisk Hebrew round, lovely and minor.
A fun 2-part round from Australia, good for classroom singing
A very pretty little tune with nice major harmonies. A quick study!
Short, and very easy. This is a sweet melody with simple harmonies.
A pretty song with lovely lyrics
A song about peace, from Israel. Very lovely.
Viva la musica
A little different - there is a bit of dissonance to learn to sing through. A joyful melody!
A pretty little round with two parts and two verses, about white coral bells flowers along a garden path.
A street-seller's cry from England.
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
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...
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.