How To Play Carol Of The Bells On Guitar
The main melody for Carol of the bells is three notes repeated. In the key of E minor the notes are G F# and E. The notes repeat in the following order:G F# G E - G F# G E - Over and over again.
-You begin the song by repeating the melody G F# G E - Over and over again.
-Then as the melody repeats, you play the descending bass line E D C B C B A E.
-The chords that go with the descending bass line are Em Em/D C G/B C G/B Am Em
(If you can't play the melody, bass line, and chords at the same time, just play the melody and bass line - it still sounds good!)
That is the basic song, but there are more parts - I tell you about the other parts further down the page - keep reading.
In the following video, I play Carol Of The Bells On Guitar - watch my fingers:
Carol Of The Bells Rock Version - Here is my rock version with acoustic and electric guitars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPZMh-GMYJs
-Ok, so you have the basic repeating melody (G F# G E)
-There are some other melodies that go along with that - one is (B A B G) This is a harmony to the basic melody and has the same rhythm as the basic melody.
-Another melody part that has a different rhythm is (E E E D C B B B A G A A A B A G F# G E) (one seems to hear words of good cheer ...) This melody can be played along with the basic melody. However if you are playing the song alone, you can play this melody without the basic melody.
-Bridge melody (Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas melody) this is another part to the song - The bridge melody is (B C# D# E F# G A B A G) this repeats twice.
Now you have all the melodies. Lets put them all together - keep reading and I'll put them together with chords for you.
BASIC TRADITIONAL CAROL OF THE BELLS ARRANGEMENT:
(Putting it all together)
-You begin the song by repeating the melody G F# G E - Over and over again.
-Then as the melody repeats, you play the descending bass line E D C B C B A E.
-The chords that go with the descending bass line are Em Em/D C G/B C G/B Am Em
(If you can't play the melody, bass line, and chords at the same time, just play the melody and bass line - it still sounds good!)
-The basic melody continues with the following chord changes
Am Em Am Em
-Add the (B A B G) harmony with the following chords
Em A/B Em7 A/B
-Play the (E E E D C B B B A G A A A B A G F# G E) melody with the following chord changes:
Em Am Em
Play the bridge melody (B C# D# E F# G A B A G) with the following chord changes twice:
B7 Em
-Back to the basic melody just as in the beginning (G F# G E)
-Then as the melody repeats, you play the descending bass line E D C B C B A E.
-End on a retard playing the parallel melodies together (G F# G E) (B A B G)
MY CAROL OF THE BELLS ARRANGEMENTS - Dave and The Wolf Rock Band:
My arrangements of Carol of The Bells. which I play on my recordings, are slightly different than the traditional arrangement.
My arrangements are (c) 2013 by Dave and The Wolf Rock Band
On my 12 string acoustic guitar arrangement, I begin as the traditional arrangement ends and then use a bell tone.
Then before going into the melody with the bass line, I add the (B A B G) harmony.
I play the (E E E D C B B B A G A A A B A G F# G E) melody twice.
**Other changes - I play Am7 where I have indicated Am.
You can get the MP3 audio recordings of our Carol Of The Bells album at amazon.com, iTunes or at CarolOfTheBells.blogspot.com
Here are the stores listed where you can get our versions of Carol Of The Bells:
Carol Of The Bells - Other Stores
OTHER CAROL OF THE BELLS ARRANGEMENTS:
There are many other arrangements of Carol Of The Bells. Including those by The Trans Siberian Orchestra and Metalica.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Pentatonix have performed Carol of The Bells
Carol Of The Bells is a good song to improvise over and jam with - make your own arraignments and have fun!!
Carol Of The Bells is based on a Ukrainian folk chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk". Also called the Ukrainian Bell Carol and Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24
Some call Mykola Leontovych the composer of the song though you might consider him more of an arranger of the song since the melody is a traditional folk melody.
The English lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky are copyrighted but the original musical composition is not.
My arrangements of Carol Of The Bells are Copyright (c) 2013 by Dave and The Wolf Rock Band
(c) Copyright 2013 by Dave and The Wolf Rock Band All Rights Reserved